alt Hacker NewsBritain has a first-past-the-post election system so the candidate with the most votes wins in each constituency.
As Farage didn’t get an absolute majority last time, and as a majority of voters didn’t even vote last time, I was extrapolating that Count Binface had a real chance. Not just as a protest vote, but a magnet for everyone not supporting Farage as well as everyone wanting a laugh (in a British boaty-mcboatface way).
Perhaps a serious clean-up-politics neutral candidate would have done better, like Martin Bell - a very well known war correspondent - who stood on an anti corruption ticket against the scandal riddled Conservative Neil Hamilton in Tatton in 1997.
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All of Farage’s supporters turned out - more votes for him this time than last time.
They get what they deserve.
Maybe in a real election. Clearly the big parties had no need to get involved in this farce. I think they were right: Farage got publicly humiliated, all for nothing. Surely this has to be the highest score for a novelty candidate. Besides, I don’t think candidates, even from major parties, would really have a chance in the current situation.
The problem with independent candidates is that they will never be able to influence Parliament enough to make anything happen, they will just be dominated by the big parties. Short of banning people from being part of a political party (which might be a good or bad idea) it is just a sad fact of FPTP voting.
Perhaps people in the constituency like Farage and want a Reform government.
I think people voted Binface in protest but knowing that he would lose.
Because what if he had won (apart from Farage's utter humiliation, of course)? Would he sit in Parliament in costume? Need to know when to stop so that the joke does not turn into a farce.
Regarding first-past-the-post, the system plays heavily against Reform UK / Farage, actually. They currently have 5 MPs (well, 4...) with more votes nationally than the Lib Dems who have 71 MPs.
> […] I was extrapolating that Count Binface had a real chance.
The Stand-up Maths channel just did a video on this, "Can Count Binface win?":
> "Can Count Binface actually win this election? In a word: yes. In more words: probably not… but we'll get to that later."
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zn1pGRgEoo