Voters in eastern England head to the polls Thursday for a by-election triggered by hard-right Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, but amid a boycott by mainstream parties his main rival is a joke candidate called Count Binface. Polling stations open at 7:00 am (0600 GMT) with a total of 34 candidates in the running, forcing Farage to face off against dozens of fringe candidates, including Binface. Brexit backer Farage – whose anti-immigration Reform UK won local elections in May and topped national polls for 18 months from early last year – has remained defiant. He has framed the by-election as "the people of Clacton versus the Establishment", branding newspaper probes and official investigations into his finances and questionable donations to his anti-immigration party as a "stitch-up". "Britain needs Reform, Britain wants Reform, and Britain demands a general election," he said in a statement late Wednesday.
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Cover image: Vignette Binface © France 24, Reuters
