Timing is everything in comedy and, so it seems, in British politics for an everlasting comic candidate who wears a garbage can on his head.

Count Binface, a self-described 5,000-year-old intergalactic space warrior, is having an otherworldly moment in a special election derided as a farce long before the ballot was packed with nearly three dozen candidates, many from the silly end of the spectrum.

Binface, who has run against prime ministers past and present, was the first to throw down a challenge when Nigel Farage – leader of the right-wing Reform UK party, which has made serious gains over the last few years to threaten the ruling Labour party at the polls – abruptly quit Parliament and said he would seek re-election to clear his name over financial allegations.

When the major political parties denounced Farage's move as a political stunt and boycotted the Clacton-on-Sea election, the trash-talking comedian was launched into prime position as the default challenger. He has been on a nonstop media blitz since.

"I'm the only fresh thing on the menu," Binface said in a recent interview.

"You're all sick of these politicians, as good as they're trying to be, but you know you need something different, a little bit of secret sauce, the colonel's secret blend of herbs and spices."

Binface, alter ego of comedian Jon Harvey, said his manifesto includes "nationalizing Adele, building at least one affordable house, spending more time in Clacton-on-Sea than Washington DC", in a reference to Farage's trips to the US, where he considers President Donald Trump a supporter.

The Clacton by-election will be held on August 13.