A Brief History of Politicosplay in the UK
By the Politicosplayer's Federation UK
2001: Kenneth Clarke (Conservative)
2005: Conservative Leadership election following Labour's third election victory. "Boris wigs" become popular as a way to show support for Boris Johnson at his events
2005: Boris Johnson (Conservative)
2005: Boris Johnson wigs are seen at the Conservative Party conference for the first time. While women usually wear the wig as a joke some men take the Boris look further, with a full costume.
2006: Nigel Farage (UKIP)
2006: A Conservative Future fundraiser event at conference includes a prize for best Boris, with a men's and women's category - this is the first recorded costume party as part of a political Conference
2007: Nick Clegg (Liberal Democrat)
2007: The Lib Denm Conference of this year is controversial in politicosplay history - many see is as the start of politicosplay in its modern form - the costume party had Lembit Opek on the judging panel - the first MP to do so, multiple costumes are worn, they are worn around conference, and politicosplay had a social media presence. On the other hand, the term was not used, and costumes did not have to be explicitly political - in fact the contest winner came as Doctor Who.
2008: Caroline Lucas (Green)
2008-2010: David Miliband (Labour) [Prime Minister]
2008: The Politicosplayers Forum (PF) is established, creating the first place where people from multiple parties can talk about costuming and politics. This still runs today. David Miliband outmanuevered Brown to become Labour leader and politicosplay arrived at the Labour conference, largely as a way to express dissent or approval of the changes.
2009: Complaints are made against Lembit Opik following his behaviour towards a female politicosplayer at the Lib Dem Conference - The politicosplay community proves it can act cohesively and in a crossparty manner against groping and sexual assault.
2010-2014: Boris Johnson (Conservative) [Prime Minister]
2010: Jeremy Corbyn (Labour)
2010: The election of Boris, and Corbyns' surprise victory in the Labour leadership election, sees an explosion of interest in politicosplay in all conferences, largely for satire.
2011: Occupy The Labour Party holds its first demonstration outside of Labour's headquarters, in support of Corbyn. Politicosplay plays an increasing role in proceedings. First Great Schism as the Gang of 400 leave the Politicosplayer's forum to create the Worker's Republic of Politicosplay (WRP)
2012: Andrew Cooper (Green)
2012: The Labour Politicosplayer's Union is founded - the first party association dedicated to politicosplay. While it is a small group, it punches above its weight as one of the few leftist dominated party groups and because journalists and reporters have started to pay close attention to politicosplayers and give them a platform.
2013: Chuka Umunna (Labour)
2013: Corbyn being forced out from the Labour Party leadership caused splits in the Politicosplay community, with PF largely coming to be seen as pro-Umunna, while WRP was deeply not. A Second Great Schism occurred, with many posters in both WRP and PF being banned for their views on Corbyn, and perceived racism against Umunna and Diane Abbot. Scottish Independence was increasingly a fraught issue in both communities. By the end of the year, PolitiCosPlay World (PW) was founded as the first major politicosplay forum to be run from the US.
2014 Scotland Ref: Yes: 50.9% No: 49.1%
2014: Scottish Independence continued to split opinions on the various forums, and for the first time they were seen to decline in importance compared to more modern social media networks. Guido Fawkes' harrassment of a SNP activists (particularly those under 16) lead to his arrest and prosecution. Guido would later be cleared of all wrongdoing in 2018 and is still quite a popular blogger in alt-right circles.
2014-2018: Jacob Rees-Mogg (Conservative) [Prime Minister]
2014: Following Boris Johnson's resignation the premiership fell to an equally colourful character, who was a regular feature in politicosplay. In fact many have ascribed his success politically to politicosplay popularising his visual brand.
2015: Andy Burnham (Labour), Jo Swinson (Liberal Democrat)
2015 EU Ref: Leave: 54.6% Remain: 45.4%
2015: The year politicosplay hit the mainstream with politicosplayers very visible in the EU referendum, both in the largely Tory led Leave campaign and in the nasceant movement that has become FBPE. Politicosplay regularly made the news and prominent politicosplayers started to be seen as celebrities in their own right. The Young Greens became the first youth arty to explicitly have a politicosplayers rep in their governance group.
