A Norwegian heavy metal singer has become an "accidental" politician after appearing on a ballot paper with his cat and the words "please don't vote for me".
Glyve "Fenriz" Nagell, frontman for Darkthrone, has become a local media sensation after he was "involuntarily" voted onto his local town council in Kolbotn, Norway, which has a population of around 9000.
"Basically, they called and asked if I wanted to be on the list [of backup representatives]," he told music website Clrvynt. "I said yeah, thinking I would be like 18th on the list and I wouldn't really have to do anything.
"They just need a list to be able to ... well, it's hard to talk local politics in another language. My campaign was a picture of me holding my cat saying, 'Please don't vote for me.'
"But people just went nuts. After the election, the boss called me and told me I was a representative. I wasn't too pleased, and I'm not too pleased about it.
He told Clrvynt he wasn't sure how to translate the official title into English. "Basically, I have to step in when the usual people who go to the big meetings are sick or something," he said. "Then I have to go sit there and feel stupid among the straight people."It's boring. There's not a lot of money in that, either, I can tell you!"
And unfortunately, he can't decline the position. "If you get voted in, you have to stay in that position for four years," he said. "And then you can pull out. But I'm used to these sort of long-term commitments."
But he clarified that his cat, whose name translates roughly to "Peanut Butter", didn't get voted in as well. "Aw ... no, she'd really hate that," he said. "That would be impossible, like a Blackadder episode or something."
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