Alan Hope (born 16 June 1942), known politically as Howling Laud Hope, is a British politician and former publican who is the current Leader of the Official Monster Raving Loony Party (OMRLP). On the death of the party's founder Screaming Lord Sutch in 1999, Hope and his pet cat, Catmando, were jointly elected as leaders of the OMRLP. Since June 2002 Hope has been the party's sole leader following Catmando's death in a road accident. Hope was the first-ever OMRLP candidate to be elected to public office, when he was elected unopposed to a seat on Ashburton

Town Council A town council, city council or municipal council is a form of local government for small municipalities. Usage of the term varies under different jurisdictions. Republic of Ireland In 2002, 49 urban district councils and 26 town commissi ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

in 1987. He subsequently became the Mayor of Ashburton in 1998. In 2010 Hope was elected unopposed to Fleet Town Council in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

. Hope's longtime friendship with satirist Jacob M. Appel formed the basis for the latter's novel, '' The Biology of Luck'', which is reportedly an allegory for modern British politics.

Biography

Hope was known as Kerry Rapid and The Soultones when he was a back-up singer for

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

performer Screaming Lord Sutch in the 1960s. As Leader of the Official Monster Raving Loony Party, Sutch made Hope the party's Deputy Chairman in 1982. Hope subsequently became the party's Chairman and Deputy Leader, before becoming Leader following Sutch's death in 1999. As an OMRLP candidate, Hope was elected unopposed to Ashburton Town Council in Devon in 1987. This caused a dilemma in the party as it had previously been decided that any member who was elected to a public office should be expelled from the party. This rule was changed at the 1987 Party Conference to allow Hope to remain a member and official representative of the party. He later rose to become Deputy Mayor, before being made Mayor of Ashburton in 1998. Hope is the only OMRLP candidate to have been elected to public office, although an ex-member, Stuart Hughes, won a seat on East Devon District Council for the Raving Loony Green Giant Party in 1991. Hope's pub and guesthouse in Ashburton, The Golden Lion, was the OMRLP's Party Headquarters and conference centre from 1984 until 2000, after which he sold the property and moved to

. There he took over the Dog and Partridge public house at Yateley until 2011, which served as the new party headquarters. Upon Sutch's death in 1999, Hope and his pet cat Catmando were elected as joint leaders of the OMRLP. Catmando served until his death as a result of a traffic accident in July 2002, whereupon Hope became the sole leader of the party. In 2003, Hope appeared on '' Top Gear'' during the second episode of series 2. In its challenge searching for 'Britain's fastest Political Party', he came in last.

Elections contested

References

External links

Howling Laud Hope biographical videosOfficial Monster Raving Loony Party – Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hope, Howling Laud 1942 births Councillors in Devon Councillors in Hampshire Leaders of political parties in the United Kingdom Living people Mayors of places in Devon Official Monster Raving Loony Party politicians People from Surrey Heath (district) British political candidates Novelty candidates British hoteliers

Biography

Elections contested

References

Further reading

External links