Eccentric election candidates/political parties in the 70s/80s

[Silver Bear]

Re: Eccentric election candidates/political parties in the 70s/80s

Independent Local Radio was another idea of his, along with pubs open all day.

IIRC he was part of the Student's Union Party before founding the Monster Raving Loony Party.

Both Monty Python & Blackadder managed to get some good jokes about candidates like him.

... So we can blame him for LBC and 'Call Nigel Farage'. ... It'll be 'Ca-all Je-re-my Cor-byn' next.

On a less flippant note, I didn't know about the Student's Union Party but I agree that Screaming Lord Sutch was a man ahead of his time and should be rated far more highly than he has been.

[George 1978]

Re: Eccentric election candidates/political parties in the 70s/80s

Somehow I have a feeling that David Icke stood for the Ecology Party/Green Party on the Isle of Wight (whose inhabitants go to Portsmouth for the cultural life). But that was before his - shall we say - messianic phase. Did he stand in by-elections after he left the Greens?

He didn't stand on the Isle of Wight but he lived there for many years. He stood in that David Davis by-election in 2008 with the slogan "The Big Picture". He was identified as "No Label" on the ballot paper.

UKIP have had a few "characters" over the years as well - a lot of them wanting to be London Mayor candidate or something like that.

Aaron Barschak is another one that comes to mind of course, although that was after the 1990s.

There was a man who changed his name by Deed Poll to Mr Blobby to stand in a 1995 by-election.

[Arran]

Re: Eccentric election candidates/political parties in the 70s/80s

There were lots of 'one man and his dog' parties in the 1997 general election. This resulted in the creation of a register of political parties.

Does anybody remember the Literal Democrat Mark Here to Win and the Liberal Democrat Top Choice for Parliament from Winchester?

[George 1978]

Re: Eccentric election candidates/political parties in the 70s/80s

There were lots of 'one man and his dog' parties in the 1997 general election. This resulted in the creation of a register of political parties.

Does anybody remember the Literal Democrat Mark Here to Win and the Liberal Democrat Top Choice for Parliament from Winchester?

You're thinking of Mark Oaten who was opposed by a Literal Democrat candidate in Winchester who won with just 640 votes, and the Lit Dems had got over 10,000 votes in the European Elections in 1999 - the Lib Dems complained to the Electoral Commission and they soon launched a rule that party descriptions cannot be too confusing or similar to existing names. Oaten won over incumbent Conservative candidate Gerry Malone with a majority of just two votes.

The by-election was rerun with the Literal Democrat candidate just getting 59 votes, and the Lib Dem candidate getting nearly 10,000 more votes - Lord Sutch was a candidate in that one as well. And Arthur Pendragon had stood in the same seat in 2005.

[George 1978]

Re: Eccentric election candidates/political parties in the 70s/80s

Also, I remember Oaten wanted to put "Liberal Democrat - leader Paddy Ashdown" in his description in order to avoid confusion with his Literal Democrat candidate.

[Arran]

Re: Eccentric election candidates/political parties in the 70s/80s

In bygone decades ballot slips did not list the names of the parties. Just the names of the candidates. Therefore if you wanted to vote Conservative in Wolverhampton South West then you had to know that the name of the candidate was John Enoch Powell.

[George 1978]

Re: Eccentric election candidates/political parties in the 70s/80s

In bygone decades ballot slips did not list the names of the parties. Just the names of the candidates. Therefore if you wanted to vote Conservative in Wolverhampton South West then you had to know that the name of the candidate was John Enoch Powell.

As a matter of fact, candidates' descriptions can often give too much information these days to a voter. I noticed in a few recent elections that not only the full names of candidates are listed, but their home addresses as well - perhaps it is a bit too much personal information to list on a ballot paper. However, candidates can opt out and have "address in Cities of London and Westminster constituency" or something like that, and you can tell whether they are based in the same constituency that they are standing in, or not. I recall one candidate had given her address as being in Belgium - now we are leaving the EU, I assume that living so far away would not be as straightforward in the near future as it would have been when she stood as a candidate.

[Arran]

Re: Eccentric election candidates/political parties in the 70s/80s

It's noteworthy that the election deposit has remained constant at £500 since 1987 and has not been adjusted inline with inflation. It is returned to candidates who manage to win at least 5% of the vote. Before 1987 the election deposit was £100 but it was only returned to candidates who managed to win at least 12.5% of the vote.

