Lord Pennface, Elmo and a man wearing a baked bean balaclava all had their brief moment in the sun at the UK election.
As is a long-standing British tradition, the election included a variety of joke candidates, often competing against well-known politicians. While there’s obviously a bit of comedy in the serious moments, the candidates still want to make a point: Since the 1970s, their goal has been to highlight and satirize the gap between politics and ordinary people.
On election night, these joke candidates share the stage as they learn who the winner is in their district. This is the picture you get of the country’s new prime minister shaking hands with a man in an Elmo suit without even blinking.
It’s also how you got a picture of former cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg, who lost the Labor candidate on Thursday, standing next to a man wearing a baked bean balaclava man with hat next to him.
That’s why you see an outgoing prime minister sharing the stage with a man from outer space dressed as a trash can and Archibald Stanton from an official monster rave with a ventriloquist dummy.
Count Binface – a perennial favorite who entered politics in 2018 and lost to Rishi Sunak on Thursday – wasn’t even that dissatisfied with the result, which saw him win Sixth place. “I got the highest parliamentary vote ever,” the self-proclaimed space politician wrote on social media.
