Who is Count Binface? ‘Intergalactic space warrior’ scores his best voting results
Results the Clacton by-election are in, and Count Binface has achieved his best results ever – but who is the ‘intergalactic space warrior’?
The viral political star – formerly known as Lord Buckethead – first found fame for challenging PMs Theresa May and Boris Johnson before standing in the 2024 General Election.
When Nigel Farage’s resignation from Reform UK over an investigation into a £5million ‘gift’ he hadn’t declared triggered a by-election in Clacton, Binface announced his plans to run as a candidate.
Within hours of his resignation, his five biggest rivals pulled out, leaving Count Binface as his unlikely top opponent.
In the weeks since the contest started, the Count has made appearances across media, confirmed his outlandish manifesto for Clacton, and actually won a chunk of the by-election’s votes.
So, who is he?
Who is Count Binface?
Count Binface describes himself as ‘an intergalactic space warrior and leader of the Recyclons from planet Sigma IX’.
But the man behind the mask is actually Jon Harvey, a stand-up comedian and author.
Born in Croydon, and a huge Crystal Palace fan, Harvey has worked on political satires like the BBC’s The Thick of It, Have I Got News for You and Time Trumpet.
He has also presented for Times Radio.
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In 2019, the New Yorker hailed him for creating one of the ‘Jokes of the Year’ with his Succession parody Recession, subbing in Boris Johnson’s family.
On Count Binface’s official website, Harvey writes that his alter-ego is an ‘intergalactic space warrior who stood against Theresa May in 2017 and went viral (in a non-Covid way)’.
He then went on to challenge PM Boris Johnson’s seat as MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip, which the PM has held since 2015.
After an unsuccessful bid, the Count threw his ‘metal’ hat (head?) in the ring for the 2021 London mayor election, failing to beat Sadiq Khan.
How many people voted for Count Binface in Clacton?
Although Nigel Farage secured a win in Clacton and is now expected to return as MP for the region, Count Binface won 26.9% of the overall vote in the election, equal to almost 10,000 votes.
In a victory speech, the Count declared himself the ‘winning candidate… of the candidates who bothered to turn for the results’ as Farage failed to attend the announcement of the election results in person.
The results mark a gigantic increase for the Count, who, in the 2019 general election, only won 69 votes after being beaten by Lord Buckethead with 125 votes.
The Count won over 24,000 votes in the 2021 London mayoral race, but lost the 2023 Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election, where he got 190 votes, defeating Piers Corbyn and UKIP, as well as the Official Monster Raving Loony Party.
In the 2025 General Election, he won 308 votes against Rishi Sunak, and then took home 95 votes against Andy Burnham in the Makerfield by-election.
Speaking about his 9,455 vote win in his Clacton victory speech today, the Count said he was ‘over the moon’ before confirming that he’s ‘just getting started’.
Why did he change his name from Lord Buckethead?
Until 2018, Count Binface was known as Lord Buckethead – with many wondering why he changed his name.
Unluckily, it seems comedian Jon Harvey wound up in a copyright dispute over the character with US-based filmmaker Todd Durham.
Lord Buckethead first appeared in Durham’s 1984 sci-fi film Hyperspace – a Star Wars parody of sorts – as an intergalactic villain.
A few years after the film’s release, a version of Lord Buckethead – not played by Jon – went on to stand in the 1987 and 1992 UK general elections.
This Lord Buckethead was played by Mike Lee, the owner of the company that looked after UK distribution for the film, which was called Gremloids here.
Seemingly, this was an approved usage for the character.
But after Jon Harvey’s unofficial portrayal went viral in 2017, a legal dispute cropped up.
As the Count himself writes on his website: ‘In 2018 I had an unfortunate battle on the planet Copyright.
‘An elderly American human film producer took my Twitter account off me after I got famous.
‘So I had an upgrade and took on Boris Johnson in the 2019 election in my new and improved form, Count Binface.
‘I’m still your friendly neighbourhood space warrior campaigning for justice, lasers, Lovejoy and the return of Ceefax.’
A new, seemingly approved performer took over the role of Lord Buckethead in 2019 and ran against Count Binface.
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