[Silver Bear]

Re: Eccentric election candidates/political parties in the 70s/80s

In bygone decades ballot slips did not list the names of the parties. Just the names of the candidates. Therefore if you wanted to vote Conservative in Wolverhampton South West then you had to know that the name of the candidate was John Enoch Powell.

I think some Australian states still only have the name and not the party. In India, the party symbol is important because there is still a relatively low literacy rate.

J. Enoch Powell ended up as an ‘Official Unionist’. I don’t agree with some of the things he said because black music and black culture (Afro-Caribbean and African) have made a great contribution to Britain. So have the Chinese. But to call him a ‘racist’ is simple-minded.

[Silver Bear]

Re: Eccentric election candidates/political parties in the 70s/80s

The ‘Literal Democrat’ (Richard Huggett) won a substantial vote in Winchester in 1997, but then there was a re-run which the Fib Dems won by a landslide.

The Liberal Party came third in Liverpool West Derby this year with the Fib Dem in third place.

[Silver Bear]

Re: Eccentric election candidates/political parties in the 70s/80s

It’s a pity we have so few ‘characters’ standing for election. We now seem to have the bland leading the bland.

[Arran]

Re: Eccentric election candidates/political parties in the 70s/80s

It’s a pity we have so few ‘characters’ standing for election. We now seem to have the bland leading the bland.

????????

I was thinking back in 2015 that England was moving from a 2 1/2 party system to a 2 + 2 party system. In recent years there had also been victories and strong performances from candidates outside of the establishment.

More recently England has moved closer to a 2 party system because of Jeremy Corbyn and a large fall in support for UKIP following the EU referendum.

[staffslad]

Re: Eccentric election candidates/political parties in the 70s/80s

I agree that 'characters' or 'eccentrics' seem to have no place in modern politics, nor does anyone who expresses opinions that stray even ever so slightly outside what is deemed 'acceptable'. In my memory, politicians have never been so tiresomely bland and afraid to say what they really think. It is a consequence of 24-hour news and endless analysis. The media--print, TV, social etc--paints everything as either the worst thing that has ever happened or the best thing since sliced bread. Every word, every action is scrutinised in an attempt to fill the papers or airwaves. And are we better informed now than when news occupied a far smaller slice of airtime and we didn't have things like 'Twitterstorms'?

[Silver Bear]

Re: Eccentric election candidates/political parties in the 70s/80s

????????

I was thinking back in 2015 that England was moving from a 2 1/2 party system to a 2 + 2 party system. In recent years there had also been victories and strong performances from candidates outside of the establishment.

More recently England has moved closer to a 2 party system because of Jeremy Corbyn and a large fall in support for UKIP following the EU referendum.

I find it hard to understand the cult of Jeremy Corbyn. He's a dreary little man with a whiny, droning voice and a bureaucratic, extreme politically correct mentality. He wants everyone to be 'equal' under the state - equally poor, stupid and mediocre, that is. His Shadow Cabinet is 'gender balanced' and that tells you all you need to know: he doesn't even appoint people on merit.

There probably be would be British 'boat people' if he got in.

[Silver Bear]

Re: Eccentric election candidates/political parties in the 70s/80s

I agree that 'characters' or 'eccentrics' seem to have no place in modern politics, nor does anyone who expresses opinions that stray even ever so slightly outside what is deemed 'acceptable'. In my memory, politicians have never been so tiresomely bland and afraid to say what they really think. It is a consequence of 24-hour news and endless analysis. The media--print, TV, social etc--paints everything as either the worst thing that has ever happened or the best thing since sliced bread. Every word, every action is scrutinised in an attempt to fill the papers or airwaves. And are we better informed now than when news occupied a far smaller slice of airtime and we didn't have things like 'Twitterstorms'?

We are far less well-informed than we were in the 70s and 80s because much of the mass media is dominated by Z-list celeb culture and general blandness. There is a culture of PC hysteria which all of the political parties are part of - and we are all lumped into groups based on acronyms rather than treated as individuals. There there is the snowflake culture where everyone is constantly 'offended' by the least thing. The result is that even ordinary conversation is going to become a daring adventure. Who needs dictatorship when you can have political correctness and dumbing-down?

... Usually laugh at all the PC drivel, but stepping back I realise that it's actually not funny but quite scary. ...