A by-election in Chesterfield in 1984 isn’t the most likely source of news in 2021 but a BBC News clip from that particular election has gone viral for a hilarious reason.
The election was significant for several reasons. Firstly the election was won by the admired Labour MP Tony Benn, who held the seat until 2001 when he chose to retire.
The second reason, and the reason the clip has gone for, is for the many opponents that stood for election with Benn on that day who sound more like a line for a comedy festival than a list of parliamentary candidates.
In the clip, delivered with the utmost seriousness by former BBC Newsreader Moira Stuart, the list of a record 17 candidates who stood as nominees for the election that happened on 1 March 1984. As well the Conservative candidate, Nick Bourne and Lib Dem Max Payne (no, not the video game character) we have a whole host of names representing all sorts of independent parties.
They are as follows:
David Sutch - Monster Raving Loony Party
Sid Shaw - Elivisly Yours, Elvis Presley Party
David Bentley - Four-wheel Drive Hatchback Road Safety
John Davey - Independent
Thomas Layton - Independent Ecology Party
Helen Ascomb - Death Off Roads
Jitendra Bardwaj - Yoga and Meditation
Donald Butler - Buy your Chesterfield in Thame Party
David Cahill - Reclassify the Sun Newspaper as a Comic
John Connell - Peace candidate
John Davey - No Increase in Dental Charges
Christopher Hill - Prisoner Party
Thomas Layton - Spare the Earth
Paul Nicholls Jones - Independent
Giancarlo Piccaro - Official Acne Party
Where to start? Always nice to see the Monster Raving Loony Party pop up and we’re curious as to what the policies of the Elvis Presley and Acne parties would have been. In addition, why were there two road safety parties?
Amazingly the clip didn’t mention actor Bill Maynard, best known for his role on Heartbeat in the 1990s, also stood in the election as an Independent Labour candidate.
@Joewriteswords @BBCArchive @mrchrisaddison Independent Labour: Bill Maynard. Yes, that Bill Maynard. https://t.co/cVfn4pKk39— Matt Simpson 🇪🇺 🇬🇧 (@Matt Simpson 🇪🇺 🇬🇧) 1613505535
This bizarre list of names and parties has provoked some amusing reactions on Twitter.
10 Seconds In: "I don't see what is so-" 13 Seconds In: "Oh, it's the greatest thing I've ever seen." https://t.co/QDlGPVOGGi— Mike Drucker (@Mike Drucker) 1613485624
Oh my you don't get news like this anymore on the @BBCNews how Moira Stuart kept going without laughing 😂 a much wa… https://t.co/RVeMhgu1Wc— Michael Sarjeant (@Michael Sarjeant) 1613558851
Dear Americans, this is how to conduct an election. https://t.co/KaEPT7VRR5— Eccles (@Eccles) 1613548652
This sums up the town I'm from perfectly. 🤪 https://t.co/fURL6drtXo— Dave Garratt 📽 (@Dave Garratt 📽) 1613498041
Democracy at its finest https://t.co/nys1kknoq4— Ben Hatton (@Ben Hatton) 1613490822
Thankfully, this type of tounge-in-cheek politics hasn’t completely died out in the UK. We still have candidates such as ‘Lord Buckethead’ and ‘Count Binface’ and the man who dressed as a fish finger and won 309 votes against Tim Farron in 2017.
More: Why now is a critical time in the fight to end overfishing