- Twin panda cubs to make public debut at Berlin zoo
- Scotland's Kinghorn maintains Lions 'dream' despite Toulouse clash
- Pakistan debutant Ghulam hits century to defy England in second Test
- Boeing announces intention to raise up to $25 bn
- Tuchel 'in talks with FA' over England manager's job
- Dutch rider Lavreysen targets record at world track championships
- Bangladesh suspend Hathurusingha as coach after alleged assault
- Russian Olympic chief announces surprise resignation
- Ferguson to leave Man Utd ambassador role as club cuts costs
- Turkish govt defends tax plan to fund defence industry
- Oil prices tumble on easing Middle East fears
- Eidevall quits as Arsenal Women head coach
- US, Philippines launch war games after China's Taiwan drills, ship collision
- Swedish prosecutor confirms 'rape' probe without naming Mbappe
- England dismiss Ayub but Pakistan reach 173-3 at tea in second Test
- Israel vows to put 'national interest' first in response to Iran attack
- Oil prices hit by easing Middle East fears, most Asian markets rise
- Mbappe-PSG salary row faces hearing as France captain cited in 'rape' report
- K-pop star tells South Korea lawmakers of workplace bullying
- Ex-Wallabies captain Elsom denies wrongdoing after arrest warrant
- Pakistan 79-2 at lunch in second England Test after Leach strikes
- Hopes pinned on peace across Taiwan Strait after drills
- Valencia fans leave Singapore with 'stern warning' after protest
- Falling sales cause sour grapes for iconic Portugal wine
- Belgian pathologist and literary star gives 'voice to the dead'
- Ethiopia's 'korale' recyclers turn waste into money
- Italy row, AI in focus at world's biggest book fair
- US, Philippines launch war games a day after China's Taiwan drills
- Scotland lock Gray signs for Japan's Toyota
- Allen and Bills foil Rodgers, outlast Jets 23-20
- North Korea blows up roads connecting it to the South
- East Timor fights new battles 25 years after independence vote
- Japan election campaigns kick off for Oct 27 vote
- Home runs propel Mets, Yankees to MLB playoff victories
- Taiwan detects record 153 Chinese military aircraft after drills
- Oil prices drop on easing fears over Middle East, most markets rise
- Reoxygenating oceans: startups lead the way in Baltic Sea
- North Korea's Kim holds security meeting over drone flights
- Cars, chlamydia threaten Australian koalas
- Small town India's DIY film industry comes to London
- Harris slams Trump over military threat to 'enemy from within'
- Can biodiversity credits unlock billions for nature?
- Texas poised to execute autistic man for 'shaken baby' death
- King Charles III heads to Australia and Commonwealth meeting
- In the Colombian Pacific, fighting to save sharks
- Argentina's Matera banned for Italy Test after red card
- Vientos grand slam propels Mets in series-tying win over Dodgers
- Supporters of ex-Bolivia leader Morales block roads over possible arrest
- Germany into Nations League quarters, France and Italy win
- Nagelsmann lauds 'supercharged' Germany's 'best half of the year'
Led by Donkeys: UK political agitators reaching millions
A persistent irritant to Britain's ruling Conservatives since its creation after Brexit, campaign group Led by Donkeys has built a big online audience with its largely humour-led attempts at political accountability.
Founded by four friends in a pub in 2018, the collective's campaigns and stunts skewering politicians and spotlighting issues get millions of views online -- and often generate mainstream media coverage.
They remain best known for their light-hearted early efforts, like plastering ex-prime minister Boris Johnson's optimistic tweets about the joys of life after Brexit to contrast them with the reality.
More recent ploys, involving stings by fake companies and covert filming, have had a more serious undertone.
After five years and hundreds of initiatives, the group said it still has "plenty of ideas" before the next general election, expected next year.
"It's more than just an anti-Tory campaign," Oliver Knowles, one of its four founding fathers, told AFP.
He said there is "a bigger mission" for "accountability" across the political spectrum while pushing "more progressive ideas".
"For me, the broader mission is: counter the populist narrative of the country," said 44-year-old fellow co-founder James Sadri.
- 'Cathartic' satire -
Led By Donkeys takes its name from a World War I expression used to describe the incompetent leaders who led British soldiers to their deaths.
The four friends formed the collective while they all worked for environmental pressure group Greenpeace, in shared frustration at Britain's dysfunctional politics in the aftermath of the 2016 Brexit referendum.
"We were having a pint in a pub. We started looking at some of the tweets that the Brexiteers have made," recalled another of the quartet, Ben Stewart, 49.
"We just burst out laughing, (at) how chaotic the situation was."
Stewart was referring to a now-infamous 2015 post by then-prime minister David Cameron as he campaigned for re-election against Labour leader Ed Miliband.
"Britain faces a simple and inescapable choice -- stability and strong Government with me, or chaos with Ed Miliband," he had posted.
Little over a year later, Cameron lost the referendum he had ordered on Britain's European Union membership, and the country tilted into several years of political crises.
"There was a six-metre by three-metre billboard outside the window. And we said, 'That's the shape of a tweet, why don't we print it out and just put it up there?'"
They soon pasted other tweets on other billboards before photographing them and posting the images online. The campaign quickly went viral.
They then launched a crowd-funding operation, which exceeded expectations and allowed them to rent more and more billboard spaces.
"For us it was deeply cathartic because we spent so long moaning," said Knowles.
- 'Power' -
The group's last stunt in September targeted the British government's controversial deal with Rwanda to take migrants who arrive in the UK "illegally" without prior authorisation.
Interior minister Suella Braverman insists Rwanda is "a safe country" for asylum seekers, but the policy has been stalled by court challenges.
Using undercover cameras, Led By Donkeys captured Rwanda's ambassador in London trivialising the previous killing of refugees there, allegedly by police.
"Yes, it might have happened, but so what?" the Rwandan diplomat said on camera.
He also branded Braverman as "absolutely wrong" about migration.
The video has been viewed nearly six million times on X, formerly Twitter.
Another sting in March caught MPs -- including former finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng -- accepting lucrative second job offers from bogus companies, and amassed nearly 30 million views on X.
Led by Donkeys has also tackled numerous other serious subjects, including the handling of Covid, typically with their signature brand of satire.
Sadri said they specialise in "making an intervention that is not just heavy, political, angry commentary".
The old friends still laugh when reminiscing about their various campaigns.
"If you're laughing at the donkeys, you're taking away their power," added Sadri.
For Knowles, their message to the ruling Conservatives is clear: "You need to be accountable for the mess you made."
They have been accused of engaging in anti-Tory activism, but note the group has targeted the main Labour opposition too.
Labour appears poised to win the next election after leading in the polls for over a year.
Led by Donkeys recently plastered Labour's London headquarters with a large poster to remind leader Keir Starmer of his promise to reform the electoral system.
G.Stevens--AMWN