 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Novelty candidate" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(August 2025) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Anovelty candidate (also known assatirical candidate,parody candidate orjoke candidate) is a person who runs for political office in an election as a form ofsatire or protest, without seriously expecting to win. Novelty candidates often (but need not) propose ridiculous policies, which are unreasonably specific and trivial, overwhelmingly unpopular or of other characteristics that make them ridiculous.
Novelty candidates are sometimes additionallyperennial candidates, but whereas perennial candidates sometimes run on substantive policy issues, novelty candidacies are typically run for satirical purposes.
Novelty candidates and parties are a staple of British general elections, as running forParliament of the United Kingdom typically only requires a £500 deposit and 10 signatures from registered voters. Candidates may either be affiliated with anovelty party, run as independents, or create their own political party.[citation needed]
The oldest and most prominent novelty party is theOfficial Monster Raving Loony Party, founded in 1982. Notably, a handful of their policy proposals (such as pubs being allowed tostay open throughout the day) have actually been implemented.[citation needed]
Other examples includeLord Buckethead, "independent space warrior"Count Binface, Mr. Fishfinger,[1] theElmo-costumedBobby Smith, an AIchatbot, and a pub owner who listed his pub as a political party and himself as a candidate for advertising purposes.[2]
In 2024, the Icelandic glacierSnæfellsjökull was running in theIcelandic presidential election.[3] 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".[4] The unconventional candidacy drew international media attention, sparking debates on thepolitical representation of nonhuman entities.[5][6][7]
Vermin Supreme is an American politician and performance artist who has run as a novelty candidate in various local, state, and national elections in the United States as aRepublican, aDemocrat, and aLibertarian. He is known for wearing a rubber boot on his head and his campaign promises have included enforcing mandatory tooth-brushing, funding time travel research, raising awareness for a zombie apocalypse,[8] and using time travel tokill baby Hitler.[9]
On very rare occasions, novelty candidates may actually win the elections they run in.[citation needed] A famous example occurred inHartlepool in 2002, whenStuart Drummond, standing as the local football club mascotH'Angus the Monkey, won the Hartlepool mayoral race and was subsequently re-elected.[10]