Who is the election candidate Niko Omilana and what YouTube pranks has he done?

Such is the nature of democracy in the United Kingdom that during the election campaign between the Conservative Party and the Labour Party, who are vying to form the next government, there are usually a whole host of silly, bizarre and satirical candidates hoping for your vote – from the Official Monster Raving Loony Party to Count Binface to YouTube prankster Niko Omilana.

In an announcement video posted to Twitter/X on Tuesday, in which Omilana donned child-sized sunglasses, he said: “I have decided to run for Prime Minister and I am running in the Richmond region against our current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and plan to remove him from the political world entirely.

“'Rishi So Knacks' wants to send young people to war, so I have decided to declare war on the system. We will remove Rishi and on top of that we will have achieved the impossible.”

He further stated that he had managed to field several candidates across the country with the name Niko Omilana in order to “declare himself prime minister” and called on his supporters to register to vote.

Because it is illegal under the Representation of the People Act 1983 to stand in more than one constituency, it is believed that the 11 Niko Omilanas standing for constituencies in the UK are different people who changed their names to that of the content creator in order to legally stand.

And of course, people don't actually elect a prime minister, they elect a member of parliament. The party with the most members of parliament then forms the government and its leader takes on the role of prime minister.

Omilana continued: “This country does not believe that young people have power, but together we do.

“'Rishi So Knacks', you have no aura, it's time to go.”

So who is the content creator and “founding father” of the “Niko Defence League”?

Let us explain.

The 26-year-old influencer has more than 7 million subscribers on his main YouTube channel and is known for his elaborate – and sometimes risky – pranks and stunts, as well as being a member of the supergroup Beta Squad.

Here's a recap of some of his wildest stunts to date.

Playing a prank on a KKK leader

I pranked America's most racist manyoutube.com

In 2022, he posed as a fake BBC News reporter for an interview with KKK member Thomas Robb and got him to hurl abuse at fake Instagram accounts, which actually sounded like “Suck my s***” and “BLM” (Black Lives Matter) when read out loud.

Trolling the English Defence League

Undercover as a racist for 24 hoursyoutube.com

In 2018, Omilana set up a fake YouTube channel called EDL TV to ridicule supporters of the far-right group before travelling to their protest rally in the Shropshire town of Telford to mock them there too.

The video ended with his announcement that he would form a parody movement called the Niko Defence League, or NDL, to further mock the group.

Getting Tommy Robinson to promote his merchandise

Undercover as a racist old man for 24 hoursyoutube.com

Wearing a fake age mask and using a wheelchair, he managed to meet controversial far-right activist Tommy Robinson (real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon) at a protest march and get him to promote NDL merchandise.

Trump supporters mock

Undercover for 24 hours at a Trump rallyYoutube

When US President Donald Trump caused controversy with his state visit to the UK in 2019 and Trump's supporters showed up to show their support, Omilana went to a Trump rally wearing a red “Make America Great Again” cap to poke fun at his supporters.

Smuggling of fake works of art into the National Gallery and the Louvre

Secretly placing a painting next to the Mona Lisayoutube.com

With the help of a painting by a follower that he had previously smuggled into the National Gallery, Omilana traveled to France and the Louvre, where he managed to hang the painting – which he called “The Beautiful Lisa” – in the same room where Leonardo Da Vinci's iconic work is located.

Setting up fake McDonalds and Apple stores

I opened a FAKE McDonaldsyoutube.com

Under the names “NotMcDonalds” and “Not Apple,” Omilana built fake versions of their popular counterparts and distributed free technology and food to the public.

Sneaking into boxing matches

SNEAK INTO KSI's Boxing Match (Inside the Ring)youtube.com

Omilana is a friend of YouTube supergroup The Sidemen (which also includes member JJ “KSI” Olatunji) and has supported the rapper and YouTuber’s boxing career since its inception – to such an extent that he has hatched several elaborate plans to get into the boxing ring himself.

He first tried his luck at the KSI-Logan Paul fight in 2018, with a plan that earned him the nickname “Ringside” after he gave his name to a printing company in order to secure a fake bracelet.

He snuck in again for the 2019 rematch, for Jake Paul's fight against Ali “AnEsonGib” Al-Fakri in February 2020 he took things to a new level when he dressed up as “Reng Sayeed”, and for KSI's fight against Tommy Fury last year he carried a giant bottle of Prime to actually get into the ring instead of touching the ropes before security intervened.

Candidacy for the office of Mayor of London

How I won the London mayoral electionyoutube.com

Not content with making fun of supporters of extreme political movements, he ran for Mayor of London himself in 2021. He was one of two YouTubers (the other being Max Fosh) to compete in the contest.

While Fosh tried in vain to get more votes than Reclaim Party leader Laurence Fox, Omilana ended up being the most successful independent candidate on a list of 20 candidates, coming in fifth place with over 49,600 votes.

Will he be able to repeat his success in London when he faces Sunak in the Richmond and Northallerton constituency in Yorkshire on July 4? We will have to wait and see…

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