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Is there a word for an election candidate who does not want anyone to do the job?

English Language & Usage Asked by davidlol on September 26, 2021

There are terms for election candidates who have no intention of winning. These include paper candidates, fielded to allow people to show support for a point of view, but where the candidate does not expect, or wish, to win. Another is dummy candidate where the candidate hopes to attract votes away from one of the major candidates in order to benefit the other. There are also stalking horse candidates aiming to show support for change, and so encourge bigger beasts to enter the fray.

I am looking for a term for a candidate who does want to win the election, but has no intention of fulfilling the role if elected. He wishes to be elected in order to prevent it being done at all. Is there a word or phrase with this meaning?

Here is an example. An elected official is responsible for arranging for public footpaths to be kept clear of weeds and obstacles and in a usable condition. Many of these paths run adjacent to people’s back gardens or across farmland. The current holder of the post is a keen rambler and walker and has been doing a particularly good job, and the paths are better used. However many of the local residents would prefer the paths to be less used and somebody is standing for the post who intends to do the very minimum he can get away with, becasue he, like many of his neighbours, does not want the paths to be maintained.

A similar thing happens in the UK Parliament where political party Sinn Fein have seven MPs who refuse to take their seats. This is entirely legal and they were quite open about their intent before the election.

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