In April, Buckethead crowdfunded £15,000 to stand against Nigel Farage for South East England MEP in the May 2019 European Parliament Elections. That year, Lord Buckethead, now played by David Hughes, appeared at People's Vote rallies calling for a second Brexit referendum. The Twitter account became active again in 2019. 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."
BUCKETHEAD STORY PASSWORD
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. Copyright dispute Īfter the 2017 election, Durham contacted Harvey and asserted his ownership of the Lord Buckethead character. That year, he released a Christmas single, "A Bucketful of Happiness", accompanied by a music video. Lord Buckethead made a surprise appearance at Glastonbury Festival in June 2017, introducing the band Sleaford Mods. The Guardian wrote that Lord Buckethead was part of a British tradition of frivolous political candidates such as the Official Monster Raving Loony Party. Harvey created a Twitter account for the character, drawing hundreds of thousands of followers. 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. In a tongue-in-cheek article, The Guardian gave Lord Buckethead a "Best Policy" award for a manifesto pledge to bring back Ceefax. Lord Buckethead's televised appearance standing next to May went viral. He received 249 (0.4%) votes, the highest yet for the character. Harvey decided to use Lord Buckethead after watching Gremloids and discovering that the character had been used in earlier elections.
In 2017, comedian Jonathan Harvey stood as Lord Buckethead against Theresa May in Maidenhead in the 2017 general election. In the 1992 general election, he stood against Conservative prime minister John Major in Huntingdon, winning 107 votes (0.1%). He campaigned to demolish Birmingham to make way for a spaceport. In the 1987 UK general election, Lee stood as Lord Buckethead, representing the Gremloids Party, against Conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher in her constituency in Finchley, London.
In the UK, Hyperspace was released as Gremloids by the video distributor VIPCO, owned by Mike Lee. In the film, Lord Buckethead, a galactic villain similar to Star Wars character Darth Vader, was played by Robert Bloodworth. Lord Buckethead was created by American filmmaker Todd Durham for his 1984 film Hyperspace, a low-budget parody of science fiction films such as Star Wars. Harvey also stood, using a new character, Count Binface. 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. The character went unused until comedian Jonathan Harvey stood as Lord Buckethead in the 2017 general election his televised appearance standing next to prime minister Theresa May went viral, drawing media coverage and an online following.Īfter the 2017 election, Durham asserted his ownership of Lord Buckethead and displaced Harvey. Without authorisation, British video distributor Mike Lee adopted Lord Buckethead to stand in the 1987 UK general election and again in the 1992 general election. The character, an intergalactic villain similar to the Star Wars character Darth Vader, was created by American filmmaker Todd Durham for his 1984 science fiction film Hyperspace. Lord Buckethead is a satirical political candidate who has stood in four British general elections since 1987, portrayed by several individuals. Official Monster Raving Loony Party (2019–present)