This is not a joke: YouTube legend Max Fosh is running to become Mayor of London

The Youtuber Max Fosh is running to become Mayor of London. Specifically, he is trying his hand at politics with the sole aim of getting more votes than his fellow Harrow alumnus, Laurence Fox.

Fosh is best known to uni students as the charming posh guy who immortalises their embarrassing moments on YouTube by interviewing students outside of clubs or after they’ve bought a particularly ill-conceived meal deal. He boasts an impressive 394,000 followers on YouTube and 79,000 on Instagram, but will this be enough to rival Laurence Fox, who has “about five million quid in backing”?

Fosh first announced his plan to enter the mayoral race on March 12^th in a two-minute clip shared on YouTube and Instagram. He said:  “London is my home. It’s a great city, it’s full of wonders” and explaining his decision to run for mayor: “historically, there is always a posh bloke on the ballot, and so I thought I’d fulfil that quota. But on this occasion, I’m not alone.”

Laurence Fox, the founder of the new Reclaim Party, is also running for the position of London Mayor. In his video of March 12^th Fosh said:

“Both Laurence and I are as qualified as each other to be London Mayor, I think we both competed in the sixth form debating society.

“But Laurence is running on a ticket which is all about your ‘Freedom to speak’. It’s a good policy – speaking is important. So, I’m going to do a little bit of speaking now, to say this: I would officially like to add my name to the ballot list for the next London Mayor, just to get more votes than Laurence Fox.

“Who do you think would win – political party with five million pounds of backing or one youtube-y boi with a few hundred thousand subscribers? Well, I guess we’ll find out. See you on May 6^th, Laurence.”

On March 28^th Max Fosh released another video titled “How is A YouTuber Running for London Mayor?”

In short, his political ambitions are:  “I’ve got one aim, with my mayoral run, and that’s to get more votes than this silly little goose *video pans to Laurence Fox* who’s also running.”

Fosh explains exactly he’s running against Laurence Fox to be Mayor of London:

“The reason I want to beat Laurence is because he seems like a very upset man. He’s a bit of a grumpy guy….Politics is just a cesspit of name-calling and anger, and it’s just going to make Laurence grumpier. So I want to beat Laurence in this election to get him out of politics and get him back to doing what he does best.”

It’s basically a philanthropic mission at this point. Wouldn’t it be nice to see more of such kindness and sincerity in politics today?

Fosh goes on, quoting his favourite lyrics: “It’s so hard building a house in the dark.”

These lyrics have now been converted into inspirational quote templates, which are available on Fosh’s Instagram, in case you feel so inspired, you need a copy for yourself.

In the video Fosh also explains a bit about the application process to be a mayoral candidate. Candidates have to start by acquiring two signatures of support from every London Borough, then finding a campaign manager and raising a £10,000 deposit fee.

For the signatures Fosh used an ingenious series of methods, scouting volunteers from his Instagram followers to canvas for him in the far afield boroughs as well as sourcing potential signees via Hinge and WhatsApp groups.

In order to fulfil the second aspect of the application process Fosh embraced the spirit of a true politician:

“For the campaign manager, I thought I’d really dive into the role of a politician, so I asked a woefully under-qualified friend of mine to do the job – my housemate, Dan.”

To pay the £10,000 deposit he’s steering clear of brands or sponsorship, simply using the money raised by his Youtube channel in the last few months: “Just the community coming together to use their democratic right to beat Laurence Fox in an election.”

Candidates only get their deposits back if they receive over 5% of the votes for mayor, last year only three candidates achieved this. In his video of March 28, Fosh divulged: “I don’t in any way expect to get my deposit back. No way, that’s gone, bye-bye.”

Make sure that when it comes to voting on the 6th of May you actually read the manifestos of all the candidates. But do take the time to consider “one youtube-y boi” and maybe help him achieve his grand aim of checking the ambitions of his not-quite-school-friend, Laurence Fox.

If you can’t vote in London, give the videos a watch anyway for amusement’s sake, they’re worth the time.

Image Credit: Max Fosh via YouTube. 

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