'Too Sexist' Crumpet Party Candidate Quits

An election candidate who was told his "Crumpet Party" name was too sexist has announced he will stand down.

Ray Hall, a silversmith from Southampton set up the Beer, Baccy and Crumpet Party in 2013 and stood in the Eastleigh By-Election returning 235 votes and placing seventh.

Since then he has been planning his General Election campaign and spent around £4,000 on publicity material to expand his party across the country.

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However, the Electoral Commission said a recent review of party names concluded that "'crumpet' is likely to be considered as describing women in a demeaning way and would cause offence were it to appear on ballot papers".

Mr Hall was given until Wednesday to register a new name but he has said he will not give up his party name and has decided to stand down as a candidate until the next elections - which he says he hopes will be in a matter of months.

The 75-year-old said: "It's diabolical and undemocratic. I've tried to compromise and rename my party Beer, Baccy and Crumpets Party but they still wouldn't let me stand.

"All my election material, posters and banners are branded. I also have collection boxes saying 'vote to save our country, vote to save our pubs' and it was going to allow us to have candidates in many constituencies if we could raise enough money from the boxes."

The party aims to tackle the issue of pub closures and cut the excise duty and VAT rate to 0% to bring the cost of a pint of beer to between £1.50 to £2.

The "Crumpet" part of the name is an acronym for a wider manifesto of pledges on: Countryside, Rates, Utilities, Marriage, Pensions, Employment and Taxation.

Mr Hall told Sky News: "It's a quirky name but it's not offensive - 42,000 voters saw it on the ballot paper in 2013 and, as far as I know, there weren't any complaints. The name is vital to the party as it's a buzzword and stands for the working class people in pubs."

He added: "The BBCP will be back!"