The names of parliamentary candidates are not yet finalised here in Kingston & Surbiton, however a list of the likeliest runners and riders has been circulating.
Apart from the ones you’d expect there will also be a Monster Raving Loony. But the name that caught my eye was that of Mr. Ed Rosenthal.
He has been listed as the UKIP candidate. What’s interesting about that? Unless I’m mistaken he was, 12 years ago, a Lib Dem councillor in Tolworth East ward (now about 2/3 of Alexandra Ward). And he was very much a Lib Dem’s Lib Dem with a fine line in guitar playing and recycling tea bags and as keen on all things European as any! Since then he seems to have undergone a Damascene conversion, though I believe he still has the guitar and, I hope, still recycles his teabags!
I was very sad to hear last night, however, that there has been some fluttering in the UKIP dovecot and Mr. R is not to stand for Parliament after all – on a UKIP ticket, anyway.
PaulJ's bench.......... 