
Reform UK has been accused of many things in 2026, but a tendency towards honesty is not one of them. The latest example of a Reform politician telling porkies came on 16 August when Nadhim Zahawi peddled some rubbish about Count Binface. Now,Β Good Morning Britain have been forced to apologise on the man’s behalf:
Today,@GMB issued an on-air clarification that Count Binface did not accept money from Dale Vince or have anyone from other parties canvassing for him in Clacton, after Nadhim Zahawi falsely claimed he did on the show last week. pic.twitter.com/8t8xLJrGYT
— Wokerati Marty (@WokeratiMarty) August 17, 2026
Reform lies
Nigel Farage faced off against Count Binface in the Clacton by-election, which was called by the Reform leader himself. Why did he call this race? Well, as we reported on 10 August:
Nigel Farageβs decision to call a by-election in Clacton confused everyone. People speculated that he forced the race to draw attention away from hisΒ many ongoing financial scandals. The problem with this theory is that the by-election actually drew more attention to Farage and his numerous controversies.
Now, according to theΒ Times, there may actually be a good reason for why he called the by-election. The problem is this βgood reasonβ ended up being a very bad one because Farage reportedly called the by-election on the understanding that it would permanently halt a parliamentary investigation. This is not the case, and as everyone now knows, the investigation will resume once he returns as an MP (should he beatΒ Count Binface).
Farage did beat Binface, and the parliamentary investigation resumed. He could also now face a police investigation. Reform politicians, meanwhile, have been forced to pretend that the Clacton result was a great victory – hence comments like Zahawi’s.
Beating the bin
In the offending comments, Zahawi said:
he got… Β£180,000 from Dale Vince, who’s a big Labour supporter. He got activists from the Conservative Party and from Labour going out to try and knock on doors for him.
Zahawi also claimed that Reform was fighting ‘the establishment’, prompting the following complaint from baroness Christina McAnea:
How can you be against the establishment? This is the privately educated former city trader who was also an MEP. He is the very embodiment of the establishment. And he’s against people like Count Binface, three Monster Raving Looney candidates. That’s hardly the establishment that’s up against him.
Now,Β GMB have been forced to apologise on Zahawi’s behalf.
Confirmation that @nadhimzahawi was lying on GMB last week. This is the same guy who claimed the heating bill for his stables on MPs exoenses and used lawyers to threaten journalists over his millions in unpaid tax. https://t.co/V7eCRv1BtK
— Scot Ramsay (@ScotRamsay) August 17, 2026
Apologies
In the clip above, host Ranvir Singh said the following:
we’ve got a slight clarification to make… Nadhim Zahawi… said that Count Binface – who would come second in that election – had received Β£180,000 from the businessman Dale Vince. and had asked Labour and Conservative Party activists to go and knock door-to-door for him. Now, while Mr Vince did offer financial support to Count Binface, it was never actually accepted.
Count Binface also says he has never asked activists from other parties to knock on doors for him. So we’re just clarifying that this morning.
The clarification followed a significant backlash online:
@Ofcom you need to sanction and fine @GMB for broadcasting blatant lies. This also applies to @SkyNews and @BBCNews who frequently platform the liar Zahawi. https://t.co/R3DSG0Nz1f
— Hugh
(@HughEdw31897368) August 16, 2026
Deception by Reform
This isn’t the only accusation of dishonesty that Reform politicians have faced since the Clacton by-election. Following the conclusion of voting, Farage claimed he couldn’t attend the count because the police advised he was in danger. The police later confirmed that they did not advise he avoid the count, however. This led to the accusation that actually Farage wanted to avoid the embarrassment of standing next to Binface – something Farage seemingly confirmed himself:
"I am damned if I am going to stand on a stage, having won a resounding victory… and be demeaned and humiliated by nobodies," Nigel Farage says
With votes still to be counted he claims victory, but says he won't attend the Clacton declaration
Live: https://t.co/hDmX1IgUxU pic.twitter.com/UJc3eYdVT2
— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) August 14, 2026
These Reform politicians certainly seem to have a funny relationship with the truth!
Featured image via Dan Kitwood
By Willem Moore

(@HughEdw31897368) 