Jon Harvey

Jon Harvey      ( comedian,  writer,  broadcaster,  politician)
Born	Jonathan David Harvey May, 1980 (a  Croydon,  England
Alma mater	University of Oxford
Children	2
Party	Count Binface Party
"I will cut your taxes, and raise everyone else's"

Jonathan David Harvey is a UK-based comedian, writer, broadcaster and producer working across TV, radio, online and print – with a background in political satire, sketch comedy, and character-led performance.

Jon Harvey participates in parliamentary and mayoral elections as the novelty candidate Count Binface. His latest attempt to become an MP was at the 2026 Clacton by-election where, in his best-ever performance, he finished in second place with 9,455 votes (26.9%).

Background

Harvey was born in Croydon, London, in 1979 or 1980. He graduated from University of Oxford with a degree in classics. He has worked as a scriptwriter for the satirical television programmes "The Thick of It", "Have I Got News for You", and "Time Trumpet". In 2023, he published a memoir, "A Fan for All Seasons: A Journey Through Life". He is married with two children.

In 2017, Harvey stood as the novelty candidate Lord Buckethead against the prime minister, Theresa May, in Maidenhead at the 2017 UK general election, drawing media attention. Lord Buckethead originated in the 1984 film Hyperspace, a low-budget parody of science fiction films such as "Star Wars", directed by Todd Durham. The character had previously been used by the owner of the video distributor VIPCO, Mike Lee, as a novelty candidate in the 1987 general election and the 1992 general election. Harvey decided to use Lord Buckethead after watching Hyperspace and discovering that he had been used in earlier elections.

Following the 2017 election, Durham contacted Harvey and asserted his ownership of Lord Buckethead. In response, Harvey introduced a new character, Count Binface, and stood in the UK/General election/2019.

Character

Count Binface is an "intergalactic space warrior" in a black and grey uniform, with a long silver cape and a helmet shaped like a dustbin with a glowing strip where his eyes would be. He describes himself as the leader of the 'Recyclons' from the planet Sigma IX, and claims to be over 5,900 years old. In 2026, Binface appeared in episode two of series four of the television series Industry, "The Commander and the Grey Lady". Binface also names his second in command as “General Waste”.

Past elections

2019 General election

Binface announced a series of satirical policies for the 2019 general election, including:

• Bringing back Ceefax, the teletext service. He had previously promised to bring back the service in 2017 as Lord Buckethead.
• Returning 20,001 police officers to the street, a reference to the Conservative pledge of 20,000 more police officers.
• Nationalising model railways.
• Holding a referendum on holding a second referendum on the United Kingdom's membership in the European Union.
• Allowing any Czechs on the Irish border to remain, a reference to the Brexit and the Irish border controversy.
• Nationalising Adele.
• Abolishing the House of Lords. He had previously pledged the same in 2017 as Lord Buckethead.
• Giving free broadband to everyone.
• Stopping the sale of arms to repressive regimes.
• Making Piers Morgan zero emissions by 2030.
• Renaming London Bridge to "Phoebe Waller-Bridge".
• Introducing a minimum voting age of 16 and a maximum of 80.
• Sending £1 trillion a week to the NHS.
• Proroguing Jacob Rees-Mogg.
• Banishing Katie Hopkins to the Phantom Zone.
• Moving the hand dryer in the men's toilet at Uxbridge's Crown and Treaty pub to a "more sensible position".

In 2019, another individual contested the Uxbridge and South Ruislip seat as Lord Buckethead, representing the Official Monster Raving Loony Party, to which Binface said he "look[s] forward to both the hustings and to challenging [him] to take part in a receptacle-to-receptacle debate".

2021 London mayoral election

Binface announced his intention to stand for the London mayoral election, which was scheduled for 2020 but delayed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He announced a suite of 21 policies which "marries fiscal responsibility, social awareness, and not being an anti-vaccine nutjob", including:

• Finish Crossrail.
• Free parking for electric vehicles between Vine Street and the Strand, in reference to where the Free Parking space is located on the British Monopoly game board.
• London to join the European Union.
• Renaming London Bridge to "Phoebe Waller-Bridge" and Hammersmith Bridge to "Wayne Bridge".
• All government ministers' pay, including that of the mayors, should be tied to that of nurses for the next 100 years.
• Loud snacks to be banned from theatres.
• The use of the speakerphone function on mobile phones to be banned in public. Any offenders caught will be forced to watch the film version of "Cats" every day for a year.

