Hats off mate.
He did not get his deposit back but still achieved 154 votes. Doing marginally worse than Leeds Rugby League mascot, Ronnie the Rhino in 1997 - who stood in Headingley and won 232 votes. Sadly, We Beat the Scum 1-0 shall not be standing again. I will of course however be voting for the outstanding Hilary Benn (son of the late, great Tony, for those not in the know)
Are there any crazy candidates standing in your area this time round? Stories like this make me truly love our democracy.
Wednesday 21 April 2010
Leeds United's win over arch-rivals Manchester United was one of the FA Cup's biggest shocks in recent years.
Now Leeds supporter Martin Bland wants to recreate the spirit of that magical day by pulling off a General Election upset.
Martin had planned to stand in the Leeds Central constituency as the sole representative of his new political party, called We Beat The Scum One Nil as a nod to the disparaging term Whites fans reserve for the old enemy.
However, the 50-year-old father-of-two then discovered he did not have enough time to get his party registered for the election.
He has therefore decided to stand as an independent – but has changed his NAME by deed poll to We Beat The Scum One Nil.
Martin, a semi-retired plumber from Huddersfield, said: "I'm hoping to put a bit of humour into the election – and also remind people of the result against Manchester United when they look at their ballot papers.
"I haven't decided yet if I'm going to stick with the new name – I'm already getting used to the signature, though!"
If Martin polls enough votes to get his 500 deposit back, he will donate the cash to the charity appeal set up in memory of murdered Leeds fans Chris Loftus and Kevin Speight.
Leeds's 1-0 triumph at Manchester United on January 3 was their first at the Premiership side's Old Trafford ground since 1981.
* Other parliamentary candidates for the Leeds Central constituency include Hilary Benn (Lab), Alan Lamb (Con), Kevin Meeson (BNP) and Michael Taylor (Lib Dem).
