PANot since the icy-hearted, handbag-toting Margaret Thatcher has the British public been gifted a Prime Minister so easy to imitate through the medium of fancy dress.
With his shock of white blonde hair, bumbling persona and stodgy plum pudding of a voice, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has long used his physical quirks to stand out within the sober halls of Westminster.
Having at last achieved his Number 10 dreams, kids are drawing from his carefully cultivated brand of eccentricity to a startlingly sinister effect, with BoJo proving to be a popular costume choice for Halloween 2019.
PANew research from the Beano has found Boris to be the 10th option on a list of topical costumes for this spooky season. Creepy Pennywise from It topped the list, with Spider-Man swinging in at second place.
The study – which quizzed 2,000 parents and their kids – has named Boris as the ‘ghastliest figure of the 21st century’, voted as such by two-thirds (66%) of British parents and children.
Furthermore, Boris is regarded to be the second-scariest celebrity by kids in the UK, trumped only by Donald Trump himself. These dubious accolades has been reflected with ghoulish glee with this year’s round of scary costumes, with kids channelling Boris in his many guises.
With ample opportunity for pleasing alliteration, we have Bullingdon Club Boris and Boris Bike Boris, Brexit Boris and Buffoonish Boris.
PAThis Halloween looks set to be quite political, with plenty of nods to the ongoing Brexit saga. More than half (54%) of families will be incorporating Brexit into their Halloween plans, with one in five (20%) using Brexit-themed decorations.
Editorial director of Beano Studios Mike Stirling said:
Kids today are far more clued up as to what’s going on in the world, and with Brexit on everyone’s lips, it’s unsurprising that we’ll be seeing a horde of mini Borises taking over the streets of the UK this Halloween, with a Jeremy Corbyn or two.
UNILAD spoke with Tom, a marketing professional who will be dressing up as Boris this Halloween:
He is pretty scary! He’s a bit like a deflated Trump, like we put Donald in the washing machine.
I’m going to have to learn the impersonations though, not sure I can mumble his ramblings as well! I need to embrace an inner posher me!
PARather tellingly, more than eight in 10 (82%) kids in the UK now opt for modern or pop culture outfits at Halloween, rather than traditionally spooky costumes such as ghosts, witches and vampires.
We’re used to mini trick-or-treaters rocking up to our front door with luminous vampire fangs and bin bags smeared with fake blood; makeshift manifestations of childhood nightmares that are often more adorable than horrifying.
But in these divided times, it would appear the younger generation no longer need to look towards the supernatural to feel a cold shudder of terror. They need only look to the politicians who hold their futures in their greedy, bloodsucking hands…
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Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.