50 Slimiest Movie Politicians
The votes are in and have in no way been tampered with... Warning: SPOILERS
Senator Robert Kelly (X-Men)
The Politician: Senator Robert Kelly (Bruce Davison), an anti-mutant politician who leads and brews up a fearful and hostile public attitude towards mutants.
He proposes to ban mutant children from schools and supports the Mutant Registration Act.
Slimiest Moment: When Magneto (Ian McKellen) uses a machine to artificially induce a mutation in Kelly, he quite literally becomes the slimiest politician on this list.
Larry Vaughan (Jaws)
The Politician: Mayor of Amity Island Larry Vaughan enjoys wearing hideous nautical-themed blazers and insisting everyone gets in the water.
He also makes a habit of covering up shark attacks and stupidly putting lives at risk by refusing to close the Island's beach as it may ruin the summer tourist season - his town's primary source of income.
Slimiest Moment: The Mayor goes on camera insisting that "a large predator that supposedly injured some bathers" has been caught and the beaches are still open for people to have a "wonderful time" without having had a thorough public necropsy of the dead tiger shark.
Cornelius Fudge (Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix)
The Politician: Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic has the huge responsibility of governing the British wizarding world.
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The always bowler-hatted, bumbling Fudge is initially favoured and treasured by the wizarding community (he is essentially the Boris Johnson of the HP universe).
However his popularity begins to wain after his bad handling of several events, primarily the return of he-who-must-not-be-named.
Slimiest Moment: A threatened Fudge goes into denial and launches a smear campaign against hero boy wizard Harry and his mentor Dumbledore when they claim that Voldemort has returned.
Senator Palpatine (Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace)
The Politician: Senator Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) is a cunning politician who rises up on the power scale to due to his deceptiveness and his talent for manipulating people and situations.
Oh, and also his alter ego Darth Sidious, a.k.a The Emperor of the Galactic Empire and most evil man in the galaxy helps.
Slimiest Moment: Palpatine kicks off his rise up the political ladder by ordering an invasion of Naboo as alter ego Sidious.
Then as Senator, he persuades the planet's Queen (Natalie Portman) to make a motion of no confidence in his rival the Supreme Chancellor Valorum, so he can ascend into his position.
It's all a bit much really.
Greg Stillson (The Dead Zone)
The Politician: Charming, hands on Senatorial Candidiate, Greg Stillson (Martin Sheen) is set to become the future president of America and will eventually bring about a nuclear holocaust when he's in power.
Don't worry though, psychic schoolteacher Johnny Smith (Christopher Walken) is on the case.
Slimiest Moment: Stillson commits political suicide and hits rock bottom in terms of public opinion when while he is under gun fire, he holds up a baby as a human shield.
The President (Love Actually)
The Politician: Billy Bob Thornton is the silver-haired, overly smooth U.S president who pops across the pond for a quick maintenance check on the very 'special relationship' between America and Britain.
His hobbies include leaching on women and attempting to make Britain feel small. Boo.
Slimiest Moment: The President cements his villain status when he inches his hand up the thigh of the Prime Minister's tea and biscuit girl and nation's sweetheart material Natalie (Martine McCutcheon).
Mayor Cole (City Of Ember)
The Politician: Mayor Cole (Bill Murray) is the leader of the post-nuclear war, underground City of Ember.
During a major food and power shortage, he sweeps around the city in a livery collar campaigning under the slogan "You can believe it… because he says it."
While all along he is sneakily hoarding is own supply of canned food.
Slimiest Moment: When feisty teen Lina Mayfleet discovers Cole's secret supply and directly accuses him of stealing food from the people of Ember face-to-face, he casually denies the allegations while eating some of the very same stolen food.
Jasper Irving (Lions For Lambs)
The Politician: Senator Jasper Irving (Tom Cruise), a Republican presidential hopeful invites liberal journalist Janine Roth (Meryl Streep) to his office to offer her an exclusive and persaude her to help him announce a new war strategy in Afghanistan.
Slimiest Moment: Irving's entire screen time feels one long slime-fest as he asks Roth to help him "sell the solution" to the war on terror.
Extra slime points are earned for having his Time Magazine front cover framed and hanging up on the wall.
Linton Barwick (In The Loop)
The Politician: Being the best political satire to grace the big screen in recent years, In The Loop is swimming with painfully funny characters running amok in both British and American political circles.
Winner of the slimy label however, is Linton Barwick, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Policy.
Barwick confidently strides around talking in riddles attempting to quietly intimate those around him and keep them out of his business.
Slimiest Moment: Barwick baffles Malcom Tucker and Simon Foster when he exits the room with his parting hallow, faux-poetic phrase "All roads lead to Munich."
In the words of Tucker (a superb Peter Capaldi): "What the fuck does that mean?"
Adam Lang (The Ghost)
The Politician: Ex Prime Minister Adam Lang may have the good looks and smoothness of a former James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) but he also has plenty of skeletons in his closet.
They threaten to all come tumbling out when he is accused of authorising the illegal seizure and torture of suspected terrorists while writing his memoirs.
Slimiest Moment: When the former British Foreign Secretary Richard Rycart (Robert Pugh) accuses Lang of war crimes on national television, Lang lets his charismatic mask slip: narrowing his eyes at his TV set and calling Rycart a "cheeky fuck".