"I note that Al Murray, the amusing pub landlord character developed by Alastair James Hay Murray, has notionally thrown his hat into the ring for the General Election. He says he's going to stand against me in South Thanet. Finally, some serious competition!" Nigel Farage wrote in the Independent.
The UKIP leader said that about 20 people pledged to run against him in the constituency, adding that "the race for South Thanet may have as many candidates as the Green Party is fielding nationwide." Commenting on the announcement made by Al Murray, Mr. Farage said that he welcomed "parody and satire in our [UK] politics, especially from the man who is David Cameron's sixth cousin!"
Indeed, Al Murray's links to Mr. Cameron were discovered last year: it came out that the Britons are related through William Thackeray (1811-1863), the famous English novelist.
The Pub Landlord? Now that's what I call some serious opposition! says @Nigel_Farage http://t.co/VSIV5yAMvV pic.twitter.com/N9zwdcyIEx
— Independent Voices (@IndyVoices) January 15, 2015
The more, the merrier! @almurray
— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) January 14, 2015
Murray has already released a witty 13 point program of his Free United Kingdom Party (FUKP). The document vows to "have a war with Germany if they are up for it" as well as "revalue the pound at £1.10 – so it will now be worth 10p more," according to the Independent. Mr. Murray also pledged to make South Thanet the country's new capital and to limit immigration "by entirely bricking up the Channel Tunnel."
Answering questions over whether his immigration could be qualified as racist the "politician" told the Independent:
"Is it really racist to say: 'Argh god no, no we don't want any of you or your lot coming over here to live here Christ no thanks argh Jesus? Stay away stay away'? Actually when you put it like that it might be racist. Er. My press bloke is telling me to move on. But the last thing we need is people coming over and making us look work-shy."
In response to the argument that a vote for him could divide the anti-Farage electorate and trigger a "political apathy" the comedian answered: "Not for one second do I think the British electorate are fools. Make that mistake at your peril! If what you want is FUKP, vote FUKP. Thanks for talking to me."
Murray has been already successfully registered as a potential candidate and he is all set to participate in the UK Parliamentary election.
Predictably, the news provoked an active discussion in social media:
The 13 point programme of FUKP, the Free United Kingdom Party: http://t.co/jpjNUB4sIa pic.twitter.com/yYgKVkCfFJ
— Anthony Burgess-Webb (@tbw1) 15 января 2015
Now this should be fun! Pub Landlord @almurray is standing for election for @FUKPnews Democracy in action! http://t.co/GbwqFOvqcs
— John Nichol (@JohnNicholRAF) 14 января 2015
seriously tempted to vote for him http://t.co/Xd1sd7TkeH so many carefully thought out messages well done @almurray
— Will Carling (@willcarling) 15 января 2015
I feel genuinely proud that the instinctive British reaction to any situation is to rip the piss. @FUKPnews http://t.co/50QS4IgZmi
— Alan Beattie (@alanbeattie) 14 января 2015