Binface started a fundraiser to raise £10,000, the amount necessary to allow him to stand for Mayor of London. The excess money was donated to the charity Shelter to help combat homelessness. He finished ninth with 24,775 votes in the mayoral election.

2024 London mayoral election

In March 2024, Binface started another fundraiser to allow him to stand at the next London mayoral election, which was held on 2 May 2024. Any funds raised in excess of the necessary £10,000 would again be donated to charity. After gaining the required amount, he announced his entry into the race and released his manifesto, which re-used many policies from previous years but added a few new ones. The Binface manifesto called for the abolition of VAR (presumably in football matches), and promised to force Thames Water managers to "take a dip in the Thames... see how they like it", in reference to the recent sewage discharge controversy; also to "build at least one affordable house", referring to the housing crisis in London; to ban noisy snacks from theatres; and to give listed building status to Claudia Winkleman's fringe.

Binface finished in 11th place with 24,260 votes — notably, ahead of Britain First, despite the election's change to a First Past the Post voting system. Incumbent mayor and election winner Sadiq Khan in a victory speech remarked about celebrating "becoming the first person in British political history to win successive victories over Count Binface". He added that Binface finishing ahead of the far-right Britain First candidate was "another reason to love London".

2024 general election

On 7 June 2024, Binface announced his intention to stand as a candidate in the 2024 general election, contesting the Richmond and Northallerton constituency against the minister, Rishi Sunak. Binface said that he was "taking on the biggest fish of the lot" in the election and commented; "You shirked D-Day Rishi, you can't miss the B-Day", a reference to the controversy caused by Sunak's early departure from the ceremonies commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings. Amongst new policies announced in Binface's manifesto was a "space bridge" to solve the traffic problems caused by Northallerton's level crossings and reducing the price of 99 Flake ice creams to 99 pence. He also proposed National Service for former prime ministers, inviting European nations to join the United Kingdom.

Binface enlisted the YouTuber and mathematician Matt Parker to create charts for his free election pamphlet and to act as an election observer on behalf of the Count Binface Party. The Daily Star endorsed Binface, as well as the Labour Party. Binface finished sixth of thirteen candidates with 308 votes, representing 0.6% of all the votes cast. He commented on Twitter that it was his best placing and highest ever vote count in a national election and declared that "Bindependence Day has come".

2026 Makerfield by-election

For the 2026 Makerfield by-election, Binface stated in his manifesto that he would build at least one affordable house, cap the price of a 99 Flake at 99p, and that of a "Wigan kebab" (a butter pie in a barm cake) at £2. Binface tweeted, "Vote Count Binface to... cut your taxes and raise everyone else's". He also said; "I believe elected mayors should serve out their terms before they're eligible to stand for parliament", a criticism of Andy Burnham who won the by-election while still serving as Mayor of Greater Manchester. Binface won 95 votes, or 0.2% of the vote, placing 7th out of 14 candidates. He was 68 votes behind the Liberal Democrat candidate. In Prime Minister's Questions after the by-election, Keir Starmer congratulated Kemi Badenoch's Conservative Party "because they got 2.2% of the vote in Makerfield, just edging past Count Binface".

2026 Clacton by-election

On 7 July 2026, Nigel Farage announced his intention to resign as the MP for Clacton, triggering the 2026 Clacton by-election. The announcement came amid parliamentary scrutiny of Farage's personal finances and allegations concerning undeclared gifts and support. Binface demanded the other major parties stand down, and said: "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." The Labour Party, Conservative Party, Liberal Democrats, Green Party and Restore Britain have all said that they will not contest the by-election.

