Election Night 2010 has been dominated by talk of Conservative majorities and deals with the Liberal Democrats. The majority of national attention has been concentrated on the coming political uncertainty. Not nearly enough has been written about the ultra-marginal and preposterous candidates running around the country, particularly in the constituencies of Gordon Brown and David Cameron.
Gordon Brown’s re-election in the Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath constituency was relegated to the second most significant event of the announcement. Instead, twitter attention centred on the frankly spectacular Derek Jackson and the sheer longevity of his one fist salute. Derek represented the Land is Power party, and has been drawing a considerable amount of attention on Twitter – currently his party is one of the highest trending topics in the United Kingdom. While his party drew a paltry 57 votes in a turnout of almost 46,000, his silent charisma earned him many more fans.
Derek Jackson fighting the power
Derek claims to represent the Landless Peasants of the United Kingdom – which is everyone outside of the six thousand people who own most of the country. He describes the general public as ‘the pets and livestock of the ruling class, who own the land and manage us like battery hens’.
Powerful stuff.
Instead of toiling aimlessly for the rest of our lives, Derek encourages us all to ‘take back the real source or power and wealth; our land’.
His election video below is a passionate and eloquent plea to the people of Britain.
What a hero.
Much further south, David Cameron was not the only party leader running in Witney. Alan Hope was standing for his party, the Monster Raving Loony Party, under his more well known alias, Howlin’ Laud Hope. Unlike David Cameron in his smart suit and other candidates with their prominent but dignified rosettes, Hope went with the extravagant look.
Laud Hope with his demure hat and rosette combo
He stood proudly on the stage sporting an all white suit with matching wide brimmed hat, set off with an almost unfeasibly large rosette. When it was announced that he had earned 234 votes, he smiled broadly and shook Cameron’s hand. Even the Tory leader cracked a smile at the sheer absurdity of the situation, as you can see here via Reuters.
The Monster Raving Loony Party has long been a beacon of utter madness, and this year has been no different. The party announced a partnership with the betting company William Hill whereby if candidates could correctly guess their poll result they would win their £500 deposit back. The party also made a music video to promote themselves to the public. As before, see below.
So while the talk of the coming days will undoubtedly be about who deserves to be running the country and how they will do so, spare a thought for the little guys who made today so much more entertaining for us all.