What happened to Screaming Lord Sutch

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Q.� Was he ever successful

A.�� At gaining a seat No. At lightening the boredom of another dull political contest Undoubtedly. David Sutch, who stood for Parliament more than 40 times, was Britain's longest-serving party leader and got into the Guinness Book of Records. Regularly, he stood against the incumbent prime minister in general elections and brightened numerous by-elections.

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Q.� So how did he get his name

A.� Sutch - born in Middlesex, on 10 November, 1940 - rose to prominence as the screaming singer with the Savages, who had hits, including Jack the Ripper, in the early 1960s. His band included future stars such as Keith Moon of the Who and Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin.

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Q.� And then he entered politics

A.� Yes - in 1963, to campaign for offbeat issues and generate publicity for his band. Sutch stood in the by-election for disgraced war minister John Profumo's former seat of Stratford-on-Avon. He campaigned to enfranchise 18-year-olds and all-day pub openings. These two issues were thought absurd then. Both are now law.� He added Lord to his name and formed the Monster Raving Loony Party (MRLP).

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Q.� Any other policies

A.� The Loony manifesto asked why there was only one Monopolies Commission. He also proposed:

• Turning the metaphoric butter mountain created by agricultural subsidies in Europe into a ski slope
• Making joggers run a gigantic treadmill to generate cheap electricity
• Banning January and February to make winter shorter
• Breeding fish in the European wine lake so they could be caught ready-pickled
• Extending the Channel Tunnel to Jersey and Switzerland to give Britain tax haven status.
• Putting Parliament on wheels so it could travel from city to city.�

Q.� What did the conventional candidates think of him

A.� Irritating, usually. But he and other Loony members often helped break the ice. I recall reporting on the count for a marginal seat in the May 1997 election. A long-standing Tory faced the boot from a New Labour parvenu. The whole atmosphere was tense ... until the Loonies arrived.

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Q.� What happened then

A.� They kissed the other candidates, did a jolly dance and handed out bananas from an attach� case. Smiles all round.

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Q.� Is the party still going

A.� Yes - but there has been a split after a row over funding. The breakaway group is called the Rock'n'Roll Loonies and attracts a particularly strong following in Kent. The party leader Chris 'Screwy' Driver (actually a sensible businessman in his other life) was, in his days with the MRLP, the first elected councillor. He is now Deputy Mayor of Queenborough, on the Isle of Sheppey. Another Loony, David Hope, was elected mayor of Ashburton, Devon.

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Q.� So the Screaming Lord's work goes on

A.� Yes, Tony Blair said in tribute to him: He made a unique contribution to British politics. Our elections will never be quite the same without him.' But there are plenty of Loonies who want to carry on his excellent work.

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By Steve Cunningham

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