Count Binface has slammed a BBC journalist after he was asked to ‘bin off the bin’ on live TV.
The political candidate appeared on Newsnight after declaring plans to run against Nigel Farage in the Clacton-on-Sea by-election.
The Reform leader announced on Tuesday that he would be stepping down as MP for the region – only to run again for the same seat.
Presenter Paddy O’Connell asked Binface to remove his headgear during the show – but the political candidate was having none of it.
O’Connell said: ‘Why don’t you bin off the bin on Newsnight now? We know that your name is Jon, we know really a lot about you,’ adding: ‘Isn’t it time for serious times, to bin off the bin?’
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To this, Count Binface refused to unmask himself ‘Has anyone seen Return of the Jedi?’ he said. ‘Nobody wants to know what’s underneath a Recyclon, it’s disgusting. It’s absolutely putrifying.
‘You get me on Newsnight and you start trying to deconstruct a character. I would say, what are we doing here, on a programme which used to construct proper investigative journalism and now is a souped-up podcast.’
To this, O’Connell said viewers tune into the ‘souped-up podcast’ for transparency. ‘That’s the point,’ he continued. ‘You’re not transparent, and that’s the criticism being made of Nigel Farage.’
Count Binface is Farage’s main rival in Clacton as Labour, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats, the Green Party and Restore Britain have said they are not putting forward candidates.
Binface has said he will tailor his manifesto to the local election, but will retain his broader policies: building at least one affordable house, nationalising Adele, bringing back Ceefax, and moving the hand dryer in the gents’ toilet in the Crown and Treaty pub Uxbridge to a more sensible position.
‘As you know, it’s a national issue’, he said in a BBC breakfast interview.
According to bookmakers William Hill, he now has 4/1 odds on becoming Clacton’s new MP.
Binface, who describes himself as a 5000-year-old space warrior, is a satirical character created by comedian Jonathan David Harvey. Harvey last stood for office in the Makerfield by-election against Andy Burnham, where he received 95 votes. Burnham more than edged him out by 24,842 votes.
He also stood against then-prime minister Boris Johnson as a candidate in the Uxbridge and South Ruislip constituency in 2019, where he received 69 votes.
When asked by Sarah Campbell in the BBC Breakfast interview whether he could win, Count Binface – calling from ‘space’ – said: ‘Probably not, but you know what, it’s the taking part that counts’. He said his role was to demonstrate the wonders of British democracy.
Other politicians have not dismissed Count Binface as a load of rubbish. MPs are preparing to ask the Speaker for permission to allow Count Binface to wear his signature space suit and bin head if he wins the Clacton by-election. This, some fear, would be in spite of rules which require clothing which demonstrates ‘respect for the House.’
When not wearing his signature bin lid, Harvey has written for some of the largest satirical news shows of the last thirty years, including The Thick of It, and Have I Got News for You. He graduated from Oxford University with a degree in classics.