Bin it to Win it

This summer, a man claiming to be a 5,900-year-old alien warlord from the planet Sigma IX will contest a byelection in the British seaside town of Clacton-on-Sea on August 13.

The performance is among the most ludicrous works of science fiction of 2026, and could end up being the one with the most real-world impact. It should be recognized by the Hugo Awards.

When one BINdividual citizen stands up for what
he believes in, it can be BINspiring.
(Image via CountBinface.com)

The warlord candidate Jonathan David Harvey has been contesting elections in the United Kingdom for about a decade. Dressed in a silver-and-black spacesuit costume with a garbage can helmet, he goes by the name “Count Binface,” and due to a quirk of British electoral law is allowed to appear on the ballot as such.

In public appearances, and on his campaign website, Harvey disappears into the character of Binface. In the guise of the alien, he claims to have travelled to Earth from another galaxy where he leads a race called the Recyclons. In terms of policy, he proposes to nationalize model railways, and to build “at least one affordable house,” a joke which counterpoints the inadequacy of housing policies from the major political parties.

A veteran of such television writing rooms as Time Trumpet and The Thick of It, Harvey is quick with his verbal repartee. In interviews on BBC, Sky News, The Sun, and other outlets, Harvey flummoxes reporters who aren’t prepared or don’t take him seriously enough. Harvey’s commitment to the Binface persona is almost sublime. Every bit of the character is more bonkers than the next, from the slightly nasal voice to the costume that evokes a funhouse mirror reflection of various clichéd outer-space villains from SFF (everything from Count Zarth Arn to the Cylons). There’s something Dadaist in the way Binface rejects the standard presentation of political candidacy in favor of something based in nonsense, chaos, and the absurd.

Harvey’s performance as the Binface persona has been a good joke for almost a decade. What elevates it in 2026 to something worthy of awards is the context of this summer’s Clacton-on-Sea byelection. This is not a normal political moment. Binface may be the only one standing in the way of an easy re-election for alt-right demagogue Nigel Farage.

For those unfamiliar with the situation, Farage resigned as the Member of Parliament for Clacton-on-Sea while also announcing that he was immediately running again in the resulting byelection. It’s a political ploy, obviously intended as a distraction from Farage’s ongoing financial scandals. 

Leader of the Reform Party Nigel Farage is a
horrid toad-faced muppet whose racist
policies will make the United Kingdom poorer.
(Image via Reuters)

Every single opposing political party declined to participate in the byelection shenanigans. Consequently, there will be no candidate for the centrist Labour Party, no candidate for the even more centrist Liberal Democrats, no candidate for the slightly unhinged Conservatives, no candidate for the completely unhinged Restore Britain Party. Not even a candidate for the “hypnotherapy can make your breast size grow” Green Party.

That means Binface is the only candidate for voters who do not like Farage’s anti-immigrant rants, his dodgy financial dealings, his history of homophobic comments, or his Nazi salutes.

Although it’s still a long-shot, polling shows there’s a chance Binface might win. He is, pretty clearly, the better candidate.

The Hugo Awards have never shied away from recognizing non-standard works of science fiction, or science fiction-adjacent projects — especially when those works align with the political values of WSFS membership. In 1970, news coverage of Apollo 11 won an award for Best Dramatic Presentation. In 1993, a set of United States Postal Service stamps won a Hugo Award for best artwork. In 2020, an acceptance speech denouncing fascism within the genre won an award for Related Work. Count Binface’s campaign in the Clacton-on-Sea byelection would fit firmly into this tradition.

As the iconic left-wing magazine The New Statesman (a magazine founded by H.G. Wells) puts it: Britain must now unite behind Count Binface. This is a science fictional battle against fascism that the Hugo Awards should celebrate. It just might be the most important work of science fiction in the political arena this year.

The absolute, unquestionable, definitive and unalterable science fiction canon

Over the past few weeks, prompted by events at the recent Worldcon, the science fiction blogging

There are no politics
in this novel at all. 
(Image via Amazon)

community has been engaged in one of our regularly occurring debates about what is the literary canon of our genre.

There are, of course, interesting and compelling arguments being presented on both sides of this debate. While some people suggest that the genre is a vibrant, ever-evolving, smorgasbord of creativity in which it would be foolish to try and codify a list of great works, other (more reasonable) voices have been pledging their undying fealty to what are obviously the greatest works of science fiction that will ever be written.

Using a methodology that we will not explain — but which is nonetheless unquestionable and scientifically accurate — our panel of experts has meticulously compiled the definitive list of which works that every human being absolutely must read in order to be taken seriously in any discussion of science fiction.

It should be obvious to all that the fact that most of the great works were written by able-bodied straight white men who died decades ago is entirely a coincidence. The questionable political views of some of these authors is likewise immaterial, as all works are obviously separate from their author.

1. O-Zone by Paul Theroux

(Image via Goodreads)

Whitbread Prize-winner Paul Theroux delved into science fiction in 1986 with this apocalyptic tale of radiation and racism in a vast uninhabited area of the Midwest USA. Theroux uses his literary skills to find the redemptive nature of decay and abandonment. The New York Times praised it as a book that “tells us what we already know, but it does not tell us this well, or interestingly, or vividly.” 

2. Mission Earth Volume 2: Black Genesis by L. Ron Hubbard

One of the most famous science fiction authors of the Golden Age, L. Ron Hubbard’s final magnum opus is the 10-volume Mission Earth saga. This second novel is the most iconic of the series, as it sees anti-hero Soltan Gris allying himself with the mafia to undermine Jettero Heller, who is trying to save planet Earth from environmental destruction. Reading this novel really makes you understand why so many enthusiastic fans (apparently all living at the same address) bought Worldcon memberships for no other reason than to nominate L. Ron Hubbard for a Hugo award.

3. The Blindness by Philip Latham

Writing under the pen name Philip Latham, the American astronomer Robert S. Richardson published several iconic science fiction novels such as Five Against Venus and Missing Men of Saturn. But are any of them as well-remembered as The Blindness, his 1946 work in which he depicts the advent of Haley’s Comet’s return in 1987 as a parable for cultural collapse? 

There is no subtext
in this novel. 
(Image via Amazon)

4. Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

This empowerment fantasy about a messianic young person who is the most special person in the history of specialness has absolutely no subtext. Our unmitigated love for Orson Scott Card’s novel should not be questioned. It is a classic that has shaped generations of science fiction fans.

5. Earth Final Conflict: The First Protector by James White

Northern Ireland’s James White is known for empathy-driven big space science fiction tales. In his final novel, he delivered this character study of an alien who lives among humanity for generations. To fully appreciate the richness of this text, readers may find it helpful to re-watch all five seasons of the 1990 syndicated television series Earth Final Conflict. 

6. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Just when we thought that there were absolutely no new ideas to explore in science fiction, Ernest Cline wrote this entirely unique novel. In Ready Player One, readers are introduced to “the Oasis,” a virtual reality world in which people compete to see who can memorize The Goonies better. Better yet, Ready Player One encourages readers to completely ignore any political subtext in the pop culture spoon-fed to us by multimedia conglomerates. No wonder Stephen Spielberg adapted it into a blockbuster!