Posted in: Comics | Tagged: boris johnson, David Monteith, dominic cummings, elections, Geek Syndicate, Gio Spinelli, Kemi Badenoch, london, Pau Scorpi, Shabana Mahmood, Tom Watson

Could The Geekiest London Politicians Form A Cross Party Avengers?

Could geeky London politicians form a cross party Avengers after the elections? We talk to Paulina Vassileva, David Montieth and Gio Spinella

Britain is going through its equivalent of the US midterms in May, the local elections, where the population votes for their local councillors. And this year it will be seen as more important because it includes London's councils as well. And while it's often seen as a national poll on how the overall government is doing, it is also subject to far more local concerns, and with fewer people voting, it reflects the views more of those who really care the most to vote. And also more subject to moving away from national party politics, with record numbers of independent non-party councillors elected in recent years. Nationally, the Labour Party in government is in the doldrums (though buoyed a bit by Love Actually-style differences between Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer MP and President Donald Trump, but the Conservative Party, the oldest and most successful elected political party in the world, led by Kemi Badenoch MP, is doing no better, and the traditional third party Liberal Democrats, and Scottish and Welsh nationalist parties are doing ever the same, maybe with a little bump. But it is the right-wing anti-immigrant Reform UK party and the left-wing pro-environment Green Party that are seizing the momentum right now. All this will be reflected in the upcoming local elections, to some degree, but also cycle lanes, potholes, 20 mph restrictions, bin collection, speed cameras, bus lanes, bus timetables, and bus services will all be key factors in the London local elections. And people standing expect to mirror the electorate's needs, wants and desires even more than national MPs. And this is where (finally) Bleeding Cool comes in. Yeah, I know it took a while to get here.

Take Pau Scorpi, comic book creator, self-publisher, and artist for Southwark-based Titan Comics, and also who played a member of Corellian Royalty in Solo: A Star Wars Story. She is also an elected Liberal Democrat councillor in the South Richmond ward, better known as Paulina Vassileva. Bulgarian-born (and the first to be so elected in the UK) and a London resident, she gained a recent local profile working with Richmond police to trial face recognition cameras on the high street. Basically, she is Ted Lasso meets Judge Dredd. Her seat will be up in May, and she will be standing again. She told me, "being a bookworm taught me that misfits become the most excellent students of the human condition; and, therefore, the most determined public servants (for better or worse!)."

And then on the other extreme side of London, there is David Monteith, best known at Bleeding Cool for the Geek Syndicate podcast he founded with Barry Nugent, and now an actor and voiceover artist. He was in Nye and The Curious Incident Of The Dog In the Night-Time at the National Theatre, and he has an extensive career voicing video games, including Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew, Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened and Dead Island 2. Oh, and he got a thanks in a Black Widow comic. And he has just announced he will be standing as a Green Party councillor in the Plumstead Common ward in Greenwich. You know, where Thor was trying to get back to in Thor 2. David tells me, "Gandalf screamed, 'You shall not pass, ' and stood against an indomitable foe. I felt the same anger as I watched my local council treat its opposition with condescension, rudeness and wilful ignorance. As it discharged its duty with no regard for due diligence. How can this be? I thought, Is this how things are done – "This shall not stand". So I decided to stand. Then I read this back and realised when you've been reading this stuff your whole life, the hero trope becomes part of your DNA. And if that's what it takes to make you stand up and be counted. So be it."

While going North, we discover that comic book creator and former Conservative councillor Gio Spinella has recently stood down from his councillor seat for the Frognal & Fitzjohns ward (not a Harry Potter street, but where Zoom Rockman exhibited his comic book work). As former leader of the Camden Conservatives and opposition for Camden Council, he now has plenty of material as a stand up comedian in a Superman shirt… and on social media has just offered to give David any tips that he might need. Look at that, cross-party communication and cooperation already! Gio tells Bleeding Cool, "People who spend their lives reading about heroes trying to make a difference sooner or later try to do it themselves. And as most of us can't swing from rooftops, standing for and serving in local government is, in my opinion, an acceptable alternative." He also gave the following advice to councillors and candidates alike. "Never be afraid to ask questions – especially when council officers pepper the papers with jargon. For anyone who asks a question, there will be four other people who also want to ask the same question but are too embarrassed to ask it." Regardless of party, these three seem very supportive of each other, which makes me wonder whether they could ever team up and form a party of their own. Committed to truth, justice, the British way, and business rate tax concessions for Titan Comics? Does anyone else have any suggestions from the current crop of candidates and councillors who might join them?

As for national politicians, we have Leader Of The Opposition Kemi Badenoch MP, playing World Of Warcraft (a lot), and obsessing about NBC's Heroes, the MCU and Doctor Strange, former Prime Minister Boris Johnson with in-depth knowledge of Tintin, the Beano, Spider-Man, Superman and Stan Lee-era Marvel Comics, former Deputy Leader Of The Labour Party who now sits in the House Of Lords, Tom Watson, now Baron Watson of Wyre Forest, and who goes to comic conventions as a fan, and is a keen gamer, especially of Portal 2, and current Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood MP who can name all the Infinity Stones when pressed and former Chief Adviser to Boris Johnson in Downing Street, Dominic Cummings has never been short of a PJ Masks, Spider-Man, Avengers or Thanos reference. I am hoping very much that Tintin screenplay writer Steven Moffat reflects all this in the upcoming TV series Number Ten, pitched as Press Gang in Downing Street. And I bet Alan Moore might have something to say about this as well. I might ask him sometime…

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