British voters would rather Count Binface claim victory in the upcoming Clacton by-election than Nigel Farage, a new poll reveals.
Given a decision between the two candidates, 33 per cent of British adults would prefer Count Binface to win the race sparked by Mr Farage’s shock resignation this week, while only 21 per cent back the Reform UK leader.
Meanwhile, the Ipsos poll found 32 per cent wouldn’t want either of them to win.
Bookmakers slashed the odds of the regular joke candidate at by-elections to beat Mr Farage in Clacton earlier this week, after all major parties refused to stand in what they have dubbed a “fake” election.
Count Binface – a satirical character who has pledged to abolish VAR in football, conscript people who play loud music on public transport and “nationalise Adele” – has now emerged as his main competitor.
The comedian, who is described as an "independent space warrior" and wears a bin on his head, has contested a number of elections, including contests against Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak and most recently the by-election in Makerfield, where he received 95 votes.
Mr Farage’s decision to force a contest followed continued questions about a £5m donation he received from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne and gifts from a convicted criminal, George Cottrell.
He is currently the subject of an investigation by Parliamentary Standards Commissioner Daniel Greenberg over whether his failure to declare the money, which he claims was a “gift”, on becoming an MP in 2024 breached Commons rules.
The Ipsos poll also found that 74 per cent of voters believe that the parliamentary standards commissioner should be investigating whether the Reform UK leader broke parliamentary rules, and 73 per cent say investigation should continue even if Mr Farage wins the by-election.
Commenting on the findings, Keiran Pedley, research director at Ipsos in the UK said: "Of course, it is the people of Clacton that will vote in the upcoming by-election and not the public overall.
“But the fact that just one in five Britons would prefer Nigel Farage win reflects how his personal poll ratings have fallen over the past year – even if Reform supporters remain very much behind him.
“Elsewhere in the poll we see strong support for parliamentary standards investigations continuing even if Mr Farage wins the by-election. Suggesting his assumed victory will not make these issues go away.”
Mr Farage dramatically announced that he would step down from parliament and call a by-election in his Clacton seat ,which he would contend after claiming he was the victim of “an establishment stitch-up”.
The Tories, Lib Dems, Greens and Labour have all announced that they will not stand in the by-election with Tory leader Kemi Badenoch describing it as “fake” and Sir Keir Starmer calling it “a desperate political stunt”.
Reform UK have been riding high in the polls for months and Mr Farage has appeared to enjoy support in his former Clacton constituency, though a YouGov poll of British adults suggests more people see the party as “sleazy” than Labour or the Conservatives.
According to a new YouGov poll, 73 per cent of Britons think the Reform UK leader is sleazy, while 69 per cent of people say the same of his party.
Some 56 per cent categorised Mr Farage as “very sleazy”, with an additional 17 per cent finding him “fairly sleazy”, while 40 per cent of those who voted Reform at the last election today consider him to be sleazy.
