Starmer backs Count Binface in PMQs ahead of Clacton vote

Outgoing Prime Minister Keir Starmer used his final parliamentary appearance on Wednesday, July 15, 2026, to endorse the satirical candidate Count Binface in an upcoming special election, urging voters to "put your vote in the bin." The remark, made during Prime Minister's Questions, targeted Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, who is seeking re-election in the Clacton constituency on August 13.

The unusual contest was triggered earlier this month when Farage resigned as the Member of Parliament for Clacton, a coastal town in eastern England, and immediately announced he would stand again in the resulting byelection. He described the move as seeking a fresh mandate amid scrutiny over his finances and a parliamentary standards investigation. In response, Britain's major political parties, including Starmer's Labour Party, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats, and the Greens, all declined to field candidates, denouncing the vote as a political stunt.

This left Count Binface, the alter ego of comedian and BBC contractor Jonathan David Harvey, who campaigns wearing a large rubbish bin on his head, as the most prominent challenger. The situation prompted Conservative Party leader Kemi...