Howling Laud Hope
| Alan "Howling Laud" Hope | |
|---|---|
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| "Howling Laud Hope" still from a video-interview 26 August 2010 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | June 1942 (age 69) Mytchett, Surrey, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Official Monster Raving Loony Party |
Alan "Howling Laud" Hope (born June 1942, in Mytchett, Surrey) is the Leader of the United Kingdom's Official Monster Raving Loony Party (OMRLP). In 1999, following the death of the party's founder, Screaming Lord Sutch, Hope and his pet cat, Cat Mandu, were jointly elected as leaders of the OMRLP. Since June 2002, Hope has been the party's sole leader following Cat Mandu's death in a road accident.
Hope was the first-ever OMRLP candidate to be elected to public office, when he was elected unopposed to a seat on Ashburton Town Council in Devon in 1987.[1] He subsequently became the Mayor of Ashburton in 1998.[2][3][4] In 2010, Hope was elected unopposed to Fleet Town Council in Hampshire.
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[edit] Biography
Hope was known as "Kerry Rapid" when he was a back-up singer for rock 'n' roll performer Screaming Lord Sutch in the 1960s. As Leader of the Official Monster Raving Loony Party, Sutch made Hope the party's Deputy Chairman in 1982. Hope subsequently became the party's Chairman and Deputy Leader, before becoming Leader following Sutch's death in 1999.
As an OMRLP candidate, Hope was elected unopposed to Ashburton Town Council in Devon in 1987. This caused a dilemma in the party as it had previously been decided that any member who was serious enough to actually win an election for a public office should be expelled from the party. These rules were changed at the 1987 Party Conference to allow Hope to remain a member and official representative of the party. He later rose to become Deputy Mayor, before being made Mayor of Ashburton in 1998. (Contrary to some reports,[5] Hope is not the only OMRLP candidate in history to have won elected office.[citation needed])
Hope's pub and guesthouse in Ashburton, "The Golden Lion", was the OMRLP's Party Headquarters and conference centre from 1984 until 2000, after which he sold the property and moved to Hampshire, where he took over the Dog and Partridge public house at Yateley. This became the new party headquarters.
Upon Sutch's death in 1999, Hope and his ginger tabby cat[clarification needed], Cat Mandu, were elected as joint leaders of the OMRPL. Cat Mandu served until his death as a result of a traffic accident in July 2002,[6] after which Hope became the sole leader of the party.
Hope stood as a candidate in the 2003 Brent East by-election, where he gained 59 votes in a contest won by the Liberal Democrat candidate Sarah Teather. Hope then stood as a candidate in Aldershot in the 2005 general election, where he took sixth (and last) place with 553 votes. He stood in the 2006 Blaenau Gwent by-election, coming last with 318 votes; and in the 2007 Sedgefield by-election where he came tenth out of 11 candidates with 129 votes. In the 2009 Norwich North by-election, Hope came ninth out of 12 candidates with 144 votes.[7]
In the 2010 general election, Hope stood under the banner of the Monster Raving Loony William Hill Party for the parliamentary seat of Witney in Oxfordshire against the sitting MP and Conservative Party Leader David Cameron. Hope gained 234 votes, while Cameron retained the seat and became Prime Minister.
Hope stood in the town council elections in Fleet, Hampshire in May 2010, and was elected unopposed.[8]
In March 2011, he stood in the Barnsley Central by-election winning 198 votes, and being placed eighth out of the nine candidates.[9]
[edit] Trivia
Hope appeared on Top Gear during the 2nd episode of series 2, in a segment searching for 'Britain's fastest Political Party'; he came last.
[edit] References
- ^ BBC News Retrieved 28 Aug 2010
- ^ Mayor of Ashburton: The Independent Retrieved 28 Aug 2010
- ^ Ashburton. Retrieved 28 Aug 2010
- ^ BBC News Retrieved 28 Aug 2010
- ^ Cat pushes for prime minister Matthew Tempest, 21 May 2001.
- ^ Election 2001 in pictures: Cat Mando Guardian Online, Retrieved 23 May 2008.
- ^ Norwich '09 by-elections.co.uk
- ^ http://www.hart.gov.uk/warded_uncontested_results_13_4_10.pdf
- ^ BBC News 4 March 2011, retrieved 4 March 2011
[edit] Further reading
- Monster Raving Loony Party race heating up between chairman – and his cat Reuters. Retrieved 23 September 1999.
- Loony tradition continues at by-election BBC News Retrieved 1 July 1999.
- Reference.com Retrieved 28 Aug 2010
[edit] External links
| Party political offices | ||
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| Preceded by Screaming Lord Sutch |
Official Monster Raving Loony Party Leader 1999–present with Cat Mandu (1999–2002) |
Incumbent |
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