When world leaders are elected, it is usually a solemn moment, but when Labour veteran Andy Burnham discovered he had won the Makerfield byelection, boosting his chances of becoming the next prime minister, he was standing next to a man with a bin on his head. The newest Labour MP was also flanked by a man in a fox costume. Robert Pownall, founder of the campaign group Protect the Wild, decided to run as a fox to demand an end to trail hunting.
These odd scenes are common during election result announcements in Britain, where paper ballots are counted by hand in unglamorous locations such as school assembly halls and leisure centres, unlike many other countries that use electronic voting.
The Joke Candidate Tradition
The joke candidate is a staple of British elections. The Monster Raving Loony party often stands in seats expected to have televised results, such as constituencies of prime ministers and cabinet members. Its candidates wear strange outfits including comically large rosettes and support odd policies like replacing Border Force employees with doctors' receptionists to reduce the number of people getting through, a reference to the difficulty of getting a doctor's appointment. They also propose marking deep potholes with a rubber duck.
Count Binface is also a regular at election counts, sending up momentous political occasions by wearing a bizarre costume including a bin-shaped helmet. The man in the bin is comedian Jon Harvey, who used to stand as Lord Buckethead. He faced former Prime Minister Theresa May in 2017, forcing her to endure poor results alongside a man with a bucket on his head. After a copyright complaint from American filmmaker Todd Durham, who created Lord Buckethead for his 1984 film Hyperspace, Harvey rebranded as Count Binface.
Binface's Political Points
Speaking to the Guardian before the results, Count Binface, who has also stood against former prime ministers Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson, said: "If I don't make that final step on to the green benches, I would be sad for now." He claimed he was making a serious point by standing against Burnham, who will vacate his role as Greater Manchester mayor. "Elected mayors should finish the term that they promised the voters before they are eligible to stand for parliament," he said. However, he gave lukewarm praise for Makerfield's new MP: "Maybe, just maybe, the soft left is the way forward, I am sure Guardian readers would agree."
Unfortunately for the bin-hatted candidate, with just 95 votes, he lost the £500 deposit all candidates must pay to stand in an election.
Entertaining Exchange
Veteran Sky News presenter Jon Craig had an entertaining exchange with Binface before the Makerfield count, when the novelty candidate crashed his live broadcast and demanded an interview. Craig asked: "Who are you?" Binface replied, voice muffled from inside the bin: "What kind of journalist is this that you don't know? I'm not Andy Burnham." He then reeled off policies including capping the price of Wigan kebabs at £2 and making rule-breaking cyclists ride a unicycle as punishment.
British Silliness Goes Global
The British tendency to use silly jokes to gently mock politicians gained worldwide notoriety in 2022 when the Daily Star newspaper set up a live stream of a lettuce next to a picture of then-Prime Minister Liz Truss, illustrating that her term would not outlast fresh produce. The newspaper was correct, and Truss has been taunted with the nickname "lettuce Liz" ever since.
