Count Binface is a novelty candidate persona adopted by the British writer and comedian Jon Harvey to contest elections in the United Kingdom. Binface is presented as an "intergalactic space warrior" who wears a dustbin-shaped helmet.
Binface stood against the prime minister, Boris Johnson, in Uxbridge and South Ruislip at the 2019 general election, and the 2023 by-election which followed Johnson's resignation as a member of Parliament. He contested the 2021 and 2024 London mayoral elections, and stood against the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, in Richmond and Northallerton at the 2024 general election. Binface stood at the 2026 Makerfield by-election, which was won by Andy Burnham, who became prime minister. Binface was the primary contender against the Reform UK leader Nigel Farage at the 2026 Clacton by-election amidst a boycott by the other major parties. He came second with 27% of the vote (9,455 in total), which is thought to be the highest share obtained by a novelty candidate in UK political history.
Binface promotes electoral participation, and has adopted the slogan "Make Your Vote Count". He originally stood as an independent, but his affiliation since 2023 has been to the Count Binface Party.
Creation
Binface was created by Jon Harvey, who had previously performed as Lord Buckethead against Theresa May at the 2017 general election. After the filmmaker Todd Durham, who owned the rights to the Buckethead character from his 1984 film Hyperspace, asserted ownership and took over the character, Harvey introduced Count Binface, standing against the prime minister, Boris Johnson, in Uxbridge and South Ruislip at the 2019 general election. The Buckethead character's new performer, David Hughes, publicly endorsed Binface as "the true heir to the Buckethead throne". Harvey, who rarely gives interviews out of character, has said that "My job is to celebrate and defend the wonders of British democracy".
Character
Count Binface is an "intergalactic space warrior" in a black-and-grey uniform, with a long silver cape and a helmet shaped like a dustbin with a glowing strip in place of eyes. He describes himself as the leader of the Recyclons from the planet Sigma IX, and claims to be over 5,900 years old. Binface named his second-in-command as "General Waste".
In an appearance on the BBC's Newsnight on 8 July 2026, when asked by the presenter Paddy O'Connell to remove his mask, Harvey said that "nobody wants to know" what is underneath a Recyclon's helmet, describing it as "absolutely putrefying". In 2026 he appeared in an episode of the television drama series Industry, as a candidate in a general election. His candidacy in the 2026 Clacton by-election, against Nigel Farage, gained global media attention.
Binface claims to master 7 million forms of communication, and recounted to The Londonist how he had strategically chosen to converse with Boris Johnson during the 2019 London Mayoral election in a language he was certain would be understood. After greeting each other in Latin, Binface quoted Julius Caesar — "the die is cast" – but which Boris had misinterpreted that he was destined for a long period of political power.https://londonist.com/london/features/count-binface-london-interview Binface set off in a stream of Homeric Greek in an episode of The Rest is Politics podcast.
Other ventures Binface has made numerous appearances other than as a political candidate, at debates and open fora: he was invited to participate in an Oxford Union debate in 2024, where he wrapped up a debate against the motion "This House Would Fake it Til You Make It", and was interviewed by the zoologist Jules Howard at the Cheltenham Literature Festival about apes and procreation, and by the comedian Richard Herring in July 2026 for his podcast in advance of the Clacton by-election.
Binface also performs comedy shows; his first national tour was in the autumn of 2024. His July 2026 show in London's Museum of Comedy, entitled "A (Moral) Victory Rally", sold out. In August 2026, he performed a one-off show, Face of the Establishment, at the Pleasance Dome as part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
In August 2026 a 72-page Count Binface comic book was released by British independent graphic novel publisher SelfMadeHero. With almost 40 artists, writers and cartoonists, contributors included Bryan Talbot, Dave McKean, and Steven Appleby. The publisher, which was considering a second print run, said pre-sale orders of the book "had gone through the roof".
Elections
2019 general election Count Binface declared a suite of "fully costed" policies, which included abolishing the House of Lords — a pledge he had likewise made in 2017 as Lord Buckethead — and bringing back Ceefax, the teletext service — a pledge he had first made in 2017. The same platform included "the nationalisation of Adele and so on."
On foreign policy, he pledged no more UK arms sales to repressive regimes, such as Saudi Arabia; making Piers Morgan zero emissions by 2030 is part of his environmental programme. On Europe, he called for a referendum on holding a re-run of the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, and pledged that any Czechs found on the Irish border would be allowed to remain there. On policing, he echoed the Conservative Party's own pledge of 20,000 more police officers by promising to return one more police officer on the beat than the Tories. He pledged the nationalisation of model railways.
On the constitution, only people between 16 and 80 would be able to vote; on infrastructure, he promised free broadband for all, and that London Bridge would be renamed "Phoebe Waller-Bridge." On health, £1 trillion a week would be put towards the NHS.
