Lord Buckethead

Lord Buckethead is a novelty candidate who has stood in four British general elections since 1987, portrayed by several individuals. He poses as an intergalactic villain resembling the Star Wars character Darth Vader.

Lord Buckethead
Lord Buckethead in 2020
First appearance	Hyperspace (1984)
Created by	Todd Durham
Portrayed by	Robert Bloodworth (Hyperspace, 1984) Mike Lee (1987, 1992) Jonathan Harvey (2017) David Hughes (2019)[1][2]
In-universe information
Gender	Male
Occupation	Political satirist
Nationality	British
Political party	Gremloids (1987, 1992, 2017) Official Monster Raving Loony Party (2019–present)

The original character of Lord Buckethead was created by the American filmmaker Todd Durham for his 1984 science fiction film Hyperspace. Without authorisation, Mike Lee stood as Lord Buckethead in the 1987 UK general election and again in the 1992 general election. The character went unused until the comedian Jonathan Harvey stood as Lord Buckethead in the 2017 general election. His televised appearance standing next to then-prime minister Theresa May went viral, drawing media coverage and an online following.

Following the 2017 election, Durham asserted his ownership of Lord Buckethead and displaced Harvey. With Durham's authorisation, Lord Buckethead returned in 2019, now played by David Hughes. He appeared at People's Vote rallies calling for a second Brexit referendum, and stood in the 2019 general election representing the Monster Raving Loony Party. Harvey continues to campaign using his own character, Count Binface.

History

1980s origins

Lord Buckethead was created by the American filmmaker Todd Durham for his 1984 film Hyperspace, a low-budget parody of science fiction films such as Star Wars.^[3] In the film, Lord Buckethead, a galactic villain similar to the Star Wars character Darth Vader, was played by Robert Bloodworth.^[3]

In the UK, Hyperspace was released as Gremloids by the video distributor VIPCO, owned by Mike Lee.^[4] In the 1987 general election, Lee stood as Lord Buckethead, representing the Gremloids Party, against the Conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher in her constituency in Finchley, London. He campaigned to demolish Birmingham to make way for a spaceport.^[5] He received 131 votes.^[6] In the 1992 general election, Lord Buckethead stood against the Conservative prime minister John Major in Huntingdon,^[4] winning 107 votes (0.1%).^[7]

2017 return

In 2017, the comedian Jonathan Harvey stood as Lord Buckethead against Theresa May in Maidenhead in the 2017 general election. Harvey decided to use Lord Buckethead after watching Gremloids and discovering that the character had been used in earlier elections. He received 249 (0.4%) votes, the highest yet for the character.^[8][9]

Lord Buckethead's televised appearance standing next to May went viral.^[1] In a tongue-in-cheek article, The Guardian gave Lord Buckethead a "Best Policy" award for a manifesto pledge to bring back Ceefax.^[10] A few days after the election, Lord Buckethead appeared on the American talk show Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, campaigning to lead the Brexit negotiations.^[11] Harvey created a Twitter account for the character, drawing hundreds of thousands of followers.^[1] The Guardian wrote that Lord Buckethead was part of a British tradition of frivolous political candidates, many of whom were supported by the Official Monster Raving Loony Party.^[12]

Lord Buckethead made a surprise appearance at Glastonbury Festival in June 2017, introducing the band Sleaford Mods.^[13] That year, he released a Christmas single, "A Bucketful of Happiness", accompanied by a music video.^[14]

Copyright dispute

Following the 2017 election, Durham contacted Harvey and asserted his ownership of the Lord Buckethead character. According to Harvey, Durham instructed him to give him the password to the Twitter account. Harvey acquiesced as he could not afford a legal challenge.^[1] Durham said he welcomed authorised applications to stand as the character in future British elections: "My Lord Buckethead character has always been the voice of the people, so my feeling is to let the people be his voice."^[1]

