After Maisie's call to arms, we decided to comb the depths of YouTube for all the other political videos – both the skits and the serious
Maisie Williams has given us all a list of people that she'd like dead. We've all got one, right? The 17-year old actress turns 18 just in time to vote in this year's general election that promises to be one of the most explosive, mainly due to the fact that the country's political hierarchy are locked in a fierce battle to see who's the least dismal.
Bias as we undoubtedly are, we reckon Maisie's call to arms is probably the best political video we've seen - others wildly miss the mark. We decided to take a cursory glance over the best (and the worst) of the rest. Some are "legit", some unofficial mashups for the love of lols, all of them hilarious in their own way.
SKEPTA FEAT. JME AND ED MILIBAND – "THAT'S NOT ME"
People are falling over themselves to be associated with Skepta at the moment and Ed Miliband is experiencing a subtle surge in popularity, so this partnership kind of makes sense. Ed doesn't even really come off badly. During the televised leaders debate, Miliband constantly broke the fourth wall and stared straight down the camera in a bid to connect with viewers, reminding them that he's an actual human being with a heart. He discussed negative aspects of his closest rivals and assured people at home that he's different. "That's not me," he said. Given that Skepta's biggest hit has the same name, it was only a matter of time.
UKIP CANDIDATE SENDS A MESSAGE TO DAVID CAMERON VIA ABBA
In keeping with UKIP's jingoistic vibe, there is something resolutely British about this – it looks grey, sounds depressing and could well be a Phoenix Nights outtake. Here, UKIP candidate Mandy Boylett embarks on a rendition of Abba's "Chiquitita" with the lyrics switched to take digs at D-Cam. It's so desperately lacking in atmosphere that it's a surprise she's not floating around like an astronaut doing karaoke to no-one.
ED MILIBAND VS LANA DEL REY – "RED JEANS"
This immediately gets my respect for being a YouTube video with under 1,000 views, and loses it again when I begin to suspect it was made by a Tory. Splicing footage of Ed Miliband and soundtracking it with anything downbeat creates something uniquely emotive, so Lana's "Blue Jeans" works a treat. This one's got it all – Ed wearing terrible shades, his brother's longing glances and Comic Sans.
THE LIBERAL DEMOCRATS RIPPING OFF CASSETTEBOY WITH UPTOWN FUNK
FFS this one's a tough watch. There's just so much context. Firstly, the Lib Dems' attempt to nestle themselves firmly in the midst of the zeitgeist is enough ennui to last a lifetime, as is the party's faux-humble bid to be seen as those guys that can have a good laugh at themselves. I guess Clegg's spent an entire term in coalition giving everyone the giggles, so may as well join in. It's worth remembering that Cassetteboy are really good at what they do, whoever the Lib Dems employed to ape their art isn't. Nearly 3,500 dislikes on YouTube. What did you expect?
DRAKE X ED MILIBAND
Sadboys unite. Drake has firmly cemented his reputation as the most doleful rapper in the biz and Eddy doesn't even have to try to convince anyone he's on a downer. People are constantly accusing him of being sad, no matter how much he denies it. To be fair, this is one of the most haunting clips of Ed available. I can just imagine a stressed producer saying down his earpiece, "look natural Ed, look natural. Oh God, Ed. FOR FUCK'S SAKE, ED!"
THE UKIP CALYPSO
OK, not a video, but this needs a mention. I can't work out what's more depressing – listening to this, or thinking about the time it took to make it; booking the recording studio, hiring the session players and all those meetings with people who must have said "yeah mate, it's a good idea to record a racist tune and try and get it to No.1".
Ex-Radio 1 DJ Mike Read penned this xenophobic, pro-Farage ditty about "illegal immigrants in every town" and "open borders", which he inexplicably decided to deliver in a fake Jamaican accent. Everyone said it was shit and they didn't like it, so Read withdrew it from sale. A UKIP spokesman blamed the "right-on media", everyone else blamed the right wing.
THE GREEN PARTY – CHANGE THE TUNE
After Zayn's departure from One Direction, a gaping hole needed filling in the world of pop music, and quick. Step forward.....oh, it's the Green Party. Like seriously, who invited you? In this hot takedown of the main political parties, the Greens hire lookalikes that don't really look like any of the party leaders. That guy in the purple tie could be Farage, but looks more like Ed Balls. The one in the red tie is too good looking to be Ed Miliband and the one in the blue looks just looks like Putin. Either there aren't many party leader lookalikes (likely), or the Greens were low on budget (also likely). The song, called "Coalition", is actually markedly better than other parties have served up and manages to fit in that classic pop music trope – the transposition somewhere near the end.
THE LIBERAL DEMOCRAT COMMUNITY CHOIR
This one's from 2010, back when we were all fully immersed in Clegg-mania, back when it felt like he had the keys to some previously unseen promised land. Then he got caught up in a coalition government with David Cameron, did away with all the promises he'd made and became this very realistic mannequin, stripped of all that va va voom he'd built up before getting into "power". This number, performed by the Liberal Democrat Community Choir, promises change through the medium of gospel. How wrong it was. I doubt anybody listens to this anymore, except maybe Clegg himself at 11pm on Friday nights, staring wistfully out of his bedroom window clutching 70cl of Glens vodka.
LABOUR PARTY (UNOFFICIAL SONG)
This is an odd one. I'm constantly waiting for the lyrics to come in over the backing track that sounds like the purgatory between The Corrs and David Guetta. It's sort of like the music that sports programmes use when they're endlessly showing league tables. Anyway, there are no lyrics in this one, it's just an oddly sterile Powerpoint presentation on why Labour are sick.
NICK CLEGG'S APOLOGY AUTOTUNED
This list couldn't go out without an Autotune effort - our generation's default for taking an event in the media and making it a tiny bit funnier. Remember when you voted for the Liberal Democrats last time because you agreed with their promise that they wouldn't raise tuition fees? It was disappointing when they raised them by £3,000 wasn't it? Even more disappointing was Nick Clegg's feeble, recorded apology. Did no-one say: "Listen mate, this is just gonna get Autotuned. It's a big, bad world out there"?