Leader Stuart Hughes | Founded 1989 (1989) | |
Split from Official Monster Raving Loony Party Ideology Environmentalism, satire | ||
The Raving Loony Green Giant Party was a political party in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1989 by former members of the Official Monster Raving Loony Party (OMRLP) after clashes between them and other members of the party over direction and party activities – in particular with regard to how the party should win votes at elections. The final straw was some leading figures in the OMRLP attending only the start and finish of a charity walk for the media call, rather than attending the whole event.
The party stood candidates in the Mid Staffordshire by-election, 1990 and the Ribble Valley by-election, 1991, where they finished behind the OMRLP, and in the 1992 general election. It was at a local level that the party was far more successful, and their insistence on fighting a proper election campaign (many OMRLP candidates' campaigns consisted of little more than their names appearing on the ballot paper) resulted in some notable successes.
The party managed to stand a full slate of candidates for the Cannock Chase District Council elections in Staffordshire in 1990. Leader Stuart Hughes was elected to East Devon District Council and to Sidmouth Town Council in 1991 (along with another RLGGP candidate, Stuart Greenwood), and David and June Beesley were elected in Ribble Valley. In 1993, Hughes was elected to Devon County Council, representing the Sidmouth Rural ward.
The party also had half a councilor on Johnstone Community Council in Scotland, who disagreed with the split and stood as a joint candidate with the OMRLP – the candidate also wished to highlight the duplicity of a number of individuals that were holding clandestine membership of each and waiting to see which "Loony" faction came out on top. Screaming Lord Sutch of the OMRLP and Hughes of the RLGGP are said to have found having a joint councillor for two warring factions hilarious, Alan Hope less so.
The party became effectively defunct after Hughes's election to Devon County Council in 1993 and the defection of Danny Bamford (aka Danny Blue) back to the OMRLP. It has not stood any candidates for a number of years and is not registered with the Electoral Commission. Hughes officially joined the Conservative Party just before the United Kingdom local elections, 1997.