General Election 2015: Will the TV debate mirror the 'Thug Life' video parody?

Video: A parody of David Cameron's Commons put-down has gone viral

(Politics Thuglife)

Ahead of tonight’s seven-way battle royal between the UK's main political leaders, parody videos of the politicians have gone viral, as people online add a bit of colour to the parliamentary put-downs of suited-men.

Uploaded by Harrison Harvey Hale (HHH) last month, the video shows Labour MP Stephen Pound asking David Cameron whether he would "dissociate himself from the snobbish and disdainful comments made by his party chairman," after Grant Shapps tweeted a picture that said: "Bingo. Cutting the Bingo tax and beer duty: To help hardworking people do more of the things they enjoy."

Cameron responds to Pound by saying that Ed Miliband would "enjoy a game of bingo - it's the only time you will ever get close to Number 10". Cue Sean Paul's "Breathe" and the words "Thug Life" appearing on screen.

A number of other such parodies existed before Hale's version, although more have now cropped up. One video shows Miliband delivering the line, "Is there anything he could organise in a brewery?" after reports that Cameron was set to abandon plans to introduce minimum alcohol pricing.

The video then cuts to black and white, the words "Thug Life" panning up as 50 Cent's "In Da Club" begins.

Hale, a 17-year-old A-Level student, told The Independent he had a "passion" for politics, with a desire to become "a special adviser one day".

He said the idea came from seeing other parody videos and wanting to make politics a bit more relevant to younger people.

"I felt as though only recently young people have started to find politics appealing," he said. "By uploading a parody, I thought it was funny and lots of people would watch it and share it."

A 2014 Hansard Society research paper into public attitudes towards Prime Minister's Questions found that 47 percent of people found it "too noisy and aggressive", with a third saying that it "put them off politics". Yet Hale said he did not find the political point-scoring troubling.

"I used that particular exchange because I think it's important to recognize why it is popular - there seems something charismatic and rather witty about the way it was delivered," Hale said, arguing that the video went viral because it asks "to what degree the electorate value appearance and satirical performance in the Commons over policy."

Hale said that he was eagerly awaiting tonight's seven-way debate between the main political leaders.