Binface and Roberts steal limelight from Farage and Hanson

Almost as soon as Pauline Hanson's aircraft touched down in the UK, things started taking a nasty turn for both the UK Far Right and One Nation's media coverage back home, writes investigations editor Ross Jones.

On 5 July 2026, James Ashby and Pauline Hanson settled into pointy-end luxury for the long haul to Heathrow.

They were off to CPAC UK to mingle with the glitterati of Britain’s Hard Right and revel in the adoration of the faithful — even if the UK faithful couldn’t understand a single word Hanson said apart from "migrant".

Almost from the time the pair’s aircraft touched down, things started taking a nasty turn for the UK Far Right.

The conference wasn’t due to kick off until 16 July, plenty of time for some photo ops for the folks back home and some Ashby-generated cinematic magic for the propaganda storehouse.

First port of call was to be former Neighbours teen star Holly Valance (she played Flick Scully), now a Reform UK member, Mar-a-Lago regular, Driza-Bone brand ambassador and close buddy with UK Reform leader Nigel Farage.

Valance, Hanson and Ashby kicked off the day with a jaunt around Blenheim Palace on the tourist side of the rope before taking the 40-or-so-minute drive across the Cotswolds to Jeremy Clarkson’s pub, The Farmer’s Dog.

Maybe at the palace or maybe at the pub, wherever they were, word came through that Holly’s pal Farage had resigned from parliament on 7 July and was no longer the member for Clacton.

At the time, Nigel was under investigation by the UK's Parliamentary Standards Commissioner over whether he breached House of Commons rules by not disclosing many millions of pounds in donations, one lot from a crypto tycoon, another from a criminal known as Posh George, who was convicted of wire fraud in the U.S. in 2016.

Farage was with him when he was arrested at O’Hare Airport.

Nigel announced his resignation with theatrical fanfare, claiming establishment persecution made continuing as MP for Clacton intolerable.

The only way to fix this was to resign, stand again at a by-election, beat his many opponents hands down in a first-past-the-post race, cement his position at the top of the Right and show those annoying investigators he had the People behind him. Last time around, he got 46 per cent of a 58 per cent turnout.

Without irony, Farage presented this by-election as "The People v The Establishment".

On 8 July, a serial comedic election candidate known as Count Binfac announced he would contest the by-election.

The Count has contested six elections for various offices. He scored 69 votes against Boris Johnson at the 2019 general election, so he’s been around.

In Australia, a political party called the Count Binface Party would not meet AEC naming rules, but in Britain, pretty much anything goes — see Monster Raving Loony Party.

Check out Binoy’s excellent IA story on the phenomenon that is Binface.

Count Binface crashes Nigel Farage's by-election gamble

Nigel Farage's by-election gamble is upended by Count Binface, exposing the theatre and contradictions of modern British politics.

Restore Britain is harder Right than Reform UK.

Its leader, Rupert Lowe, the member for Great Yarmouth, was first elected as a Reform UK member before he and Nigel had a major spat and Rupert went rogue with his own party. Restore was registered as a party only in February 2026, so Rupert’s revenge was fresh when he and Hanson had a three-hour meeting in London on 9 July.

It is possible Lowe informed Hanson that Restore Britain was not going to stand a candidate in the upcoming Clacton by-election because it was a Farage stunt and they were having no part of it.

The expectation was that Farage would romp it in like he did last time around, but once Nigel was re-elected at the by-election, the investigation would pick up where it left off. This investigation was very likely to conclude Nigel was in breach, in which case another by-election would be called within weeks. Better to keep the powder dry for the main game.

All the other major parties thought so too and, one by one, they all announced they wouldn’t go along with Nigel’s stunt either.

Farage was being ridiculed in Parliament for standing against a bin. His financial shenanigans became a focus of attention, his ties to wealth and privilege being aired in the dailies.

Up until his resignation, the British media had been giving Farage a dream run; suddenly, he was in the scrutiny spotlight and clearly not enjoying it.

The next few days were busy for the Australians. A podcast with former Conservative PM Liz Truss — at 49 days, the shortest-tenured PM in British history, leading to jokes about her not being able to outlast an iceberg lettuce.

Then another podcast with extreme RWNJ Tommy Robinson, later joining the Putin-loving convicted fraudster for a tour of his hometown, Luton. With a Channel 7 Spotlight film crew in tow, the pair trawled the sweltering, depressed streets, ambushing surprised locals and asking if Luton was a shithole.

It was no surprise when some agreed; it was equally no surprise when some told the entourage to fuck off.

After all these exertions, it was time for a break. While James Ashby decided to enjoy the delights of London, working-class battler Pauline jetted off to the Sicilian isle of Taormina to hang with Australia’s richest woman at a $ 5,000-a-night hotel.

But while Pauline was hanging with the A-list and sporting Dolce and Gabbana, the unattended home front was suffering a lack of management.

News Corp jumps on One Nation bandwagon

News Corp’s growing support for One Nation follows a familiar playbook: protecting billionaire interests by repackaging far-right politics as a movement for ordinary Australians.

Unshielded, Senator Malcolm Roberts was targeted in the media for his admiration of Alex Jones, his apparent anti-semitism, his claim that COVID vaccinations caused miscarriages and his adulation of Putin, among other things.

Like Count Binface, who hails from Sigma IX, Roberts was shown to be on another planet, one only die-hard "ONanists" could inhabit.

Joyce had just broken ranks with his leader by claiming Islam was not based on terrorism, thereby showing himself a heretic, when Pauline told Tommy Robinson she thought her daughter Lee was pretty cluey and was capable of running One Nation. Defector Barnaby was put in a very public corner, his standing as a future leader instantly diminished.

By 17 July, 34 candidates, a record number, had nominated for Clacton, including Laurence Fox, who seemed like such a sensible chap when he was playing Hathaway in Lewis, but who is now vying for the title of nastiest RWNJ in Britain.

Many of the others appear to be a mix of unknowns and jokes.

The by-election will no longer be only between Farage and Binface, but the damage to Farage on the national stage has already been done.

The man under Binface is an Oxford-trained classist and a successful comedy writer who, dressed as a bin from another planet, has punctured Farage’s pomposity and possibly fatally damaged Reform UK.

Farage needs a very big win to stay politically relevant at a national level. Anything less than a landslide against a bin and a bunch of nobodies and Reform will be yesterday’s whinge.

When Pauline finally delivered her speech titled ‘Australian Fight Back’ (sound familiar?) to CPAC on Saturday 18 July, it was to a mostly empty auditorium, just a quarter full according to reports. About 120 people struggled through her syntax, possibly because the room was air-conditioned.

It’s unlikely Count Binface will ever tour Australia, but we could do with a laugh.

The Clacton by-election will be held on August 13.

Ross Jones is IA's investigations editor and the author of the two-year investigation, Ashbygate: the plot to destroy Australia's Speaker, published by IA in 2015 and available HERE.