AN artist has become an internet sensation after being mistaken for one of the candidates standing in the upcoming by-election.

Steve Lawes, 28, was forced to publicly clarify he was not aiming to succeed Sir David Amess in Southend West after being inundated with messages from friends and customers.

They had mistaken him for namesake Steve Laws, who is standing as the UKIP candidate.

Steve, who lives in Southend, explained the case of mistaken identity on Facebook and has seen his post go viral, with nearly 100,000 people viewing it.

“Friends kept sending me photos of the UKIP leaflets for the Southend west by election, and asking if this was me running,” he said.

“I’ve never met another Steve Lawes/Laws in my life and thought this would be a great opportunity to make a bit of a joke and market my art at the same time.

“I never thought it'd work this well - as of Friday it's reached nearly 90,000 people and had thousands of likes and comments.”

Steve’s post has become a meme online and he admits the mistaken identity has had it's benefits for his business.

However, he won't be voting on Thursday as he lives in MP James Duddridge's constituency.

He said: “I’ve spent seven years working as an artist and teaching with schools, community groups and projects, tirelessly sharing what I'm doing, but in the end I went viral because someone in UKIP shares my name.

“It’s been a lot of fun so far, people have been mostly very kind and seen the funny side, and I’ve doubled my Facebook fan base over night.

“All in all, it's been very positive.”

He added: “Next up I've got my sights on Steve Lawes, the famous cinematographer who has worked on Sherlock and Peaky Blinders.

“If anyone has a contact for him I'm going to recommend a name change for him to help my online presence."

The Southend-West by-election is taking place on Thursday, February 3.

To view Steve's work, visit stevelawesarts.co.uk.