- Popular YouTube prankster ran in European Parliament elections and came third
- Star says his success should be a warning to traditional political parties
- He is now one of six MEPs for Cyprus
While politics has always been a reliable source for jokes it isn’t often that comedians cross the divide and go into parliament. But one Cypriot YouTuber has done just that and become a European MP.
Fidias Panayiotou, who is well known in Cyprus for his pranks, such as a challenge to hug 100 celebrities, came third in the vote despite having no political experience – and very little knowledge about politics or the European Parliament.
Warning to parties
Panayiotou, who stood as an independent candidate, took 19.4% of the votes, which means he is now one of six members of the European Parliament from Cyprus.
Reacting to the vote, he said it was “a miracle” but in an interview with Cypriot state broadcaster CyBC, he made a more serious point. “The [Cypriot political] parties should take it as a warning that they must modernist and listen to the people.”
Engaging young people
Panayiotou, who has more than 2.5 million subscribers to his YouTube channel, has said that the reason he stood as a candidate was not to become an MEP but to encourage young people to get interested and involved in politics, according to a report by the BBC.
His desire seems to have had some success, news site Philenews reported that Panayiotou took a 40% share of the vote among people aged 18-24 and 28% from those aged 25-34.
Panayiotou’s success shows that sometimes ‘joke’ candidates can do very well. He certainly outperformed the UK’s Count Binface, who ran in the recent London Mayoral Elections. The Count – who claims to be from space – polled a small percentage of the vote, but did at least outperform the far-right BNP candidate.
