Carpenter and kingly candidate gets 25 votes

Slightly late, but here is the final installment of the Haltemprice and Howden by-election leaflets.

Thomas Darwood (25 votes)

Both my mum (who lives in the constituency) and I were flummoxed by this leaflet which is sub-headed:

"Carpenter from Essex claims he has CV to become future King through political and constitutional reforms"

He continues:

"A carpenter from Essex has astonished the world by claiming to have the right CV to become the future King of the British peoples through political, cultural and constitutional reform. He also claims in the same CV to become the 'true' Archbishop of Canterbury and the 'true' Pope ! His preparation, he explains, reflects Christ's own period of service and like him a Singularity, he is the Figurehead of Western Civilisation and source the necessary understanding which will unift the three religions of Islam, Judaism and Christianity. In charting this road map, the Conclusion to the constitutional hereditary monarchy will signify the compelling arguments to succeed to this astonishing claim and render upon Elizabeth II the most profound Act of Duty which he described as; 'The Glorification of the Reign of Elizabeth II,' which will expunge the sorrow and shame of the abdication crisis with the utmost of irony and render upon the Sovereign, honour and majesty equal in stature to what the Ascension did for the Lord Jesus Christ when he fully and successfully accomplished his task on earth..."

It continues for another page.

I don't think his piece on the by-elections blog shed any further light on his election bid. It's english, Jim, but not as we know it.

Chris Foren (23 votes)

Writes:

'In common with other western societies the British economy has grown substantially over the last few decades. But repeated surveys have shown that we are no happier as a society.

So why do we continue to inflict so much environmental damage for the sake of extra growth? For example, the Labour government has plans for the expansion of a number of British airports (including a third runway at Heathrow). The reason given is to ensure that the economy continues to grow.'

Mr Foren, a former Leeds Crown Prosecutor, called for simplification to company taxation, the balancing of immigration and emigration rates, and replacement of the House of Lords with an elected senate. He hoped to use the by-election to establish a new political party called Work for Progress.

Hamish Howitt (91 votes)

Is a pub landlord whose glossy leaflet mainly focuses on smoking in pubs. However, he also mentions the Iraq war and being anti-fox hunting, and calls for a freeze on oil fuel duty and a 4% cap on inflation.

He writes:

"Many troops have lost their limbs or been badly injured fighting for freedom, these veterans are now humiliated and degraded like animals and are thrown out in the street to have a pint and a fag. I have two pubs, the walls are 18 inches thick, one you can smoke in and one you can't... IT"S CALLED CHOICE."

Chris Talbot (84 votes)

Stood for the Socialist Equality Party.

He wrote:

"Chris Talbot is the only candidate in this election opposing all the repressive measures passed by the Labour government from the standpoint of mobilizing an independent political movement of working people, based on socialist policies...

... From the standpoint of working people, the Labour Party is finished. Having severed any connection with the working class and repudiated its former reformist policies, all that remains is a politically corrupt clique interested only in their own self-enrichment...

... Even as millions are hammered by spiralling fuel and food prices, crippling mortgage payments and personal debt and face the threat of unemployment, the financial speculators continue to glut themselves while government bankrolls their nefarious activities with taxpayers' money.

In the next period, there is no question that legislation passed in the name of opposing terrorism will be used against those seeking to defend their livelihoods against the major corporations and the government.

Historically, the working class only secured its basic democratic rights through mass political struggle. The same is true today. There can be no democracy worthy of the name while grotesque levels of private wealth are wielded as a weapon against society...

... The Socialist Equality Party advances a programme for the fundamental reorganisation of economic and social life. We call for the replacement of the profit system and private ownership of the means of production with public ownership and production to meet the needs of society as a whole.

Above all the struggle against capitalism is international and requires the unification of the working class across all national, religious and ethnic divisions. The SEP is the British section of the International Committee of the Fourth International, the world party of socialism"

My mum thought Chris Talbot used too many big words in his leaflet to make him a good representative for the working class. Only 84 people disagreed with her.