No British election is complete without a man with a bin on his head

By John Phipps

A figure in a silver cape and a huge cylindrical helmet stands in front of a field of nettles in North Yorkshire. In the near distance is a market town, nestled beneath a Norman castle keep. Speaking to camera in a wavering metallic voice, the figure officially announces his bid to become the MP of Richmond and Northallerton – the parliamentary constituency of the prime minister, Rishi Sunak.

In the frenetic and sometimes brutal world of British politics, “Count Binface” has become a reassuring constant. Voters can be confident that on election night they will get to see the prime minister, the leader of a nuclear power, standing next to a man in a cardboard space suit with a bin on his head.