By Andrew MacAskill
LONDON, Aug 13 (Reuters) – Voters cast their ballots on Thursday in a local English election pitting Nigel Farage against his main challenger, a comedian dressed as a trash can, in a test of opposition to the Reform UK leader’s brand of populist politics.
After weeks of facing accusations that he failed to properly declare millions of pounds received from a wealthy backer, Farage abruptly resigned from parliament last month to seek a new mandate in a “people against the establishment” election in the seaside resort of Clacton.
While Farage aims to demonstrate his strong local support to bolster his position against the charges, the decision by major parties not to put up candidates has left him facing more than 30 rivals, including comedians and independents, in what will be the longest ballot paper in British political history.
His main rival is likely to be Count Binface, a silver cape-clad character created by comedian Jonathan Harvey, who has run against three prime ministers over the last decade to poke fun at them.
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Joke candidates are a normal feature of British elections, where it only costs £500 ($676) to enter a contest, but they are usually not the main competition.
Farage said last month the vote would allow his constituents to judge the allegations that he failed to properly declare a £5 million($6.8 million) donation from a billionaire.
Lawmakers must normally declare donations received in the year before an election within a month of taking office and parliament’s standards commissioner has opened an investigation into whether any rules were broken.
If Farage is found to have breached the rules, he could face sanctions that trigger another election in the area.
Farage has repeatedly denied having an obligation to disclose the donation, which he said was a personal gift.
The area of Clacton in eastern England was once a popular holiday destination for Londoners but is now a fading seaside town that includes the village of Jaywick, rated as the nation’s most deprived neighbourhood.
In 2024, Farage won 46% of the vote on a turnout of 58%.
($1 = 0.7399 pounds)
(Reporting by Andrew MacAskill; Editing by Elizabeth Piper and David Holmes)