Binface welcomed Lord Buckethead, a rival contestant in the Uxbridge and South Ruislip seat representing the Official Monster Raving Loony Party, "to take part in a receptacle-to-receptacle debate". Binface received 69 votes: a vote share of 0.1%.
2021 London mayoral election
Binface announced his intention to stand for the London mayoral election, which was scheduled for 2020 but delayed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He announced a suite of 21 policies which "marries fiscal responsibility, social awareness, and not being an anti-vaccine nutjob", including: finishing Crossrail free parking for electric vehicles between Vine Street and the Strand, in reference to where the Free Parking space is located on the British Monopoly game board London to join the European Union renaming London Bridge to "Phoebe Waller-Bridge" and Hammersmith Bridge to "Wayne Bridge". tying all government ministers' pay, including that of the mayors, to that of nurses for the next 100 years banning loud snacks from theatres banning the use of the speakerphone function on mobile phones, with offenders forced to watch the 2019 film Cats every day for a year Binface started a fundraiser to raise £10,000, the amount necessary to allow him to stand for Mayor of London. The excess money was donated to the charity Shelter to help combat homelessness. He finished ninth with 24,775 votes in the mayoral election.
2024 London mayoral election
In March 2024 Binface started another fundraiser to allow him to stand at the London mayoral election held on 2 May 2024, with funds in excess of the necessary £10,000 deposit to once again be donated to the housing charity, Shelter. After he announced his entry into the race and released his manifesto, he made a surprise appearance at Glastonbury 2024. The Binface manifesto re-used many policies from previous years but added a few new ones, including abolishing VAR; forcing Thames Water managers to "take a dip in the Thames... see how they like it", in reference to the sewage discharge controversy; building "at least one affordable house", referring to the housing crisis; and giving listed building status to Claudia Winkleman's fringe.
Despite the election's change to a first-past-the-post voting system, Binface finished in 11th place with 24,260 votes – ahead of the far-right Britain First. Binface said in 2024 this result was an achievement of which he was the most proud. The incumbent mayor and winner, Sadiq Khan, in a victory speech remarked about celebrating "becoming the first person in British political history to win successive victories over Count Binface". He added that Binface finishing ahead of the Britain First candidate was "another reason to love London".
2024 general election
On 7 June 2024 Binface announced he would be contesting the Richmond and Northallerton constituency against the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, saying that he was "taking on the biggest fish of the lot". He commented; "You shirked D-Day Rishi, you can't miss the B-Day", a reference to Sunak's early departure from the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings. New policies announced in Binface's manifesto include: building a "space bridge" to solve the traffic problems caused by Northallerton's level crossings. reducing the price of 99 Flake ice creams to 99 pence National Service for former prime ministers Inviting European nations to join the UK
Binface enlisted the YouTuber and mathematician Matt Parker to create charts for his free election pamphlet and to act as an election observer on behalf of the Count Binface Party. The Daily Star issued a co-endorsement of Binface and the Labour Party candidate. Binface finished sixth of thirteen candidates with 308 votes, representing 0.6% of all the votes cast. He commented on Twitter that it was his best placing and highest ever vote count in a national election and declared that "Bindependence Day has come".
2026 Makerfield by-election
For the 2026 Makerfield by-election, Binface stated in his manifesto that he would build at least one affordable house, cap the price of a 99 Flake at 99p, and that of a "Wigan kebab" – a misnomer but a barm cake – at £2. Binface urged tax reform: "Vote Count Binface to... cut your taxes and raise everyone else's", to ban automatic renewal of online subscriptions, and reiterated his pledge to nationalise Adele. He also said "I believe elected mayors should serve out their terms before they're eligible to stand for parliament", a criticism of Andy Burnham, who won the by-election while still serving as Mayor of Greater Manchester.
Binface gained 95 votes, 68 votes behind the Liberal Democrat candidate, and seventh out of 14 candidates. In Prime Minister's Questions after the by-election, Keir Starmer congratulated Kemi Badenoch's Conservative Party for their 2.2% share of the vote in Makerfield, "just edging past Count Binface". Burnham posted a photo of himself shaking hands with Binface and captioned it: "Always worth knowing when bin day is." In a further post, he wrote: "Count Binface, you are carrying the hopes of the nation. Don't let us down."
2026 Clacton by-election
On 7 July 2026, faced with parliamentary scrutiny of his personal finances and allegations concerning undeclared gifts and support, Nigel Farage announced his intention to resign as the MP for Clacton, triggering a by-election. The other major parties – Labour, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens – as well as Restore Britain, announced they would boycott the by-election. The foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, and Green leader Zack Polanski criticised Farage's resignation as "political stunt", which Farage denied. Badenoch condemned the "fake" election as a distraction. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, whose role it was to accept his resignation, criticised Farage on social media, saying "the people of Clacton deserve better. But if he wants to spend the summer arguing with a bin, I won't stop him."