No British election is complete without a man with a bin on his head

Joke candidates reveal the carnival element of British democracy

Illustration montage featuring Count Binface & other political candidates

By John Phipps

A figure in a silver cape and a huge cylindrical helmet stands in front of a field of nettles in North Yorkshire. In the near distance is a market town, nestled beneath a Norman castle keep. Speaking to camera in a wavering metallic voice, the figure officially announces his bid to become the MP of Richmond and Northallerton – the parliamentary constituency of the prime minister, Rishi Sunak.

Explore more

Discover more

1843 magazine | Inside the AI back-channel between China and the West

Computer scientists are reaching out across the geopolitical divide to try to stop an apocalypse

1843 magazine | A journey through the world’s newest narco-state

Drugs transformed Ecuador from a Latin American success story into a war zone


1843 magazine | The radioactive flood threatening Central Asia’s breadbasket

What it’s like to live with nuclear waste on your doorstep


1843 magazine | Why I gave up trying to delete myself from the internet

An enjoyable trip down memory lane soon became a boring full-time job

1843 magazine | Why aren’t Harris and Trump listening to Pennsylvania’s steelworkers?

The candidates oppose the takeover of US Steel. But employees want it to go ahead