General election 2017: Lord Buckethead, Mr Fish Finger and other novelty candidates

Britain woke up to a shock election result this morning, but they weren't the only people confounded by the UK political scene. Foreign commentators were dumbfounded by an altogether different aspect of British politics - the comedy candidate.

Contenders such as Lord Buckethead, Elmo and Mr Fish Finger "captured the attention of election-watchers around the world", reports The Guardian.

Many took to Twitter to express their delight at the "British penchant for unorthodox candidates".

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Lord Buckethead, who describes himself as an "intergalactic space lord", came head-to-pail with Theresa May in the race for Maidenhead, the Prime Minister's constituency. He won 249 votes for a manifesto that included a pledge to "banish Katie Hopkins to the Phantom Zone".

Although Lord Buckethead's campaign, based on "strong, not entirely stable leadership", brought laughter to many, the Daily Telegraph argues there is satirical substance behind it. "He was sending a message to Mrs May, pointing out the madness of the electoral system", the paper says.

Less successful in the battle for Maidenhead was Sesame Street's Elmo, who secured three votes.

They weren't the only novelty candidates using humour and eccentricity to send a clear protest message.

In the West Midlands seat of Aldridge-Brownhills, Mark Beech of the Monster Raving Loony Party pledged to reduce the alphabet to 23 letters by removing "NHS" and proposed monthly fetes for schools "to pay for those little extras, such as desks, books, paper and pens".

Meanwhile, Mr Fish Finger delivered arguably the best photobomb of the evening when he interrupted the victory speech of Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron.

The Westmorland and Lonsdale candidate, who changed his name by deed poll to take part in the election, reports The Guardian, secured 309 votes and significant support on Twitter:

However, it appears the events of last night have taken their toll on Mr Fish Finger. He tweeted that he was "absolutely shattered" and in need of "a few hours in the freezer".