The Lord Buckethead Twitter account became active again in 2019. That year, Lord Buckethead, now played by David Hughes,^[2] appeared at People's Vote rallies calling for a second Brexit referendum.^[1] In April, Buckethead crowdfunded £15,000 to stand against Nigel Farage for South East England MEP in the May 2019 European Parliament Elections. The bid was abandoned for fear it could take votes away from parties campaigning for the UK to remain in the EU.^[1] Durham said the money was returned.^[1]

For the general election in December 2019, Buckethead represented the Official Monster Raving Loony Party, standing against prime minister Boris Johnson in his constituency of Uxbridge and South Ruislip. He won 125 votes (0.3%). Harvey also stood, using a new character, Count Binface.^[15]

Platform

Lord Buckethead and the American presidential candidate Vermin Supreme

Lord Buckethead's manifesto in the 2017 election promised "strong, not entirely stable leadership", a reference to the Conservatives' slogan "strong and stable".^[16] The following promises were included:

• The abolition of the House of Lords, with the exception of Lord Buckethead
• Nuclear weapons: "A firm public commitment to build the 100-billion-pound renewal of Britain's Trident weapons system, followed by an equally firm commitment, privately, not to build it. They're secret submarines, so no one will ever know. It's a win-win"^[17]
• Free bicycles for all to "combat obesity, traffic congestion, and bike theft"^[17]
• Reducing the voting age to 16 and restricting voting beyond the age of 80
• Instead of Theresa May's commitment to bring back grammar schools,^[17] Buckethead would build "gamma" schools founded on three principles: "One, better funding for teachers, to attract bright graduates. Two, increased facilities for children, especially playing fields. Three, if any child misbehaves three times, they are blasted into deep space, with the parents provided with a lovely fruit basket, by way of consolation or celebration, depending on the child. Discipline is key"^[17]
• A referendum on whether or not to have another Brexit referendum^[18]
• Legalise the hunting of fox hunters^[18]
• Nationalise the pop singer Adele^[18]
• Exile of right-wing columnist Katie Hopkins to the "Phantom Zone"^[18]
• Regeneration of Nicholson's Shopping Centre, Maidenhead^[18]
• The cessation of arms sales to Saudi Arabia so that Britain can purchase laser weaponry from Lord Buckethead^[19]

Electoral history

General election 1987: Finchley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Margaret Thatcher	21,603	53.9	+2.8
	Labour	John Davies	12,690	31.7	+4.9
	Liberal	David Howarth	5,580	13.9	−7.3
	Gremloids	Lord Buckethead	131	0.3	N/A
	Gold Party	Michaelle St Vincent	59	0.2	N/A
Turnout			40,063	69.4	+0.4

General election 1992: Huntingdon^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Major	48,662	66.2	+2.6
	Labour	Hugh Seckleman	12,432	16.9	+3.0
	Liberal Democrats	Andrew Duff	9,386	12.8	−8.3
	Liberal	Paul Wiggin	1,045	1.4	N/A
	Green	Deborah Birkhead	846	1.2	−0.2
	Monster Raving Loony	Screaming Lord Sutch	728	1.0	N/A
	Conservative Thatcherite	Michael Flanagan	231	0.3	N/A
	Gremloids	Lord Buckethead	107	0.1	N/A
	Forward to Mars Party	Charles S. Cockell	91	0.1	N/A
	Natural Law	David Shepherd	26	0.0	N/A
Turnout			73,554	79.2	+5.2

General election 2017: Maidenhead^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Theresa May	37,718	64.8	−1.0
	Labour	Pat McDonald	11,261	19.3	+7.4
	Liberal Democrats	Tony Hill	6,540	11.2	+1.3
	Green	Derek Wall	907	1.6	−2.0
	UKIP	Gerard Batten	871	1.5	−6.9
	Animal Welfare	Andrew Knight	282	0.5	N/A
	Gremloids	Lord Buckethead	249	0.4	N/A
	Independent	Grant Smith	152	0.3	N/A
	Monster Raving Loony	Howling Laud Hope	119	0.2	N/A
	CPA	Edmonds Victor	69	0.1	N/A
	The Just Political Party	Julian Reid	52	0.1	N/A
	Independent	Yemi Hailemariam	16	0.0	N/A
	Give Me Back Elmo	Bobby Smith	3	0.0	N/A
Turnout			58,239	76.4	+3.8

