Count Binface is consoled by Sadiq Khan after losing in London mayor elections - after whacky candidate's manifesto pledge to price-cap croissants bags him 24,260

 votes

By MILO POPE
PUBLISHED:  4 May 2024

Count Binface has been consoled by Sadiq Khan after losing in the London mayoral elections.

The peculiar candidate made an inspired effort to 'take the trash out' in this year's election as he aimed 'for a champions league spot'.

But, despite pledging to cap the price of croissants at £1.10 and grant Grade 1 listed status to Claudia Winkleman's fringe, Count Binface finished 13th.

The wacky political figure, who claims to be a 5,072-year-old intergalactic space warrior, won 24,260 votes (0.98%) compared to Sadiq Khan's 1,088,225 (43.8%).

However, it appears it was not all bad for Binface who defeated Britain First candidate Nick Scanlon, who won 20,519 (0.83%) of the vote, which was nearly 4,000 less.

After discovering his victory over Mr Scanlon, he said 'down with fascism, up with Ceefax'.

Re-elected Mayor of London Sadiq Khan pictured congratulating Count Binface

Count Binface reacts after the results were announced in the London mayoral election



'It looks like I have defeated Britain First in an election,' he told reporters at City Hall.

London mayor election results


Sadiq Khan, Labour Party – 1,088,225 (43.8%)

Susan Hall, Conservative Party – 812,397 votes (32.7%)

Rob Blackie, Liberal Democrat – 145,184 (5.84%)

Zoe Garbett, The Green Party – 145,114 (5.84%)

Howard Cox, Reform UK – 78,865 votes (3.17%)

Natalie Campbell – 47,815 (1.92%)

Amy Gallagher, Social Democratic Party – 34,449 (1.39%)

Femy Amin, Animal Welfare Party - People, Animals, Environment – 29,280 (1.18%)

Andreas Michli – 26,121 (1.05%)

Tarun Ghulati – 24,702 (0.99%)

Count Binface – 24,260 (0.98%)

Nick Scanlon, Britain First – 20,519 (0.83%)

Brian Rose, London Real Party – 7,501 (0.3%)




'Come on, you have to cheer about that...down with fascism, up with Ceefax, what can I say?'

Britain First supporters could be seen booing Sadiq Khan as he stepped up to the podium to deliver his victory speech.

But hitting out at the fringe group one member of the crowd heckles back: 'You lost to Count Binface!'

Brian Rose (London Real Party) came last in the vote with 7,501 (0.3%) of the vote.

Elsewhere in Count Binface's manifesto, he pledged to make Thames Water bosses 'take a dip in the Thames to see how they like it' after dumping sewage into the famed waterway.

He also planned to 'build at least one affordable house' and said he would close down shops playing music before December and 'turn them into public libraries'.

Binface finished ninth in the 2021 election, but returned with an ambitious set of 24 pledges.

Binface has stood in four elections previously, including the last mayoral election in 2021.

He received 24,775 first choice votes, in comparison to Laurence Fox's 47,634 and Piers Corbyn's 20,604.

Labour's Sadiq Khan won with 1,013,721 votes with Conservative Shaun Bailey coming second with 893,051.

Binface is also the only candidate to have stood twice in Boris Johnson's former constituency of Uxbridge and South Ruislip. In the July 2023 election he got 190 votes.

Binface, played by satirical comic Jonathan Harvey, follows in the long tradition of joke candidates running in high-profile elections in the UK.

Lord Buckethead stood against Prime Ministers in elections for over 30 years and first stood against Margaret Thatcher.

The wacky political figure claims to be a 5,072-year-old intergalactic space warrior

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Binface won 24,260 votes (0.98%) compared to Sadiq Khan's 1,088,225 (43.8%).

Lord Buckethead posing with this fellow candidate Theresa May at the election count in 2019

Lord Buckethead appears on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

It took its name from a 1984 film Gremloids but the film creator eventually objected.

Since 2017 Lord Buckethead has been rebranded as Count Binface citing 'an unpleasant battle on the planet Copyright' as the reason for his regeneration.

Lord Buckethead stood in Theresa May's consituency of Maidenhead at the 2017 general election and was even flown to the US to appear on John Oliver's HBO show Last Week Tonight.

The British comedian put him forward as a candidate for chief Brexit negotiator in Mrs May's imperiled Cabinet.

The candidate entered the show with all the pomp and ceremony that an intergalactic Lord deserves, a cloud of dry ice around his knees.

Despite the clear novelty factor of his campaign, Lord Buckethead distributed an impressive 4,000 leaflets during the campaign in 2019.