A viral politics game has revealed how difficult it is to judge a candidate's political affiliation based solely on their appearance. The game, titled Guess the Party, was created by Sam Hamill-Stewart and challenges players to look at photos of local election candidates and guess their party.
Game Statistics
By the time polls closed on Thursday night, more than 3.9 million guesses had been made by approximately 134,000 players. The statistics show that Green candidates are the easiest to identify, guessed correctly by 37.5% of players, followed by Reform UK candidates at 35.4%. However, Liberal Democrats proved the trickiest, with only 15.2% of players guessing them correctly.
Notable Guesses
Some candidates had remarkably high correct guess rates. Jacky Carr, a freelance theatre producer and artist standing in Broxborne, was correctly identified as a Green candidate by 91.3% of players. Alan John Outlaw, standing in Keighley East, was correctly guessed as a Reform candidate by 80.7% of players.
However, many candidates defied stereotypes. Martin Radbon, the Green party candidate for Erith, was guessed correctly by only 1.7% of players, with most believing he was standing for Reform. Laura Caroline Harrison, a Conservative candidate, also confused players due to her distinctly non-conservative purple hair. She was identified as a Tory by only 2.5% of players, with many assuming she was a Green candidate.
Colorful Hair as a Red Herring
Colorful hair was a common source of mistakes. Among the top five candidates incorrectly identified as Greens, four had pink, red, or purple hair, but they were actually standing for the Conservatives, Labour, or the Liberal Democrats. The game highlights that while certain visual cues like a red tie might suggest Labour, they can also be misleading.
Hamill-Stewart removed profiles with party logos in the background, sourcing pictures from Democracy Club to ensure a fair challenge. The game has been widely shared across Westminster and among party activists, sparking discussions about political stereotypes and appearances.
