webofevil | The noble Lord, Lord Buckethead

One aspect of electioneering in the UK that always cheers me up and helps keep it all in perspective is the fact that any idiot can put themselves forward to be voted for. Consequently, if some racist little fringe party—say, the BNP—tries to claim they're being "gagged" by the Libral Meeja by having their candidates appear on the platform wearing gags, they will always be upstaged by Lord Montgomery Formaldehyde Mmmmmmmngheeeeb-Whoops or whoever, standing behind them wearing a parrot costume and carrying a mallet.

I fondly remember watching the 1992 election, when John Major was waiting to hear the inevitable result in his Huntingdon constituency, dwarfed by the tall, silent man stood about five feet away from him. The man was called Lord Buckethead. He wore a long cape, and a bucket on his head. He lost his deposit, but he was a highlight of the election coverage in a way that John Major could never hope to match.

Lord Buckethead, it turns out, had form. He was also, to my mild disappointment, not simply a random creation for the purposes of making the Prime Minister look a bit silly, but trying to promote a film:

"Lord Buckethead" attempted to promote his movie in the UK by standing as a prospective MP for Parliament in both the 1987 and 1992 General Elections. Representing the "Gremloid" party (by which this movie is known in the UK) he stood against Margaret Thatcher in her Finchley constituency and somehow got 131 votes. Five years later in 1992 he stood against the then PM John Major in Huntingdon and got 107 votes. (IMDB)