5 ms·

> Binface received 26.9% of the vote > That's why Count Binface has been able to stand in so many high-profile elections. He has, however, lost his £500 every

by tromp 1mo ago

> Binface received 26.9% of the vote > That's why Count Binface has been able to stand in so many high-profile elections. He has, however, lost his £500 every time, after failing to meet the minimum 5% of votes cast in order for his deposit to be returned. It would seem he didn't lose his £500 this time...

epistasis 1mo ago
What are campaign finance laws like in the UK? Can he crowdsource this to offset his cost? I live in the US and am a citizen, with no connection to the UK, but this hand dryer situation at the Crown & Treaty really needs attention and nobody else is willing to deal with it.
- traceroute66 1mo ago
  > What are campaign finance laws like in the UK? Can he crowdsource this to offset his cost? Anybody can donate to a political party in the UK so that's how you would do it. There's no citizenship/residency requirement AFAIK. Here is his official entry on the register: https://search.electoralcommission.org.uk/English/Registrations/PP12685 https://search.electoralcommission.org.uk/English/Registrati...
  - tialaramex 1mo ago
    Well, you linked to his registration entry but that's not donations. In fact he doesn't have any donations so maybe that's why you were confused. If you look for a political entity which does have donations, like Reform, you can see £50M over the years since it was formed (then as the "Brexit Party") And it's not true that "anybody" can donate. People can donate if they'd be allowed to vote in the UK, which currently includes people who don't live here and so don't care what happens but that might change to some extent. Non-people such as businesses can donate if they are legitimate UK entities with UK registration or whatever as appropriate (so e.g. a UK business you own for no purpose but to fuck with UK politics wouldn't fly, but if you've got a money-losing Californian Wine Importer that's a fun hobby you can make that loss $5000 bigger by having them them donate $5000 to Reform if you like)
  - graemep 1mo ago
    Not quite. The problem is that rich people can find ways around the laws. https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/political-registration-and-regulation/financial-reporting/donations-and-loans/permissible-sources https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/political-registratio...
  - deleted 1mo ago
    [deleted]
  - robocat 1mo ago
    No, anybody can't donate to a political party in the UK: Political parties are responsible for checking the source of loans and donations over the value of £500 to ensure they come from permissible sources. Foreign companies and individuals who are not on the UK electoral register cannot make political donations. See https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/rules-funding-political-parties https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/rules-fu... Other countries likely have similar restrictions e.g. New Zealand disallows foreign donations, and the source of larger donations much be known although I'm not sure if public (i.e. no anonymity above $X). Two digit millions is a significant amount in NZ politics.
    - epistasis 1mo ago
      So you're telling me that < £500 won't be a problem... Perhaps there's an intergalactic mixing service that can be used here to assist in finally solving this hand dryer situation.
      - robocat 1mo ago
        Distributed yak shaving to solve a problem that shouldn't exist. Instead of trying to move forwards, we need to look backwards: a root-analysis of the font of hand dryers (beware d'evil Dyson). Who is to blame: democracy is not the right tool.
- figbert 1mo ago
  Well he's clearly getting funding from somewhere. Look at how his bin has improved over the years!
- KaiserPro 1mo ago
  > Can he crowdsource this to offset his cost probably but the important thing is that you can't spend that much money (well compared to the USA) for a by-election the maximum you can spend is 180k (if youre a member of a national party the party can spend 54K on your behalf. ) in terms of crowdfunding the rules are pretty clear: https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/guidance-candidates-and-agents-local-government-elections-england/candidate-donations/crowdfunding/managing-crowdfunding-donations https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/guidance-candidates-a... there is quite a high paper trail bar for doing this. However if you just want ot get your name on the ballot its £500. if you're just pissing about then thats all it costs.
  - jerf 1mo ago
    He's clearly getting his £500's worth even when he was losing it. I wouldn't worry too much about it.
- noir_lord 1mo ago
  In theory quite strict, in practice multiple parties have been caught breaking them and nothing really gets done. A rule is only a rule if it's enforced.
  - roryirvine 1mo ago
    The Representation of the People Bill currently going through parliament will make the rules stricter and enforcement easier. Fines are being increased too, with the maximum being £500k rather than £20k today. https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/4080 https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/4080
- deleted 1mo ago
  [deleted]
dofm 1mo ago
And this time he got enough votes that if they were to be signatures in any recall petition if triggered by the standards investigation, Farage will lose his seat and have to fight it again if he wants it.
- davidhbolton 1mo ago
  Here's a prediction. The standards committee won't do a recall. The reason, Farage won this election despite the accusation over the £5 million. Having another byelection would get the same result so it would be a complete waste of public money.
  - choult 1mo ago
    They don't decide on a recall. They can sanction an MP, such as suspension from the House of Commons. Instead, a recall petition - requiring 10% of an MP's constituents to sign to then recall - is automatically triggered when an MP is suspended for 10 or more days.
    - NopIdoN 1mo ago
      This has happened e.g. in 2023 to Margaret Farrier - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-66376464 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-663... Her recall got nearly 15% of eligible voters which is about half as many votes as she got to win the seat in 2019. Thousands of locals came out solely to sack this MP. Quick timeline: elected December 2019; spreading covid September 2020; guilty plea August 2022; loses seat July 2023 (10 months before the next general election)
      - dofm 1mo ago
        Notably, Binface got about 1500 more actual votes than that petition would need signatures, on a hot August day. The petition is published for six weeks! Farage must be very uncomfortable now.
  - asib 1mo ago

by tromp 1mo ago

epistasis 1mo ago

What are campaign finance laws like in the UK? Can he crowdsource this to offset his cost? I live in the US and am a citizen, with no connection to the UK, but this hand dryer situation at the Crown & Treaty really needs attention and nobody else is willing to deal with it.