Binface has become the main contender to Farage in media coverage, with The Independent reporting that Binface had become the recipient of an anti-Farage tactical voting campaign. In an interview with BBC Radio 4, Binface conceded that he would "probably not" win the election, but said that his job was "to celebrate and defend the wonders of British democracy". Regarding the other major parties dropping out of the race, he asked if they were "running scared from old Binny" or if they thought Farage was "running a cunning stunt", and said his main appeal would be simply that he is not Nigel Farage. Confirming he had never been to Clacton, he said he had got the impression from Farage that staying away from the constituency was "part of how you do the job".

David Wolfson, the Shadow Attorney General for England and Wales, said that the election of Binface could cause a "constitutional crisis", as parliamentary convention dictates that MPs "may not address the House wearing a hat". Defence Secretary Dan Jarvis acknowledged Binface for "stepping forward" and wished him luck. Kemi Badenoch said that if the by-election was a "people versus the establishment" contest, Binface might be the people's candidate. When asked about Binface at the 2026 Ankara NATO summit, Starmer said he could not endorse him due to Labour Party rules. New Statesman business editor Will Dunn endorsed Binface and called for a united front in support of his candidacy. Martin Bell, who served an independent MP for Tatton between 1997 and 2001, has called for voters in Clacton to rally behind "the right independent candidate". Rachel Reeves, who as Chancellor of the Exchequer had to appoint Farage as Steward of the Manor of Northstead before the by-election could go ahead, said on social media: "If [Farage] wants to spend the summer arguing with a bin, I won't stop him".

Binface received a surge of support from activists after announcing his candidacy, raising more than £15,000 in donations in a day, which he described as akin to a "fever dream". He said he hoped to appeal to voters from all sides of the political spectrum and said he could even court the immigrant vote, given he was "the ultimate alien".

Local knowledge

Binface admitted to knowing little about Clacton but was pleased by what he had recently learned:

“I have heard it’s on the sea and I have heard it has got a pier. In fact I was about to abolish it but then someone pointed out that it is a pier, not a peer.

"And I’ve also heard that the people are not necessarily all as Brexity … so there you go.”

The area of Essex where Clacton is located recorded one of the highest votes to leave the EU in 2016.

Binface hopes to appeal to disillusioned Reform voters and others who would have voted for Labour, the Conservatives or other parties had they been given a chance:

“When you think about it, you can see why I might court the immigrant vote in fact. I’m the ultimate alien, though I should stress, not an illegal one.”

Manifesto

Here it is. My manifesto for the 2026 Clacton by-election. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Join me, clean up Clacton and let's make 13th August Bin Day! #VoteBinface #VoteyMcVoteface #YesWeTinCan

New Bin HQ

Manifesto pledge number 13 states: "Parliament to be moved to my new Bin HQ, in Weeley, while the Palace of Westminster is restored."

On 31 January 2023, the Clacton and Frinton Gazette reported:

Covering more than 60 acres, the Weeley barracks site was built in 1803 at the start of the Napoleonic wars when a French invasion was feared. It hosted the regiments which would then garrison the Martello towers along the Essex coast.

The Weeley barracks housed more than 4,000 troops and some of their families, but the full extent and plan of the barracks was lost once the Napoleonic threat was over in 1815. All the buildings were dismantled and the materials recovered were sold, so archaeologists looked for remains of foundations, walls and floors.

Despite covering only three and a half hectares out of the 25 hectares of the whole camp, the work carried out by Oxford Archaeology ahead of a new housing development by Rose Builders brought the Weeley barracks back to life.

Will Vote, planning manager at Rose Builders, said: “This has been a great opportunity to take a step back in time and find out what life would have been like here over 200 years ago.”

On 29 July 2026, the Count Binface for Clacton Facebook page referred to the Gazette article and, suggesting that the former Weeley barracks site could be the location for the new Bin HQ, posed these questions:

"After all the house building that has recently taken place at the Napoleonic-era barracks site, the first question is:

"Will there be room for 'my new Bin HQ at Weeley to accommodate Parliament while the Palace of Westminster is restored' (Manifesto Pledge 13)?

"The second and final question is:

"Will (the planning manager at Rose Builders) Vote for Count Binface?"

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References

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