| Miss Great Britain Party | |
|---|---|
| Leader | Robert de Keyser[1] |
| Founded | 23 June 2008[1] |
| Headquarters | 23 Old Bond Street, London[1] |
| Ideology | Beauty |
| Official colours | Red, white and blue |
| Website | |
| Official homepage | |
| Politics of the United Kingdom Political parties Elections |
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The Miss Great Britain Party is a political party in the United Kingdom founded in 2008, whose candidates are mostly women who have entered the Miss Great Britain beauty contest. The party claims that the main purpose of the party is, "To make Westminster sexy not sleazy".[2] As of August 2009, the party no longer appears to be registered with the Electoral Commission.
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The Miss Great Britain Party was founded by Robert de Keyser, the previous chairman of the Miss Great Britain contest (de Keyser had the Miss GB licence revoked after financial difficulties in 2009 and Miss Great Britain is now back with a previous owner Liz Fuller ). He claimed that the main purpose of the party was to create a "Fourth way", differing from the three major British political parties: Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats.[2] He said that:
"We want to appeal to the millions of voters who have been reduced to cynical apathy by the dreary and sometimes rather murky world of Westminster and Brussels. We want to bring some fun, glamour and transparency to the political process but at the same time the serious message that beauty does have a real power of its own to harness and create positive change."[2]
Miss Great Britain 2008, Gemma Garrett, entered the Crewe and Nantwich by-election under the campaign slogan "Beauty for Britain".[3] She came last out of 10 candidates, with 113 votes (0.27%).[4]
"Beauty for Britain" again stood in the Henley by-election of 2008 that was caused when Boris Johnson became the Mayor of London. Two candidates stood for the election, Louise Cole and Amanda Harrington. Although technically Independents, they were known as "The Miss Great Britain Party". The main policy was "To make Westminster sexy not sleazy and to encourage voters to re-engage with politics as a means of bringing about change through beauty."[2] The polices included:
Harrington finished 9th out of 12 candidates, winning 128 votes (0.37%), and Cole finished 11th with 91 votes (0.26%).[5]
The party adopted the "Miss Great Britain Party" as its official name and formally registered with the Electoral Commission, then stood in the Haltemprice and Howden by-election, with Garrett one of 26 people standing in the election.[6] Garrett said she stood to give voters a "Real choice" in the by-election.[7] The manifesto featured the following policies:
Voting took place on 10 July 2008 and Garrett finished fifth with 521 votes. Two of the main British political parties, Labour and the Liberal Democrats had declined to take part in the election.[8]