• NightFantom@slrpnk.net
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    15 days ago

    As a Matt Parker fan, I know about and love count binface, but I seem to be out of the loop, did anything big happen?

    • Hazzard@lemmy.zip
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      15 days ago

      Nigel Farage started a byelection for himself, as a political maneuver to prove he still has the people’s support after a recent scandal involving taking a lot of undisclosed money from some crypto billionaire, in an area his party dominates.

      Seeing it as a sham, every other party has stepped out, leaving the race entirely between Nigel Farage… and Count Binface. If every other party potentially votes for Count Binface, he’d win with 60+% of the vote, meaning there’s a non-zero chance he takes the seat of the next anticipated Prime Minister, which would be unbelievably funny.

      No matter how it goes though, it’s taken Nigel’s decent political maneuver, and turned it into an absolute farce. There’s no pride in barely beating Count Binface, this is the most political coverage he’s ever gotten and it’s honestly pretty devastating for Nigel Farage’s reputation. Here’s hoping he wins, which would be even better.

      • crapwittyname@feddit.uk
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        14 days ago

        Farage quit because he was under investigation for taking a bribe, and he can’t be investigated while he’s not an MP. This circus is playing into his hands because people are forgetting about the bribe he took, which was the number 1 political story for weeks before this.

      • wewbull@feddit.uk
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        13 days ago

        There are 34 candidates standing though, including “names” like Rupert Fox. Most of them are nobodies and Fox will only take vote from Farage, so Binface is still the one to beat.

    • Wren@lemmy.todayOPM
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      15 days ago

      He gained so much popularity they had to comment on whether he would be able to wear his costume in government if he won.

      • ajoebyanyothername@lemmy.world
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        15 days ago

        This is a pretty big story to be fair. Hazzard has outlined it nicely, but essentially the biggest current threat to the government in the polls might lose his seat to Count Binface, in a farcical by election of his own creation. And clearly there’s enough of a chance of that happening that someone has felt the need to clarify if the costume will be allowed or not.

        • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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          15 days ago

          the biggest current threat to the government in the polls might lose his seat to Count Binface

          Show me the poll that suggests BinFace has a chance in a safe conservative district. Everything I’ve seen is “Farage National Approval Rating” and “National Support/Oppose”.

          Nobody is even bothering to poll the actual district, because it is so lopsided.

          • ajoebyanyothername@lemmy.world
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            15 days ago

            The polls I referred to are about Reform generally being the biggest threat to Labour. Haven’t seen any polls regarding this by election, but the argument I’ve seen is that the votes for anyone other than Nigel last time outnumbered his votes, so those votes might well go to Count Binface since no other major parties are fielding a candidate. Which seems wishful thinking, but is a possibility.

            Overall, there isn’t really a great outcome for Nigel here. He either wins, which isn’t much of a victory given the (lack of) opposition, or he loses, which is devastating for his credibility. Regardless, I still think this is a bigger story than you originally made out.

            • PaleRider@feddit.uk
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              14 days ago

              Also, his resignation that caused this by-election was to distract from the fact that he was being investigated for not declaring a large donation to his election fund.

              If he wins, the investigation will continue and may trigger another by-election.