Elections: more from around the fringe

As expected the media are concentrating on the seemingly relentless rise of UKIP and it's leader Nigel Farage. The chap you might meet pontificating about immigration and the "bloody Germans" over a pint or two in the local pub. So much so Tory leader has wandered into Nandos for a picture opportunity over a piece of slightly higher class chicken & chips.

Not quite as believable as Farage, who probably does like a regular rant over a tipple or two. A failed photo opportunity for Cameron, as if we care....

Meanwhile political life does exist outside the four mainstream parties as we have already seen in part one of this journey around the fringe in the EU elections.

Given the seriousness with which the comrades of the NO2EU campaign are over their entirely ignored political campaign, they must be galled by the relative success of the Roman Party (yeah you heard right), the hobby of one Jean-Louis Pascual, a bus driver would you believe in Reading! He got a respectable 5,450 votes last time he stood, but still lost his £5,000 deposit.

According to getreading:

M Pascual who comes from Bordeaux stood for his own party -– The Roman Party. Ave! He has also stood in Reading borough elections under the same banner.

The basis of his policy is – “when in Rome do as the Romans do” – and he is a great admirer of those early invaders.

He said: “Everyone should go to Reading museum and see all the things that the Romans did for this country.”

One of his controversial policies outlined in the paper goes:

His chief policy is that he is “against injustice” but he also holds the belief teenage mums should be made to go back to school.

He said: “How can someone educate a child if they have no education themselves? I believe the mother should go back to school and the baby should be looked after in a nursery while she is learning at school so that the baby is looked after by someone who has an education.

“I think that is common sense.”

Discuss.

Next comes the rather odd Manz Party, and yes it does stand for what you think it does which means it automatically would exclude slightly over 50% of the population. See what you make of their opening gambit:

British men and boys have been increasingly insulted and demonised over the past 50 years by angry vociferous women driven by misandry (hatred of men). Men’s and boys’ interests have been ever more assaulted by the actions and inactions of the state, particularly over the past 30 years. Conservative and Labour governments have been equally bad in this respect, and the current Conservative-led coalition is the worst of them all, with David Cameron slavishly following policy directions set by Harriet Harman and other gender feminist politicians over the past 30 years.

Oh dear, better leave it there methinks......

Then there's the Patriotic Socialist Party launched in January this year, which despite its name is not any kind of fascist party. They are running a number of candidates in the local elections.

Like Baldrick, the PSP have a cunning "10 point plan" which starts:

The Patriotic Socialist Party advocates national and cultural identity in order to establish a national community of which anyone can belong, irrespective of someone’s ethnicity, religion, sexuality, age, disability, gender or origin.

In case you were wondering point 5 says:

The Patriotic Socialist Party advocates a system of immigration based on economic sustainability in order to influence population growth and maintain and enhance the standards of living for everyone that resides within the nation.

The symbol of their organisation is a complete break from most other socialist groups, It's called a "Renatus", Latin for born again. Who knew?

Last but by no means least, the oldest of the socialist organisations in the UK, the Socialist Party of Great Britain will be getting an election broadcast in Wales. Unusually for all political parties they urge you not to vote for them if you don't agree with them. Not sure why anyone would but heres the main feature:



Boring.