Pop Goes a Weasel?

I admit, if there is any kind of crazy political drama, I am there with the popcorn.

via GIPHY

Over in the UK, the drama kicked up a notch with Reform Racist leader Nigel Farage trying to wiggle his way out of a financial scandal by resigning and re-running for his seat (via Daniel Boffey at the Guardian (UK)):

Flanked by Union Jack flags, with a spectacular view of the City of London behind him, Nigel Farage said he had “never been angrier”. In an address that was billed as a “statement on my future in public life”, the leader of Reform UK, the rightwing, anti-immigration party that remains ahead in most national polls but which has been dipping recently, said he would not tolerate any more of it.

“It seems to me that the establishment have now decided that they can’t beat us fairly, so they’ve chosen to use foul means,” Farage said.

He was referring to the Guardian’s revelation that he had received an undeclared £5m gift from the crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne as well as the more recent allegations – not denied – that Farage had also taken undeclared funding for his staffing, security and housing from George Cottrell, a convicted criminal and Gloucester-born aristocrat.

Parliament is investigating whether the £5m gift, made to Farage within 12 months of him becoming an MP in summer 2024, could reasonably be thought by others to relate to his “parliamentary or political activities” and was therefore in need of being declared. He denies it. There is pressure for the authorities to look into the Cottrell money too on the same grounds.

But this sort of scrutiny of the evidence by independent professionals was not at all Farage’s preferred solution, it transpired. Instead, Farage was going to resign as the member of parliament for Clacton, a faded seaside town in Essex, and then seek re-election all over again. “I have decided that the people of Clacton will be the judges of my actions,” he said. “This will be a people versus the establishment byelection...”

From what I'm gathering about British politics, Farage's move to force a by-election will delay the criminal investigations but not end them. It's frustrating that there doesn't seem to be a criminal penalty for the financial evasions he's allegedly done, but that seems to be a problem across a lot of republican monarchies...

Should the parliamentary investigation subsequently find against Farage, the worst sanction for him could be another byelection should 10% of the constituency sign a petition seeking one. Would there be an appetite for a second byelection given that he had won the first? Does he limit the damage by forcing the issue now? Perhaps. Much, though, depends on whether Farage, an undoubtedly skilled communicator, can convince the British public, and not just those in Clacton, that this is not just a cynical ploy.

Farage was quick to close down one line of attack by offering to cover the costs of the byelection. But the other political parties have not been slow in calling out Farage’s announcement as what Keir Starmer described as a “desperate stunt”.

“It’s obvious why he is doing it,” the prime minister said. “He is up to his neck in sleaze. Politics should be about improving the lives of millions of people, not about personal gain, not about hiding dodgy donations, and I think the public will see this for exactly what it is.”

A good amount of political punditry is looking at Farage's actions as a ploy to avoid accountability. There's also the factor of how Farage seems eager to use this by-election to "debate" his opponents to make them look bad not just in that district but at the national level.

In response, it's looking like the major parties are avoiding that trap, refusing to run other candidates and force Farage to stand alone at the podium forced to answer questions about his financials instead of railing against immigrants (again). 

The governing Labour party, the Conservative official opposition and other rival parties, including the Lib Dems and Restore, the party further to Reform’s right, which was founded by Rupert Lowe MP, one of Reform’s MPs until a nasty falling out with Farage, have all ruled out standing in the byelection.

“We are not going to participate in a Reform-sponsored media circus over the summer months that is designed to puff up Farage’s ego and deflect away from wholly fair questions over why he has concealed such vast and irregular financial donations,” said Lowe.

Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, said his party was “calling on all parties to stand aside and refuse to give oxygen to Farage’s vanity project”. The Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, said her party would not participate in any byelection triggered as a result of “the standards investigation into Nigel Farage’s fishy finances”.

It doesn't give Farage much of an opportunity to punch at other parties if he's up there alone. Well, almost alone.

In a statement on Tuesday afternoon, the comedian Jon Harvey, also known as Count Binface, offered his candidacy as a unifying force. “Labour, Tories, Lib Dems and Greens: I demand you stand down in Clacton,” Count Binface wrote. “I will be a unity candidate and pledge to build at least one affordable house. Nigel Farage says he wants The People versus the Establishment. So be it. Leave him to me.”

It should be noted that Farage only won Clacton in 2024 with 46 percent, a bit below a solid majority of voters. It should also be noted that election cycle displayed a lot of anger towards the Conversative Tories who had been in power for almost 14 years, mismanaging the United Kingdom with failed austerity measures as well as bolluxing up Brexit. There is a serious question if Farage's win percentage came from a lot of angry Tory voters punishing their party back then, and if they'll be in the mood to support Farage now he's had a year of his own failures to perform to disillusion them.

Checking the website MPDataUK, their summary lists him as of today (July 8th) casting "169 votes from 537 eligible divisions, representing a participation rate of 31.47%, and ranks last among Reform UK MPs in voting participation." He shows up more often for debates, but still ranks (570th of 650 MPs) in the bottom 10 percent for participation. He's rarely shown up for the Q&As - the open floor debates where the opposition party can rip into the PM, and get ripped in return - and I don't know if Parliament has a committee breakdown like the US Congress but I'm sure Farage doesn't show up for those either.

Farage is clearly a "leader" who enjoys the perks of office but refuses to do the actual JOB.

As much as Clacton being a "safe" district, Farage is running a high risk of exposing himself - especially these financial scandals - at the worst possible time.

He's also running the risk of the one thing a national-level party leader has to avoid: the risk of getting humiliated. If it's just a campaign between Farage and Count Binface... well, Binface as a relatively silly candidate can cause genuine harm. Not only by avoiding the debates that Farage would want - because Binface isn't representing the major parties, Farage can't hammer him as an "Establishment" figure - but by mocking Farage on the debates that Farage can't answer back without revealing his hypocrisy.

The recent tradition in the UK for Raving Looney candidates - under the general term of "novelty" or "joke" candidates - can arguably trace their origins back to a proud monarchial tradition of the Court Jester. Before democracies and republics rose up to challenge unitary rule of an elite, the courts would employ house entertainers granted the privilege to perform and mock about current events and personages without punishment (it was viewed as a means of keeping the mighty humbled). As the need for jesters declined, the importance of outside critics rose to where we see newspaper cartoonists and stand-up comedians fulfilling the jester's privilege for the citizenry to enjoy.

Count Binface - along with the other Looneys - is the direct descendant of the jester. (This might explain why few novelty candidates - well, except for the Libertarians - ever appear in US elections, as we've been a democratic republican system from the beginning: Our political commentary comes through the history of minstrels and stand-ups to this day. I digress) As a jester on the stage next to Farage, Binface has the opportunity to directly mock and satirize someone who is serious about his anti-immigrant, anti-EU, anti-"nice to people" stances.

This is Great Britain, sir. As much as they have stiff upper lips and "Keep Calm And Carry On" as their mantras, they also treat sarcasm as a deadly weapon in that country.

Farage might not even survive.

Prepare for Count Binface. The kingdom - nay, the world - awaits.