General election 2019: Uxbridge and South Ruislip

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Boris Johnson	25,351	52.6	+1.8
	Labour	Ali Milani	18,141	37.6	−2.4
	Liberal Democrats	Joanne Humphreys	3,026	6.3	+2.3
	Green	Mark Keir	1,090	2.3	+0.4
	UKIP	Geoffrey Courtenay	283	0.6	−2.8
	Monster Raving Loony	Lord Buckethead	125	0.3	N/A
	Independent	Count Binface	69	0.1	N/A
	Independent	Alfie Utting	44	0.1	N/A
	Independent	Yace Yogenstein	23	0.0	N/A
	Independent	Norma Burke	22	0.0	N/A
	Independent	Bobby Elmo Smith	8	0.0	N/A
	Independent	William Tobin	5	0.0	N/A
Turnout			48,174	68.5	+1.7

See also

• Politics portal
• United Kingdom portal

• List of frivolous political parties

References

1. Waterson, Jim (26 May 2019). "Double trouble: the fight to be the real Lord Buckethead". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
2. "Election results 2019: Boris Johnson holds Uxbridge seat". BBC News. 12 December 2019. Retrieved 15 December 2019 – via YouTube. Hughes, David Steven, commonly known as Lord Buckethead
3. "The real Lord Buckethead: the cult sci-fi film that inspired Theresa May's election rival". The Telegraph. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
4. reprobatemagazine (14 June 2017). "Lord Buckethead – The Whole Story". The Reprobate. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
5. "Lord Buckethead vs Theresa May – meet the UK's weirdest political parties". New Statesman. 12 May 2017. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
6. Waterson, Jim (13 May 2017). "A Person Called 'Lord Buckethead' Is Standing Against Theresa May in the Election". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
7. Matthew Engel (23 October 2014). Engel's England: Thirty-nine counties, one capital and one man. Profile Books. p. 150. ISBN 978-1-84765-928-6.
8. "Maidenhead parliamentary constituency". BBC News. 9 June 2017. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
9. "The Latest: Costumed candidates in UK get moment of fame". Associated Press. 9 June 2017. Retrieved 9 June 2017. She looked grim as her local victory was announced, even while sharing a stage with a man dressed as the Muppet character Elmo (he got three votes), Howling "Laud" Hope of the Monster Raving Loony Party (119 votes) and Lord Buckethead, a towering figure in black with a pail on his head (a resounding 249 votes).
10. Heritage, Stuart (8 June 2017). "The 2017 election awards: from best eating of a Pringle to biggest dolt". The Guardian.
11. Frymorgen, Tomasz (12 June 2017). "Lord Buckethead has agreed to lead Brexit negotiations". BBC Three. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
12. Malkin, Bonnie (9 June 2017). "Lord Buckethead, Elmo and Mr Fishfinger: a very British election". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
13. Smith, Patrick (23 June 2017). "Lord Buckethead makes surprise appearance at Glastonbury appearance to introduce Sleaford Mods". The Telegraph. Retrieved 24 June 2017.
14. Dracott, Edd (20 December 2017). "Lord Buckethead released a music video for Christmas and it's a must-watch". Irish Independent.
15. "Comedian Jon Harvey to take on Boris Johnson as Count Binface". British Comedy Guide. 14 November 2019. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
16. Moseley, Tom (27 April 2017). "'Strong and stable' - had enough yet?". BBC News. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
17. "Meet Lord Buckethead, the U.K. election's intergalactic spacelord". CBC Radio. 9 June 2017.
18. Lion, Patrick (9 June 2017). "Theresa May's rival Lord Buckethead ran on Katie Hopkins and Adele policies". Mirror Online.
19. "Buckethead4Maidenhead". Buckethead4Maidenhead.com.^{[dead link]}
20. "UK General Election results April 1992". Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
21. "Statement of persons nominated – Maidenhead". Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead. Archived from the original on 2 August 2017. Retrieved 11 May 2017.

External links

• Official website
• Lord Buckethead with John Major, 1992