A record number of candidates are standing in next week’s Clacton by-election, but some names on the ballot will be more familiar than others.

As the main parties are not standing against Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, the 33 other candidates on the ballot are either from smaller political parties or are standing as independents.

Nine of these names have already appeared on multiple ballot papers elsewhere in the UK, including Reclaim Party leader Laurence Fox and satirical candidates Count Binface and Howling Laud Hope.

BBC Verify has taken a look at the serial candidates who have decided to stand in Clacton, how they have fared in previous elections, and whether they have ever won enough votes to save their £500 parliamentary – or £10,000 London mayor – deposits.

The Clacton by-election takes place on 13 August, and because there are a total of 34 people contesting the seat it means people in the constituency will be casting their votes on what is understood to be the longest ballot paper in British electoral history.

Using confirmed parliamentary records, we found nine candidates standing against Farage who have stood at least twice before in Westminster parliamentary or London mayoral elections.

They are: Rejoin EU candidate John Stevens, Social Democratic Party leader William Clouston, Reclaim leader Laurence Fox, independent Joseph 77, Count Binface, independent Andy Erlam, and three candidates from the Monster Raving Loony Party – leader Howling Laud Hope, Nick the Incredible Flying Brick and Baron Von Thunderclap.

UK electoral law does not prevent a registered political party from fielding more than one candidate in a parliamentary by-election. Each candidate must have a valid nomination and be authorised by the party’s nominating officer.

Nigel Farage has previously stood in seven parliamentary contests since 1994, and successfully became an MP for Clacton in the 2024 general election.

Parliamentary candidates do not have to be from the area they want to stand in to appear on the ballot, but they do have to be nominated by 10 people who live in the constituency.

A £500 deposit is also required to validate their candidacy, which they only get back if they achieve more than 5% of the vote share.

Mayoral elections have stricter eligibility rules. For example, in London candidates must either live, work or be registered to vote in the capital, or rent or own a property in the city. They must also get at least 10 nominations from each London borough and at least 10 from the City of London, and win more than 5% of the vote share to have their £10,000 deposit returned.

Howling Laud Hope, the leader of the Official Monster Raving Loony Party, has previously stood in 37 parliamentary elections since 1983.

Real name Alan Hope, the party leader challenged David Cameron’s seat when he was elected prime minister in 2010, and stood against former prime minister Theresa May in the 2017 general election.

He gained his highest share of the vote in the 2011 Leicester South by-election, which was held by Labour. Hope finished last of five candidates, with 553 votes, or 1.6%.

He has never won enough votes to get back a £500 parliamentary deposit.

Previous attempts: 37

Deposits lost: 37

Nick the Incredible Flying Brick, whose real name is Nick Delves, has previously stood for the Official Monster Raving Loony Party in 13 parliamentary contests.

He stood against former prime minister Sir Keir Starmer in the 2024 general election, but his highest share of the vote came in West Derbyshire at the 2001 general election, when the Conservatives held the seat. He finished fifth of six candidates with 472 votes, or 0.9% of all votes.

Like Hope, he has never won enough votes to get back a £500 parliamentary deposit.

Previous attempts: 13

Deposits lost: 13

Tom Darwood, who stands under the name Joseph 77, has previously contested eight parliamentary elections.

The strongest of those runs came in Southend West in Essex at the 2019 general election. He received 574 votes, or 1.2%, in a seat held by the Conservatives.

Darwood has never won enough votes to get back a £500 parliamentary deposit.

Previous attempts: 8

Deposits lost: 8

Count Binface is the satirical alter ego of comedian Jon Harvey, who has previously stood in four parliamentary elections and two London mayoral elections.

As Count Binface, Harvey has been on the same ballot as two sitting prime ministers during a general election – Boris Johnson in 2019 and Rishi Sunak in 2024 – and separately stood as a different character, Lord Buckethead, against Theresa May in Maidenhead in 2017.

In 2023 Count Binface stood in the Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election after Johnson resigned as an MP, and in June this year he stood against now prime minister Andy Burnham in the Makerfield by-election.

His best parliamentary result came in the Richmond and Northallerton vote against Sunak in the 2024 general election. He gained 308 votes – 0.6% of the total share – and finished sixth out of 13 candidates.

He has not previously won enough votes to get back any of his deposits.

Previous attempts: 6

Deposits lost: 6

Baron Von Thunderclap – real name Peter Berry – is the third Official Monster Raving Loony Party candidate on the ballot. He previously stood in six parliamentary elections.

The Clacton contest is his first parliamentary by-election however, and his first parliamentary race outside Mid Sussex. His strongest turnout was during the 2001 general election, when he received 601 votes, or 1.3% of the vote share. He finished fifth out of five candidates and the Conservatives held the seat.

He has never won enough votes to get back a £500 parliamentary deposit.

Previous attempts: 6

Deposits lost: 6

Former Conservative MEP John Stevens, who is standing for the Rejoin EU Party, has previously appeared on the ballot in four parliamentary elections.

His best result came as an independent in Buckingham in the 2010 general election, when he challenged then speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow. The main parties do not usually stand against the Speaker in a general election, and Stevens finished second of 11 candidates with 10,331 votes, a 21.4% vote share. Farage also challenged Bercow for the seat that year and came third.

It means Stevens is the only Clacton candidate to have stood against and won more votes than Farage in a parliamentary contest. Stevens also gained enough votes to qualify to have his deposit returned.

Previous attempts: 4

Deposits lost: 3

William Clouston, the leader of the Social Democratic Party, previously stood in three parliamentary elections.

His best result came in Durham North West, in the 2001 general election, when Labour held the seat. Clouston, standing as a Conservative, finished second of four candidates with 8,193 votes, or 20.9% of the vote share.

This was enough votes to retain his £500 parliamentary deposit.

Previous attempts: 3

Deposits lost: 2

Andy Erlam has previously contested three parliamentary elections.

His best run was in Bexleyheath in London at the 1983 general election. He received 7,560 votes, or 17.1%, in a seat held by the Conservatives.

Erlam won enough votes to get back two of his parliamentary deposits.

Previous attempts: 3

Deposits lost: 1

Actor turned right-wing commentator Laurence Fox, of the Reclaim Party, has previously stood in one parliamentary by-election and one London mayoral election.

His only parliamentary contest before Clacton was the 2023 Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election. Fox finished fourth out of 17 candidates. The Conservatives held the seat, while Fox received 714 votes, or a 2.3% share of the vote.

He did not win enough votes to get back either of his deposits.

Previous attempts: 2

Deposits lost: 2

For this analysis, the BBC counted previous UK House of Commons elections dating back to 1955, by-elections to 1983 and Mayor of London records to 2000. Results prior to this are not included in the analysis.

The current Clacton contest counts towards the three-contest threshold to be included in the analysis.

Local council elections, local and combined-authority mayoral elections, devolved legislatures, European Parliament elections and London Assembly elections were excluded.

Official records do not track individual candidates over time and there can be discrepancies where individuals are recorded under different variations on their name, aliases, or for different parties across their careers.

Correction 6 August 2026: This article has been amended to include details found through historical data where candidate names and political parties were recorded inconsistently. We have updated the text and graphics relating to William Clouston and Joseph 77 to add one more election each to their totals, and added an additional candidate to our analysis, Andy Erlam, who met the threshold for inclusion.

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