When the political candidate stood against Theresa May in the 2017 general election, he became a viral star. But not all is well

It began as a bid to mock Theresa May by standing against the prime minister in an election dressed as an intergalactic space-lord. But the political career of Lord Buckethead has ended in a bizarre legal dispute over who controls the right to take part in British public life while dressed as a leather-clad character from an obscure 1980s sci-fi film.

Lord Buckethead’s appearance alongside the prime minister in her Maidenhead constituency, where he won 249 votes on a platform of “strong, not entirely stable, leadership”, summed up her disastrous 2017 general election performance, sowing the seeds for her ultimate departure. As a result, Lord Buckethead’s political career could outlast Theresa May’s.

Images of the lineup at a local leisure centre went around around the world, winning the anonymous election candidate 15 minutes of fame – including an appearance on John Oliver’s HBO show and a slot at Glastonbury.

But recently the character has returned to social media, appearing in person at anti-Brexit rallies, and using the fanbase built during that brief moment of viral fame to crowdfund tens of thousands of pounds for an aborted bid to stand in the EU elections – which caused some concerns among those with a claim on the character.

“People should know it’s not the same person,” said comedian Jon Harvey, confirming for the first time that he was the man in the plastic mask during the 2017 general election. “It’s being run by an American from Beverly Hills.”

In the process it reveals a strange tale that wraps in historical copyright law claims, the extent to which an individual can develop a parody character, and the overseas funding of British political candidates.

Harvey, a former TV producer, discovered the character – a budget Darth Vader – after watching a VHS video of the largely forgotten 1984 film Gremloids with friends. After reading on a movie trivia page that people had previously stood in elections using the persona of the lead character they pledged to revive the tradition.

“We were clueless,” said Harvey, who paid to have a costume made by a friend and handed over the £500 deposit in cash. “I went up to Maidenhead and got laughed at asking people to sign the forms – I got the 10 signatures by going up to people in a Costa Coffee in a local cinema.”

Appearances at hustings followed, as did leaflets that were distributed to every house in the constituency. Then came election night, with Harvey changing into the costume in the leisure centre showers – just in time to meet May as the candidates heard how they had performed.

Comedian Jon Harvey dressed as Lord Buckethead in Maidenhead leisure centre on the night of the 2017 general election. Photograph: Jon Harvey

“By luck not judgment I was in the circle standing next to the British prime minister,” he said, explaining that his vision was curtailed by the costume. “I turned to her and said: ‘Good evening, prime minister.’ She turned to me and said: ‘Good evening.’”

Online interest was enormous, with offers coming in from around the world. This ultimately ended with Harvey, who once worked with Armando Iannucci on the Time Trumpet series, making contact with Todd Durham, the film-maker behind the original Gremloids. Initially friendly conversations later broke down, with the US film director asserting his control over his previously forgotten creation.

Harvey had attracted hundreds of thousands of followers to the Twitter account and felt he had some degree of moral ownership over how the character had developed. “Todd said that the Twitter account I created wasn’t legal as it stood, and that to rectify it I needed to give him the password to the account. I didn’t know then – and still don’t know now – what my rights were and I couldn’t find an affordable way to find out, so eventually I acquiesced.”

Early this year the account began tweeting again and someone else in a newly commissioned costume began appearing at People’s Vote rallies, raising £15,000 to stand in the EU elections, only for the electoral bid to be abandoned when it was pointed out that a run would be likely to take votes away from remain-supporting parties.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Harvey: ‘By luck not judgment I was in the circle standing next to the British prime minister.’ Photograph: Jon Harvey

Durham – who also created the successful Hotel Transylvania franchise – said the crowdfunded money had been returned. He also asserted that no one else had “any legitimate claim nor right of control to my copyright-protected character for any reason”.

“The comedic intergalactic space lord character that I created and developed was not taken in a new direction by others in 2017,” said the director, citing the historical occasions when different individuals had stood as the character against Margaret Thatcher and John Major. “Then, in subsequent decades, I continued to develop the political direction of Lord Buckethead’s character through projects of my own.”

Durham said he would welcome 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.”

Harvey, who is now focusing on his own comedy career, decided to speak out after the crowdfunder showed how candidates could be potentially funded and controlled from abroad, with people believing they were still backing the same person from the 2017 election. “There’s an interesting issue about the independence of candidates and where they get their money from,” he said.

Despite the subsequent legal issues, he enjoyed the experience. “It’s a wonderful expression of British democracy that once every four or five years all these powerful characters are reduced to having to stand in a sports hall with whoever,” he said.