The 2019 UK election resulted in a triumphant win for Boris Johnson’s Conservative party, a loss for Jeremy Corbyn and has done little to curb the country’s Brexit-debate woes.
But behind the headlines, there’s a few more unique election names who have kept up the UK’s rich tradition of novelty political candidates. This is not satire. Brace yourselves!
2019 saw the debut of Count Binface, who does pretty much what he says on the box. He’s quite literally a man with a bin on his face, who contested Prime Minister Boris Johnson for his Uxbridge and South Ruislip seat.
He was not successful.
The granddaddy of novelty candidates is Lord Buckethead. He took on Margaret Thatcher in 1987, John Major in 1992 and Theresa May in 2017 also went up against Johnson this year.
He walked away with 125 votes, which he seemed pretty stoked about.
In 2019 Buckethead, a self proclaimed intergalactic space lord, decided to use his power for the greater good.
Buckethead released an official PSA via his Twitter account at the start of December asking his followers to vote not for him, but for the candidate with the best chance of beating Boris Johnson.
The 2017 election introduced the world to Mr Fishfinger, a man who legally changed his name to run against Liberal Democrat Tim Farron.
Securing just 309 votes, it wasn’t enough for the frozen seafood product to unseat Farron but Mr Fishfinger got the last laugh during Farron’s acceptance speech.
The same election saw a candidate that simply went by Elmo, complete with full furry red suit, run for a position with parliament.
Sadly, Elmo walked away with just three votes.
The phenomenon of novelty candidates is not a new one in the UK. In fact, there’s a whole party dedicated to them.
The Official Monster Raving Loony Party (of which Lord Buckethead was a part of for 2019) was conceived in 1983 by musician David Sutch, otherwise known as Screaming Lord Sutch, 3rd Earl of Harrow.
The party has had anywhere between five and 27 candidates entered in elections since their debut in the ‘80s and boasts a membership within the thousands.
Voting-wise, they peaked in 1992 securing 7,929 votes or 0.1 per cent of the ballot.
2019 saw 24 hopefuls from the party enter into the election race including The Mid Beds Minx and Nick the Incredible Flying Brick.
The candidates often create manifestos, like who was running on a platform of “free canned laughter for all folk from the jovial to the grave.”
While it’s clear these names will probably never make it to the UK Parliament - or 10 Downing Street for that matter - they appear to be a lighthearted reprieve in a stressful time in British politics.
