Count Binface beating Farage in first polls for Clacton by-election
More Britons would prefer Count Binface to win the Clacton by-election than Nigel Farage, new polling from Ipsos shows.
The survey, conducted among 1,000 online British adults aged 18 and over on 8–9 July 2026, found that 33% would prefer the satirical candidate to take the Essex seat, against 21% who would prefer the Reform UK leader.
A further 32% said they would prefer neither candidate to win, while 13% said they did not know.
Respondents were asked: “Which of the following, if either, would you prefer to win the by-election in Clacton?”
The poll measures national preference rather than voting intention among Clacton residents, who will decide the contest.
The by-election was triggered after Farage resigned as MP for Clacton, formally vacating the seat on 8 July 2026, and announced he would stand again in the resulting contest.
The House of Commons approved the moving of the writ on 9 July, and Reform UK has proposed a polling day of 6 August, although Westminster reporting suggests the statutory timetable may not allow a date before 13 August.
Labour, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens have all declined to field candidates, describing the contest as a stunt to distract from a Commons standards case concerning a £5 million payment.
That has left Count Binface, the campaign persona of comedian Jon Harvey, as Farage’s most prominent challenger. The Independent has reported that Binface has become the focus of an anti-Farage tactical voting campaign, and the candidate raised more than £15,000 in donations in a single day after announcing his run.
Binface has described himself as a “unity candidate” and pledged to build at least one affordable home if elected, telling BBC Radio 4 he would “probably not” win. He has said his main appeal to voters is simply that he is not Nigel Farage.
Farage won Clacton at the 2024 general election with 46.2% of the vote, entering Parliament at his seventh attempt.
The Ipsos figures land alongside the pollster’s June Issues Index, which found immigration remains the top concern facing Britain at 39%, with concern about crime and law and order rising six percentage points to 15%.
For voters, the practical question is when they will get their say: no polling day has been confirmed, and Clacton residents face a summer campaign contested by fourteen declared candidates, including Reclaim’s Laurence Fox and independent Piers Corbyn.
