Novelty candidate
A novelty candidate is a person who runs for political office in an election as a form of satire or protest, without seriously expecting to win. Novelty candidates are similar to and sometimes synonymous with perennial candidates, but whereas perennial candidates sometimes run on substantive policy issues, novelty candidacies are typically run for satirical purposes.
In the United Kingdom
[edit]Novelty candidates and parties are a staple of British general elections, as running for Parliament of the United Kingdom typically only requires a £500 deposit and 10 signatures from registered voters. Candidates may either be affiliated with a novelty party, run as independents, or create their own political party.
The oldest and most prominent novelty party is the Official Monster Raving Loony Party, founded in 1982. Notably, a handful of their policy proposals (such as pubs being allowed to stay open throughout the day) have actually been implemented.
Other examples include Lord Buckethead, "independent space warrior" Count Binface, the Elmo-costumed Bobby Smith, an AI chatbot, and a pub owner who listed his pub as a political party and himself as a candidate for advertising purposes.[1]
In Iceland
[edit]In 2024, the Icelandic glacier Snæfellsjökull was running in the Icelandic presidential election.[2] Icelandic law requires presidential candidates to be at least 35 years old, hold Icelandic citizenship, and have no criminal record. To meet these criteria and secure the glacier’s place on the nomination list, campaign founder Dr. Angela Rawlings legally changed her middle name to "Snæfellsjökull".[3] The unconventional candidacy drew international media attention, sparking debates on the political representation of nonhuman entities.[4][5][6]
In the European Union
[edit]The Cypriot content creator Fidias Panayiotou was elected to the European Parliament in 2024. Entering politics without prior experience, he was widely regarded as a novelty candidate.[7] Panayiotou has stated that his policy priorities include educational reform, specifically proposing the removal of traditional examinations and the encouragement of self-directed learning.[8]
In the 2024 European Parliament election, planet Earth was nominated as a symbolic candidate by The Planetary Democrats.[9] The campaign argued that all beings affected by the Parliament’s decisions should be represented within the institution. Key proposals included appointing Commissioners for Natural Beings and implementing a separate “Nature Parliament.”[10] The candidacy resulted in a legal dispute before the Federal Constitutional Court over candidate eligibility and attracted international media attention.[11][12][13]
Winning novelty candidates
[edit]On very rare occasions, novelty candidates may actually win the elections they run in. A famous example occurred in Hartlepool in 2002, when Stuart Drummond, standing as the local football club mascot H'Angus the Monkey, won the Hartlepool mayoral race and was subsequently re-elected.[14]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "UK elections feature novelty candidates blurring lines between politics and satire". RFI. July 4, 2024. Retrieved July 7, 2024.
- ^ "Icelandic glacier running for president". BBC. 2024-04-11.
- ^ "Bid to secure spot for glacier in Icelandic presidential race heats up". The Guardian. 2024-04-19.
- ^ "Das Streiflicht". Süddeutsche Zeitung (in German). 2024-03-19.
- ^ "'Snaefellsjökull for president': is een gletsjer straks kandidaat bij IJslandse verkiezingen?". De Telegraaf (in Dutch). 2024-04-21.
- ^ "El glaciar de Islandia que quiso ser presidente del país". National Geographic (in Spanish). 2024-07-04.
- ^ "In Cyprus, a TikToker makes political waves ahead of the European election". POLITICO. 2024-06-02. Retrieved 2024-11-19.
- ^ Netcast Zone (15 March 2024). Όλα είναι κατορθωτά - Φειδίας Παναγιώτου | YOUth Inspire E54.
- ^ "2024 European election: 59 lists of nominated candidates submitted within the prescribed time limit". Federal Returning Officer. 2024-03-19
- ^ Rüpke, A., Magaña, P., Klimczuk, A., Mikhaylovskaya, A., & Challenger, M. (2024). Political Representation of Nature. The Planetary Democrats. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13142135
- ^ 2 BvQ 26/24. ECLI:DE:BVerfG:2024:qs20240409.2bvq002624. (Federal Constitutional Court 2024-04-09).
- ^ Winters, Joseph (2024-09-11). "What if nature had a voice in legislation?". Grist. Retrieved 2024-11-19.
- ^ Batarilo, Dunja (2024-05-13). "Weltparlament für die Natur: „Müssen den Planeten ins Boot holen"". Die Tageszeitung: taz (in German). ISSN 0931-9085. Retrieved 2024-11-19.
- ^ "H'Angus the Monkey ex-Hartlepool mayor Stuart Drummond relocating". BBC. October 15, 2021. Retrieved July 7, 2024.