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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Politics
Dan Bloom

General election: Man who stood as Lord Buckethead changes name - and takes on Boris Johnson

The man who stood as 'Lord Buckethead' in the 2017 general election has changed his name - and will take on Boris Johnson.

Comedian Jon Harvey, 39, from Lewisham, south east London, will stand against the Prime Minister in Uxbridge and South Ruislip as Count Binface - two years after he gained 249 votes against Theresa May.

He said he decided to drop the Buckethead name, which originated from a cult 1984 US film called Hyperspace, after a copyright tussle with the film's creator.

The Count, who gave his age as 5,965 galactic years, confirmed tonight that he will stand on a ticket promising to bring back Ceefax.

And he challenged Boris Johnson's claim that his Brexit deal is "oven-ready", saying: "I say it is shop-soiled, past its sell-by-date and contains more than a trace of male bovine faeces. Surely the only way to unite the country is another referendum."

He told the Mirror: "I got my nominations through sheer galactic charisma and offering to rename Uxbridge's shopping centre."

Count Binface is still not the comedian's legal name - and neither was Lord Buckethead.

Instead of changing his name by deed poll, he stood under a little-known rule that means people can be referred to by their "commonly-used" name.

When Jon Harvey stood against Theresa May in 2017 (UGC)

When he was styling himself as Lord Buckethead, Mr Harvey became a cult hit in 2017 after appearing next to Theresa May at the Maidenhead election count.

He even went stateside, appearing on comedian Jon Oliver's US TV show.

But he decided to "renounce his peerage" after what he described as a wrangle over copyright involving the original film.

"I later suffered an unpleasant battle on the planet Copyright," he claimed tonight.

But on the bright side, the Count added: "I thought I'd give myself a promotion."

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