LONDON — LONDON (AP) — Nigel Farage depicts himself as an outsider taking on the establishment, but now the tables have turned.
The leader of anti-immigration party Reform UK is running in an election as the incumbent favorite, and his main opponent is a man dressed as a dustbin.
Farage, an ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, triggered Thursday’s special election in the English seaside town of Clacton by quitting his seat in the House of Commons last month. Facing awkward questions about his finances, Farage said he would let voters judge him in a “people versus the establishment” contest.
But the other main parties called it a stunt and refused to take part, leaving Farage running against an assortment of independents, jokers and single-issue candidates led by Count Binface, a comic space alien with a trash can on his head. In that field, it’s Farage who looks like the mainstream politician.
Simon Usherwood, professor of politics and international studies at the Open University, said Farage’s appeal is built on his image as a straight-talking individualist, “the kind of bloke you can have a pint with down the pub.”
“It’s that very charismatic aspect of Farage that is both his strength and his weakness,” Usherwood said. “He has fallen into a trap of thinking that he is somehow immune from the kind of scrutiny that would undo other politicians.”
For two decades, the populist Farage has led small parties with an outsized impact on British policy.
His charisma — and, critics say, his distortions — were key to securing victory for the “leave” side in Britain’s 2016 European Union membership referendum. After Brexit, Farage switched his focus to migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats, a stream that he has called an invasion.
In 2024 he was elected to Parliament at his eighth attempt, representing the strongly Brexit-backing town of Clacton in eastern England.
Becoming a lawmaker brought unwelcome scrutiny of his finances. Parliament’s standards watchdog is investigating an undeclared donation of 5 million pounds ($6.7 million) to Farage in 2024 from Christopher Harborne, a Thailand-based cryptocurrency billionaire. Farage says he didn’t need to declare the money because it was a personal gift he used to fund his security and came before he was elected.
Newly elected lawmakers must declare gifts worth more than 300 pounds ($400) received in the previous year if they are related to political activities.
Farage is also facing an investigation into his financial relationship with George Cottrell, an aristocratic crypto-gambling entrepreneur who served eight months in a U.S. prison for fraud a decade ago after offering to launder money for undercover agents posing as drug traffickers.
Cottrell, 32, remains close to Farage and has reportedly given him money for security and staff. U.K. media report that Cottrell and his mother have been interviewed by police as part of a probe into donations to Reform UK, though they have not been arrested.
Farage is standing by the man he calls “Posh George,” saying Aug. 3: “I don’t ditch my allies.”
The governing Labour Party and opposition Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Greens all declined to run in Clacton. But it is still a crowded field, with almost three dozen candidates, including representatives of Rejoin EU, the Everyone is God Party and the Monster Raving Loony Party.
By far the best known is Count Binface, a frequent comedy candidate whose platform includes the pledge “I will not accept 5-million-pound gifts from crypto billionaires (on Earth).” He says his main appeal is “I’m not Nigel Farage.”
Farage doesn’t find it funny. He and his party claim Binface, alter ego of comedian Jon Harvey, is just another representative of a hostile political establishment.
“The establishment is using every means available, fair and foul, to undermine Farage before the country gets a chance to elect him,” Gawain Towler, Farage’s former press officer and now a Reform UK board member, said in a blog post.
Farage won handily in Clacton in 2024, and most observers expect him to win again. If he does, the parliamentary investigation of his finances will resume. A finding of wrongdoing could lead to Farage being suspended from Parliament and trigger yet another special election for the seat.
Reform UK has just seven lawmakers — eight if Farage is included — but led nationwide opinion polls for more than a year. But the party has recently suffered setbacks, losing a string of special elections, including one in June that brought now- Prime Minister Andy Burnham to power.
After months of flagging popularity, Labour senses a “Burnham bounce.” Meanwhile, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has found her feet after a shaky start. And Restore Britain, a far-right party with just one lawmaker but a loud social media presence amplified by Elon Musk, is nibbling away at Reform’s support.
Farage, 62, has a history of walking away from parties he led. He stepped down from both the UK Independence Party and its successor, the Brexit Party, in the last decade.
He has earned more than 2 million pounds ($2.7 million) outside of Parliament in the past two years from speeches, promotional work and television appearances, far more than he makes as a lawmaker. He might be tempted to quit politics again if he remains under sustained pressure.
Martin Farr, a contemporary historian at Newcastle University, said Farage will probably come out of the election strengthened, at least in the eyes of his supporters.
“To his supporters, this will be an example of how he’s fearless and he’s prepared to fight against, as he will put it, the tyranny of the majority, the tyranny of the establishment,” Farr said. “To his opponents, it suggests a thin-skinned demagogue who has reacted petulantly to scrutiny and has been embarrassed by the fact that no one else has taken his stand seriously.”
