With the major parties boycotting the Clacton by-election and a man wearing a bin polling second, British e-liquid manufacturer Riot Labs has announced its own entry into the strangest race in politics: Riot Man, a caped satirical candidate running on a platform of ending smoking, letting flavours keep their names and trying chip-stealing seagulls as adults.
The by-election, to be held on 13 August, was triggered when Reform UK leader Nigel Farage resigned his seat amid scrutiny of undeclared donations, announcing he would stand in the resulting contest. Labour, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens have all declined to field candidates, leaving satirist Count Binface as the only declared challenger.
Riot Man will campaign in Clacton and across Riot’s channels throughout the by-election period with a manifesto blending the absurd with the entirely serious. Pledges include making Britain “smoke-free by Friday, Saturday latest,” banning wasps from beer gardens, and converting every smoking area into a dance floor. The full manifesto is at https://rioteliquid.com/blogs/news/vote-riot-man
Behind the cape sits a live policy argument. The Department of Health and Social Care’s consultation on tobacco and vape packaging, appearance and display (open until 2 October) proposes standardised white vape packs, devices limited to a single matt shade of white, black or grey, flavour descriptors reduced to one recognised flavour name, and restricted retail displays that could see vapes hidden behind the same shutters as cigarettes.
Riot has publicly backed tougher controls on youth access and where vapes are sold, but warns that presenting vapes and cigarettes identically will deepen public confusion about their relative harm. ASH reports that 54 per cent of adults already wrongly believe vaping is as harmful as or more harmful than smoking, a misperception the company says risks driving smokers back to cigarettes or into an unregulated black market, at the same time as a new vaping duty raises the cost of switching from October. The company has launched https://savevaping.co.uk to help vapers, smokers and retailers respond to the consultation and contact their MPs.
Ben Johnson, chief executive of Riot Labs, said: “Last week we warned the Government was about to dress the cure like the disease. This week, Westminster gave us a by-election contested by a man who resigned from his own job and a man with a bin on his head. So we thought the serious point deserved a candidate of its own. Riot Man’s pledges might be viewed as a joke. The idea that wrapping vapes like cigarettes and hiding them behind the same shutters will help smokers quit is, unfortunately, a real one.”
Riot Man said: “My opponents offer you a bin and a Barbour jacket. I offer you a Britain where the self-checkout apologises to YOU. Where the seagulls fear the law again. And where no flavour is forced to change its name. Clacton, be more Riot.”
The campaign launched this week in Clacton and across Riot’s social channels.
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