A pilot has traced the shape of a bin with their flight path near Clacton before Count Binface challenges Nigel Farage in a byelection on Thursday.
The light aircraft spent around half an hour between 2,100ft and 4,150ft above the sea near the Essex coastal town zigzagging to mark out the shape of a bin, according to data from Flightradar24.
The plane took off from Earls Colne airfield near Colchester at 2.48pm on Saturday and landed at 4.13pm. The aircraft is in private ownership, according to Flightradar24, and the pilot’s identity is unknown.
Voters will go to the polls in Clacton in a byelection triggered by the resignation of Farage, the Reform UK leader.
Count Binface, a self-proclaimed space warrior who wears a bin-shaped helmet, is Farage’s main rival. There are also three candidates from the Official Monster Raving Loony party and numerous independents.
All the main Westminster parties are boycotting the byelection, which they have dismissed as a stunt.
A survey by Survation on behalf of Mandate Research suggests Farage will win 73% of the vote while Count Binface could get 20%.
Farage resigned after it emerged that he was being investigated by the parliamentary standards commissioner over a £5m gift from the cryptocurrency tycoon Christopher Harborne, which he received before taking his seat in the Commons.
The investigation, which is looking at whether he should have declared the money when he arrived in parliament, was suspended on his resignation but is expected to resume should he win the byelection.
If he is found to have broken the rules, and a suspension of more than 10 days is imposed, it could trigger a recall petition and the prospect of the Reform UK leader losing his seat, forcing a further contest.
Farage has repeatedly insisted the gift – revealed by the Guardian in April – was not linked to his political career. He has said he had no intention of returning to politics until June 2024, just before the election.
