Nigel Farage v Count Binface: Reform leader's battle to avoid Clacton by-election humiliation goes global

More than 100 journalists, from both broadcast and print, have accredited for the count which will run from Thursday night into Friday morning.With 34 candidates, it’s impossible to say when the result will be announced.Count Binface is challenging Nigel Farage in the Clacton by-electionAFP/GettyIn America, UK by-elections rarely make the news.“Farage left fighting a trash can as the UK populist leader’s election gamble backfires,” CNN headlined one story.Donald Trump with Nigel FaragePA MediaThe contest has also made the news pages in India, Canada, Thailand and a host of other countries.He quit as the MP for Clacton just over a month ago and is seeking to make the by-election into a contest between himself and what he calls “the Establishment”.Families on the beach in Clacton-on-Sea where a by-election is set to take place on Thursday August 13, after Reform UK Leader Nigel Farage resigned as the constituency's MPGettySo, Mr Farage faces a challenge to avoid his political opponents humiliating him over the by-election.Read MoreHe won nearly half the vote when he gained the Clacton seat at the 2024 general election.But the nearest comparable to this contest is the by-election sparked by Tory David Davis who resigned in 2008 as MP for Haltemprice and Howden, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, over the Labour government's plans to detain terror suspects for up to 42 days.In the subsequent by-election on July 10 which both Labour and the Liberal Democrats decided not to contest, Mr Davis, now knighted, won with a majority of 15,355, or 72% of the vote, up from 47.5% at the 2005 general election.Conservative MP Sir David DavisPA WireThe Reform UK chief leads Count Binface by 73% to 20%, once undecideds are excluded, according to a Survation poll.But even if Mr Farage scores a huge victory, many people will still be left wondering why he resigned in the first place. In a possible further twist, if he is found to have broken the rules for MPs it could trigger another by-election in Clacton.British politics. The mind boggles.