2016: Caroline Lucas (Green)
2016: Nicola Sturgeon (SNP)
2016: Following the defeat of the SNP in the Scottish Parliament elections negotiating Scexit fell to Unionists. FBPE clashed with Leavers, Cybernats clashed with FBPU (Follow back Pro-Union) and it was a mess. In London a prominent politicosplayer collective was arrested for wearing a political uniform. This case was later turned out of court, a result that some legal theorists believe has influenced the rise of political uniforms in 2020.
2017 Scotland Ref: Remain: 50.2% Leave: 49.8%
2017: Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh (SNP)
2017: Scotland opting to stay in the UK led to a resurgence in power for the SNP and a renewed interest in nationalist politicosplay, the trend of kilts and tartans took off, which has been influential in modern grunge and the rise in kilts in the the US. The Politicosplayers Official was reistered, and while it is not much used in Britain spurred the development of Pride and campaigns tartans and is still very popular in the US politicosplay community.
The year was also notable for the #MeToo movement - the death of a prominent politicosplayer at the Conservative Party Conference led to a renewed interest in politicosplayers working together. The Politicosplayers Federation was founded and has since played a key role in the cosplay is not consent movement. Many even believe that it had a big part to play in the arrest of Alex Salmond.
2018-Present: David Cameron (Conservative) [Prime Minister]
2018: Rees-Mogg promised the Scottish a lot in terms of Brexit to stop Scexit and when the time came to renege on those promises he lacked the political support to do so. After being forced to delay Brexit he was no confidenced and replaced by a more moderate figure and Britain has been left with David Cameron, the remainer who ended up as the architect of Brexit.
2019: Jack Buckby (UKIP)
2019: The Cameron government's Gender Recognition Act Referendum led to a split within the Politicosplay community, with the older communities such as Politicosplayer's world largely favouring women, while the WRP and Politicosplayer's world favoured transpeople.
The Politicosplayer's Federation has attempted to listen to both points of view and recognise both that transwomen are women and non-binary people are valid, and that biological women's rights and single-sex spaces according to the Equality Act must be maintained.
Extinction Rebellion employed politicosplay to a massive extent this year, although many argue that the extreme commonness of some outfits (for instance their trademark green shirts) actually classify as a political uniform.
2020: Laura Pidcock (Labour)
2020: COVID-19 and lockdown have impacted the politicosplayer's community greatly, and have led to a decrease in activity in the community. However politicosplayers have continued to play an active role in the key debates of this year and have been prominent on both sides of the discussion on issues like #BlackLivesMatter, The Lockdown and trans rights. On all sides, this has blurred into political uniforms, which are such a common feature of modern protests.
While the Politicosplayer's Federation does not condone violence or political uniforms we have worked closely with all groups to encourage the use of proper PPE and many feel that the need to comply with complex government regulations in this regard is the real reason costumes have become more commonplace this year.
The US election has seen the first politicosplayers make the leap into elected politics on a national level, and this is likely to be repeated in 2021 when the delayed UK elections take place.
Some commentators talk about the politicosplay community being more diffused, as forums give way to Twitter, Facebook, Tiktok, Parler and Spinster. A small minority even talk about there being another schism within the community. However, the Politicosplayer's Federation remains as strong as ever and has built up links within all parties. In fact, in November Labour officially recognised us as the single representative body for politicosplay. The Conservatives and the SNP are working on similar arrangements.
While this has been a fraught and unprecedented year for us all, the Politicosplayer's Federation is going into 2021 strong, united, and ready to campaign in a reasonable and balanced manner for the rights of Women, Men, transpeople, the B.A.M.E Community, and anyone else who enjoys celebrating their politics through cosplay
By Karen O'Brien, External Communications Officer for the Politicosplayer's Federation [Last edited 13/11/2020, 3:45 am]