traceroute66 1mo ago
> What are campaign finance laws like in the UK? Can he crowdsource this to offset his cost? Anybody can donate to a political party in the UK so that's how you would do it. There's no citizenship/residency requirement AFAIK. Here is his official entry on the register: https://search.electoralcommission.org.uk/English/Registrations/PP12685 https://search.electoralcommission.org.uk/English/Registrati...
- tialaramex 1mo ago
  Well, you linked to his registration entry but that's not donations. In fact he doesn't have any donations so maybe that's why you were confused. If you look for a political entity which does have donations, like Reform, you can see £50M over the years since it was formed (then as the "Brexit Party") And it's not true that "anybody" can donate. People can donate if they'd be allowed to vote in the UK, which currently includes people who don't live here and so don't care what happens but that might change to some extent. Non-people such as businesses can donate if they are legitimate UK entities with UK registration or whatever as appropriate (so e.g. a UK business you own for no purpose but to fuck with UK politics wouldn't fly, but if you've got a money-losing Californian Wine Importer that's a fun hobby you can make that loss $5000 bigger by having them them donate $5000 to Reform if you like)
- graemep 1mo ago
  Not quite. The problem is that rich people can find ways around the laws. https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/political-registration-and-regulation/financial-reporting/donations-and-loans/permissible-sources https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/political-registratio...
- deleted 1mo ago
  [deleted]
- robocat 1mo ago
  No, anybody can't donate to a political party in the UK: Political parties are responsible for checking the source of loans and donations over the value of £500 to ensure they come from permissible sources. Foreign companies and individuals who are not on the UK electoral register cannot make political donations. See https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/rules-funding-political-parties https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/rules-fu... Other countries likely have similar restrictions e.g. New Zealand disallows foreign donations, and the source of larger donations much be known although I'm not sure if public (i.e. no anonymity above $X). Two digit millions is a significant amount in NZ politics.
  - epistasis 1mo ago
    So you're telling me that < £500 won't be a problem... Perhaps there's an intergalactic mixing service that can be used here to assist in finally solving this hand dryer situation.
    - robocat 1mo ago
      Distributed yak shaving to solve a problem that shouldn't exist. Instead of trying to move forwards, we need to look backwards: a root-analysis of the font of hand dryers (beware d'evil Dyson). Who is to blame: democracy is not the right tool.
figbert 1mo ago
Well he's clearly getting funding from somewhere. Look at how his bin has improved over the years!
KaiserPro 1mo ago
> Can he crowdsource this to offset his cost probably but the important thing is that you can't spend that much money (well compared to the USA) for a by-election the maximum you can spend is 180k (if youre a member of a national party the party can spend 54K on your behalf. ) in terms of crowdfunding the rules are pretty clear: https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/guidance-candidates-and-agents-local-government-elections-england/candidate-donations/crowdfunding/managing-crowdfunding-donations https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/guidance-candidates-a... there is quite a high paper trail bar for doing this. However if you just want ot get your name on the ballot its £500. if you're just pissing about then thats all it costs.
- jerf 1mo ago
  He's clearly getting his £500's worth even when he was losing it. I wouldn't worry too much about it.
noir_lord 1mo ago
In theory quite strict, in practice multiple parties have been caught breaking them and nothing really gets done. A rule is only a rule if it's enforced.
- roryirvine 1mo ago
  The Representation of the People Bill currently going through parliament will make the rules stricter and enforcement easier. Fines are being increased too, with the maximum being £500k rather than £20k today. https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/4080 https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/4080
deleted 1mo ago
[deleted]

dofm 1mo ago

And this time he got enough votes that if they were to be signatures in any recall petition if triggered by the standards investigation, Farage will lose his seat and have to fight it again if he wants it.

davidhbolton 1mo ago
Here's a prediction. The standards committee won't do a recall. The reason, Farage won this election despite the accusation over the £5 million. Having another byelection would get the same result so it would be a complete waste of public money.
- choult 1mo ago
  They don't decide on a recall. They can sanction an MP, such as suspension from the House of Commons. Instead, a recall petition - requiring 10% of an MP's constituents to sign to then recall - is automatically triggered when an MP is suspended for 10 or more days.
  - NopIdoN 1mo ago
    This has happened e.g. in 2023 to Margaret Farrier - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-66376464 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-663... Her recall got nearly 15% of eligible voters which is about half as many votes as she got to win the seat in 2019. Thousands of locals came out solely to sack this MP. Quick timeline: elected December 2019; spreading covid September 2020; guilty plea August 2022; loses seat July 2023 (10 months before the next general election)
    - dofm 1mo ago
      Notably, Binface got about 1500 more actual votes than that petition would need signatures, on a hot August day. The petition is published for six weeks! Farage must be very uncomfortable now.
- asib 1mo ago