Count Binface has hinted he could run in a by-election in Holborn and St Pancras after Sir Keir Starmer announced he will step down as MP.
The former prime minister told the Camden New Journal on Tuesday he would step down to focus on “international affairs” months after he was ousted from No 10 Downing Street after record local election losses and mounting pressure from his own MPs.
Minutes after news broke of Sir Keir’s exit from the House of Commons, the self-styled “intergalactic space warrior” took to social media where he posted “Can’t get a moment’s peace on this bloody planet” in apparent response to news of the incoming by-election.
This would be the novelty candidate’s third by-election of the year after he made waves in the Clacton-on-Sea standoff against Nigel Farage where he stole 26.9 per cent of the vote from the Reform UK leader.
Count Binface is the joke persona adopted by the British writer and comedian Jon Harvey to contest British elections. Since 2017, he has stood as a candidate eight times.
In his Clacton-on- Sea campaign, he ran on a manifesto to cap bus fares at £1,99 and 99 Flake ice-creams at 99p. He also promised to spend more time in Clacton-on-Sea than in Washington DC, and to champion the area, in what appeared to be a dig at Farage.
Binface said he felt “gratified” to come in second to Farage, who stepped down as MP amid ongoing scrutiny of his financial affairs only to stand again. The “intergalactic space warrior” said he attended the count “to get the verdict of the good people of Clacton”, which he said was the “least he could do”.
He also stood against Andy Burnham in Makerfield in June, where he gained just 95 votes in the landslide victory for the current prime minister.
Sir Keir said in the interview, which came months after he was relegated to the backbenches, that it was the “right time” to step down.
“I will now focus on other things and that will be international affairs including defence, security, trade and technology in a fast-changing world,” he said. “I will also continue, as I have done for a long time now with others, work on combating violence against women and girls; that is an issue that matters to me hugely.
“It’s work I started before I became an MP and it’s work I’m keen to continue after I’m an MP. So international affairs on the one hand, and continuing my work on violence against women and girls on the other.”
It is understood Zack Polanski has refused to rule out standing in the potential by-election. A Green Party spokesperson told Sky News of its leader, a member of the London Assembly: “Zack has always made it clear he would like to be a London MP.
“London has been his home for over 20 years.”
The Tories said Sir Keir Starmer’s decision to step down marked “another U-turn”.
Conservative Party chairman Kevin Hollinrake said: “Whilst we have disagreed with almost all of Sir Keir Starmer’s decisions, I wish him and his family well for the future.
“It is fitting that his final act as a Member of Parliament is yet another U-turn having pledged to stay on.
“The decision to stand down will mean a costly by-election for taxpayers at a time when Andy Burnham and John Healey are plotting tax rises on hardworking families across the country.
“The Conservatives look forward to giving the people of Holborn and St Pancras a chance to vote for a stronger economy and a stronger country in the weeks ahead.”
