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Meet 5 of Britain's Most Unusual Election Candidates

From Count Binface to AI Steve, Britain’s novelty candidates use costumes, absurd promises, and electoral loopholes to puncture the self-importance of politics.

Reem Ibrahim | 7.13.2026 12:35 PM

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"I thank my fellow candidates, in all their glory. Lord Buckethead, Elmo, and others. Forgive me if I don't identify them all," said then–Prime Minister Boris Johnson during his victory speech in 2019. On stage beside him stood a man with a bucket on his head and another dressed as the famed red puppet from Sesame Street.

Since the 1960s, novelty candidates have been a common fixture of British politics. At the 2024 British general election, a record 4,515 candidates stood across the United Kingdom, an increase from 3,327 in 2019. Among them were space warriors, AI avatars, and furry TV characters.

These candidates are not running to be elected. They are running to remind voters just how absurd the theater of politics really is. Here are some of the five most iconic in recent memory.

Count Binface, a 5,900-year-old "intergalactic space warrior" and leader of the Recyclons from the planet Sigma IX, has been standing in British elections since 2017. He was created by comedian and comedy writer Jonathan Harvey, who has worked on such BBC shows as Have I Got News for You and The Thick of It.

Count Binface has stood in two general elections, two by-elections, and two London mayoral elections. He ran against Boris Johnson in 2019, securing 69 votes, and stood to be London mayor in 2021, securing 24,775 first-place votes.

In June 2026, he stood against Andy Burnham at the Makerfield by-election. In this race, Binface promised to nationalize Adele, cap Wigan Kebabs at 2 pounds, and conscript........

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