When Rishi Sink or Keir Starmer take to the stage to celebrate victory in the British election on Friday, they will be accompanied by either a man with a trash can on his head or an “Elmo” in their moment of victory. “Would be wearing a dress. street
The more than 4,500 candidates running for Parliament's 650 seats include those whose parties, single-issue campaigners, and, in a peculiarly British tradition, those who simply make fun of the whole thing. are
The most famous figure in the latter category is Count Banffis, “a space warrior, leader of Recyclon from the planet Sigma IX”, who will challenge Prime Minister Sink in his constituency in Northern England.
Dressed in a silver robe with a matching cape and a silver trash can as a helmet, Banffis says he wants the July 4 election to be “Independence Day” and that he is the “sensible” choice for voters. .
“It's OK, under the British system I have to stand up against Prime Minister Rishi Singh, it's fantastic,” Ben Face, aka comedian Jonathan Harvey, told Reuters outside parliament where he was mobbed by passers-by for photos. said
Benface is now a familiar face — or helmet — in British elections, having stood against two former prime ministers, Theresa May in 2017 — though then as Lord Buckethead — and Boris Johnson in 2019. He also ran for Mayor of London. 2021 elections and in May this year when he secured 24,000 votes.
His eye-catching policies include promises to cut prices by 1.10 pounds ($1.39), national service for all former prime ministers and to represent Britain in the Eurovision Song Contest.
“It may be true that on Thursday night or Friday morning I didn't hit Rishi Singh numerically,” said Banffis, which was corroborated by a national newspaper, the irreverent Daily Star tabloid. “But I would argue that the moral victory will be mine.”
Lonnie
Veterans of the UK comedy candidate genre belong to the official Monster Raving Looney Party, which was formed in 1982 and has regularly contested elections since then.
This year it is fielding 22 candidates, including Howling 'Lad' Hope, party leader, Baron von Thunderclap, and Earl Elvis of East Anglia.
Elsewhere “AISteve” is hoping to become the world's first artificial intelligence lawmaker, while in Southend the candidate for the Psychedelic Movement Party stands on promises to ignore the law and open 24-hour cannabis cafes.
Some candidates have made no secret of using the election for publicity, such as Chris French, who is standing as a political party inside his pub “The Miter” in Richmond, West London.
Labor leader Starmer will be Britain's next leader, according to polls. “Elmo” from the Muppets will compete for his seat.
Like Count Banffis, Elmo has run in several elections even though Bobby Smith, dressed in red, is trying to make a serious political point and change the law regarding fathers' rights.
Benfica himself had a serious message behind the jokes, saying it was important to protect democracy in a year when “more than half of the able-bodied human beings on your planet” go to the polls.
He said: “I'm here to value it, to defend it, to celebrate the fact that no one in Britain can just vote, you all stand for election regardless of your platform or not. How silly you look.” “I urge everyone … get out to vote, and most importantly, make your vote count.”