Monster Raving candidate concerned other parties’ ‘Loony’ Brexit policies are making them defunct

Peter Gillibrand

The candidate for the Monster Raving Loony Party in the Brecon and Radnorshire byelection said that she would like new Prime Minister Boris Johnson to become a member.

However, Lady Lily the Pink, or Bernice Benton was concerned that the mainstream parties were now making them defunct by acting in such a loony way about Brexit.

“Yes (Boris Johnson would be welcome to join)… If they quit the Tory Party – anyone’s welcome in the Loony Party irrespective of their politics,” she said.

“I’m standing largely because the serious politicians are nicking all the Loony policy – they’ve nicked all our lines.

“[On Brexit] we’re just making ourselves look more loony as if the Loonies were leading the country.

“Leave the satire to us and they can get on with the political posturing and self-preservation. It’s just nonsense.”

‘Satire’

The party has the slogan, ‘vote for insanity’, as they head to the polls on Thursday and they’ve contested many elections in Wales.

Their greatest hits include beating a joint Plaid Cymru/Green Party candidate in the 1991 Monmouth byelection and almost beating the now Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Robert Buckland QC, at the 1995 Islwyn by-election.

But Lady Pink maintained she did not want to win and was standing so that people could should their dissatisfaction with the other options on the ballot.

“I’m standing as the none of the above candidate, in the Brecon and Radnorshire election,” she said.

“There’s a lot of Loonies around here and of course Llanwrtyd is the home to the World Alternative games and the Man vs Horse marathon – eccentricity and Loony-ism is in our air.

“My concern is that not enough people vote and we end up getting an elected representative that’s only been voted on by the minority of the electorate. For example, In the Welsh Assembly elections last time, only 45% turned out.

“So, even if every single person who voted for the same candidate they’d still be a minority representation.

“I’m using humour and satire to try and engage more people in the voting process. I’m basically saying to everybody: If you don’t know what to think on the 1st August why not vote pink and use your vote rather than abstain from voting or spoiling your ballot paper.

“Because I think a lot of people are largely disillusioned and a lot of people feel unrepresented and a lot of people are quite frankly fed up with the number of elections and voting opportunities they have. Because whatever they do nothing changes.”

“That’s why I’m in it. I go along to the hustings and lighten the proceedings.”

She would also try and make windmills look like giant daffodils in the rural constituency.

“In this area most people don’t think that wind farms are the right thing – I agree with that. It’s an absolute travesty that we’ve had wind farms put into this area and areas of outstanding beauty.

“Some of them have been up for five years and still aren’t connected to the grid. Someone said that they should be painted yellow and green to look like daffodils – that’s definitely a loony policy. It’s definitely on our manifesto now. It’s fantastic.”

Daffodils

But – the candidate – a local constituent living in Llandrindod Wells, or, as she put it, the headquarters of the Monster Raving Loonies – also has non-loony views on some of the issues concerning her and the B+B she runs.

“I’m concerned about the length of time Brexit has taken to resolve one way or the other. It’s gotten to the point, as a Loony, I don’t really care which way we decide to go as long as we make a decision and stick to it,” she said.

“It’s causing a massive amount of discontent and hitting the economy and the markets – not because we’re leaving, in my belief – or because we’re staying – or because there might be a no-deal Brexit – it’s because we don’t know what there’ll be.

“And I think as long as we decide one way or another whatever that decision will be – the markets will settle down and everything will be okay.

“I’m very concerned about this lot of difference between immigration and refugees – I know it’s not as bad in this country.

“I’m concerned that anyone who voted Brexit is now considered being misrepresented in a lot of cases as a racist and I don’t think a lot of people who voted leave – voted because they are racist or have an immigration issue.

“Every time I go somewhere – they say something more insane than I’m saying and I’m writing it down and adding it to my own manifesto.

“Brexit shouldn’t have been a party-relevant thing to negotiate on. It should have been a cross-party negotiation based on the results and if they were going to implement Article 50 – They didn’t have to do it.

“But they must have thought it was a reasonable option to do and take it as a legal requirement which the referendum wasn’t – that was just an opinion poll.”