ANDY Burnham turned to trash talk calling on voters to dispose of Nigel Farage in his Count Binface battle – as Reform loyalists said they were being hit by a “smear campaign”.
The Prime Minister-in-waiting got behind the underdog candidate after the main parties including Labour and the Tories refused to stand opponents in next month’s Clacton by-election.
Andy Burnham has called on voters to dispose of Nigel Farage in his battle with Count Binface Credit: Reuters
Farage quit as an MP and decided to stand over scrutiny over his finances Credit: PA
Burnham was speaking at the O2 Silver Clef Awards for music on Thursday night as he heaped more pressure on Farage who is caught up in a slew of financial accusations.
He said: “I promise I’m not going to talk politics to you tonight except to say. Count Binface you are carrying the hopes of the nation, don’t let us down.”
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Farage quit as an MP and decided to stand over scrutiny over his finances and a probe by Parliamentary authorities billing the vote as a “people versus the establishment”.
But the party’s deputy leader Richard Tice said Reform were being subjected to a smear campaign after it was was reported cops are investigating a £500,000 donation.
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The cash concerns money given to them back in 2024 by Fiona Cottrell, The Times first said.
Tice told Times Radio: “This is all a politically motivated smear campaign.
“It’s outrageous. And I’m afraid, in a sense, it’s all this stuff which is why Nigel has said, ‘Enough is enough. I’m done with this. I’m going to take it to the good people of Clacton-on-the-Sea.’ This is not a coincidence.”
It comes after allegations that her convicted fraudster son George provided undeclared funding to Farage.
Meanwhile, Farage hit out at his opponents for not standing against him saing they have “acted in concert” as a uniparty.
He told Talk: “They’re trying to turn it into a joke. But, I mean, frankly, there shouldn’t just be a Clacton by-election going on. There should be a general election going on.
“We’ve got a new prime minister coming in, you know, who’s got no mandate of any kind at all. And I think the public are pretty sick of this game of musical chairs that goes on in Number 10.”
