Niko Omilana, Youtuber with over 3 million subscribers, who is known for his pranks and parodies. Is running for London mayor. This may just seem like another joke candidate, such as Count Binface, but what's unusual about Niko is that he is polling with 5 per cent of the total vote. How has he done this? And how successful can he be?
Around two weeks ago came the poll, from YouGov, that forced everyone in the mayoral race to take notice of Niko. It had Sadiq Kahn easily beating Tory opponent Shaun Bailey and Niko Omilana in 5th, only a couple of percentage points behind the Green Party and the Liberal Democrats. Worryingly for Sadiq Kahn, who relies a lot on the youth vote, Niko is the second most popular between ages 18-24.
Since that poll came out Niko has released his manifesto. Which is frankly quite brilliant. These are the highlights: "Freddo's go back to costing 5p," "The EDL will be deported to Poland," and " Forcing Boris Johnson to shush." This manifesto has gained a lot of traction on social media and has the potential to gain him even more support to challenge the Lib Dems and the Greens.
To conclude, it is unrealistic to suggest that Niko can come anywhere close to challenging Labour or the Tories. But spurred on by his manifesto and social media following. He does have a realistic chance of getting close or even beating the Liberal Democrats and/or the Green party. Which would be a stunning achievement.
