Alan "Howling Laud" Hope

Alan 'Howling Laud' Hope, now retired, has worked in the entertainment business and as a hotel proprietor. He has, for many years (and always on the OMRLP ticket), served on town councils in various capacities, including a stint as Town Mayor in Ashburton, Devon between 1998-2000. In 2017, the 25th time he has stood for UK Parliament, he ran against Prime Minister Theresa May alongside Lord Buckethead in the Maidenhead Constituency.

• Councillor Alan Hope, Fleet Town Council, Hampshire, UK (http://www.fleet-tc.gov.uk/Contacts/Councillor_Details.aspx)

• The Official Monster Raving Loony Party (https://www.loonyparty.com/)

• ... on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/loonyparty)

• ... on Twitter (https://twitter.com/Official_MRLP)

• ... on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/user/LoonyParty)

• The party's 2019 Election Manifesto can be read on their Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/loonyparty/posts/2628187133910246).

Galactically Important Note

Please note that, although the character Lord Buckethead has condescended to join the ranks of the Official Monster Raving Loony Party, the person who played the part of Lord Buckethead during the 2017 General Selection has decided to create a rival character—Count Binface—for the current vote. The story behind this can be read in the Guardian column mentioned below and at Count Binface's website. This being so, we leave it to listeners to decide which is the real Lord Buckethead. Is it the latest "incarnation" standiing in the Uxbridge and South Ruislip Constituency? Or the rival Count Binface, also standing in that constituency against Boris Johnson?

Update

Since the interview, TMR has been supplied with a short history of the Lord Buckethead saga. With the permission of the Official Monster Raving Loony Party, TMR here presents the words of the official historian of the party.

"Count Binface in 2019 is Jon Harvey who was Lord Buckethead in 2017 at Maidenhead. Lord Buckethead is a character from the Gremloids films, and this character is owned by Todd Durham, a US film maker who produced all of the Gremloids films.

A copyright issue broke out earlier this year involving Jon Harvey using Lord Buckethead to crowdfund his EU Election campaign. Todd Durham withdrew his permission, so Jon Harvey was unable to use the Lord Buckethead character anymore. David Hughes then stepped in and got permission from Todd Durham to stand as Lord Buckethead in the 2019 General Election against Boris Johnson at Uxbridge. This time, Lord Buckethead is representing the Official Monster Raving Loony Party and not the Gremloids Party (as was the case at the three previous Lord Buckethead General Elections in 1987, 1992 and 2017).  David Hughes was the Election agent for Lord Buckethead when he stood in 1992 against John Major.

It was Jon Harvey at Maidenhead against Theresa May in the 2017 General Election that really gave Lord Buckethead a high profile and put the character back on the map after a gap of 25 years. When Jon Harvey heard that somebody else was standing as Lord Buckethead against Boris Johnson in the 2019 General Election at Uxbridge, Jon decided to stand as Count Binface and go head-to-head with Lord Buckethead and Boris Johnson in Uxbridge.

So far, with less than a week of the Election Campaign to go, Count Binface has been very visible and high-profile in Uxbridge, and Lord Buckethead has not been seen. Jon Harvey holds the record for the most Lord Buckethead votes, and the questions are: Will David Hughes as Lord Buckethead beat that record this year? And will he get more votes than Jon Harvey as Count Binface?

There have been three different people who have appeared as Lord Buckethead in four General Elections against the current Prime Minister. The details follow.

• Mike Lee in 1987 against Margaret Thatcher at Finchley

• Mike Lee again in 1992 against John Major at Huntingdon

• Jon Harvey against Theresa May in 2017 at Maidenhead

• David Hughes at Uxbridge against Boris Johnson in 2019"

Catmando [The Party Pet Cat]

"At the conference of 1999, when the “election” came up for the new leader, it was a two-sided race between Howling ‘Laud’ Hope and Catmando. The voting was very close; they each got 112 votes. It was decided that they should both become Joint Leaders of the first political party to be ruled by man and beast, until somebody at the back of the room shouted: “No you're not, what about Margaret Thatcher and John Major?” Alas, Catmando met a lorry one day, and the lorry won!"

Items mentioned in / relevant to the interview

• TMR 182 : Alan "Howling Laud" Hope : The Official Monster Raving Loony Party

• Count Binface (https://www.countbinface.com/)

• Lord Buckethead (https://www.buckethead4maidenhead.com/)

• Announcement of Lord Buckethead's decision to join the OMRLP (https://www.loonyparty.com/0217/6898/alliance-of-insanity/)

• "Double Trouble : the fight to be the real Lord Buckethead", The Guardian (26 May 2019)

• The Uxbridge and South Ruislip Constituency candidates 2019 (https://democraticdashboard.com/constituency/uxbridge-and-south-ruislip)

• David Edward Sutch (Wikipedia entry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screaming_Lord_Sutch)

• Alan"Howling Laud" Hope interviewed by Andrew Neil in 2015 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zz0mlax3jUc)