Brexit Most Wanted
‘Brexit Most Wanted’ playing cards, United Kingdom, 2019.
Taking its lead from the many “Most wanted” political packs produced in the USA, this pack of cards was produced by Dominic Norman-Taylor, Nicola Robertson, Paula Collister, and Bob Taylor (see their site here). According to the website the pack features “all your 'favourite' chancers, buffoons and off-shore patriots. From Britain's most unsuccessful political wanna be Farage, to the Chancer-in-Chief Gove, they are all here. All those who put themselves before country, all those who entangled themselves in three-word slogans”. Most of the cards feature a politician or a prominent personality from business or the media who advocated the departure of the United Kingdom from The European Union. However, several of the cards also display prominent politicians who vociferously argued against Brexit (e.g. David Cameron, Sajid Javid). The jokers are Donald Trump and Xi Jinping. All proceeds from the sale of these cards went to FOOD BANKS in the Wirral “that only exist because of many of the people on these cards” (website).
Above: ‘Brexit Most Wanted’ playing cards, United Kingdom, 2019.
NOTE: According to the website, there is now an updated 2021 edition of this pack.
By Peter Burnett
Member since July 27, 2022
I graduated in Russian and East European Studies from Birmingham University in 1969. It was as an undergraduate in Moscow in 1968 that I stumbled upon my first 3 packs of “unusual” playing cards which fired my curiosity and thence my life-long interest. I began researching and collecting cards in the early 1970s, since when I’ve acquired over 3,330 packs of non-standard cards, mainly from North America, UK and Western Europe, and of course from Russia and the former communist countries.
Following my retirement from the Bodleian Library in Dec. 2007 I took up a new role as Head of Library Development at the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP) to support library development in low-income countries. This work necessitated regular training visits to many sub-Saharan African countries and also further afield, to Vietnam, Nepal and Bangladesh – all of which provided rich opportunities to further expand my playing card collection.
Since 2019 I’ve been working part-time in the Bodleian Library where I’ve been cataloguing the bequest of the late Donald Welsh, founder of the English Playing Card Society.
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