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Welcome to the Loonyverse! Howling Laud Hope of The Official Monster Raving Loony Party
16 Plays3 days ago
Long time leader of The Official Monster Raving Loony Party, Howling Laud Hope, is interviewed at the Runcorn and Helsby By-Election, his latest outing as a candidate, by Edd Charlton. From his succession from Screaming Lord Sutch, his co-leadership with ginger tom, Catmando, and historically the longest serving party leader since the 19th century, this interview ranges across Loony policies, By-Election successes, and personal stories from his 25 years as party leader.
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Transcript
Introduction & Guest Introduction
00:00:08
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the Observations Podcast. Today we are looking at Election Chaos, the Looney Lowdown. I'm joined by Alan Hope, Howling Lord Hope. Howling Lord Hope!
00:00:19
Speaker
Howling Lord Hope! I love it. The leader of the monster the official Monster Raving Looney Party. yeah How are you? Absolutely wonderful. Fantastic. And we're here in your HQ, also known as the Wetherspoons, for the Runcorn by-election. It's called the ferry boat.
00:00:36
Speaker
It is called the ferry boat, not the fairy boat, which I mistyped and sent to you the other day. You mistyped that twice. I think I did. I think there's an autocorrect on my phone going from fair ferry to ferry. And I don't know what that says about me, but there we go.
00:00:51
Speaker
i
Alan Hope's Political Journey
00:00:52
Speaker
So we're ahead of the Runcorn by-election. You're one of the most prolific, longstanding parliamentary candidates in British history.
00:01:02
Speaker
Why do you keep coming back? like can I can capitalise that on a bit more. um Yes, you're quite right. I am Britain's longest serving political leader.
00:01:14
Speaker
Yes. I've just done 25 years. Congratulations. And I've just overtaken Clement Attlee, would you believe? ah Wow, that's amazing. And this Roncorn by-election will be my 36th by-election.
00:01:27
Speaker
Sorry, 36 parliamentary elections. Ten of those parliamentary elections have been general elections. So I've now have done ten general elections, which is a British record.
00:01:38
Speaker
Congratulations! We've never done ten general elections before. And you've got to be a bit loony to keep coming back for more. No, no, no, no, no. no no no no no no no We are the official loony. Oh, the official loony. Not to be confused with Labour, because Serving Liberal.
00:01:56
Speaker
who are the unofficial ones, of course. And what is it about participating in the by-elections, in in and running, that does it for you? Why are you here? Just the sense of good fun and the sense of We're allowed to do it.
00:02:12
Speaker
And you'll be surprised when we turn up at the count, like tonight even, which we've been held in witness. don't know why it's in witness when it's a run gone by election. anyway, I bet you now that people will come up and say, oh, glad you're here.
00:02:25
Speaker
least it won't be so boring. How do you make it less boring when you're there in the count? Just because the way we are, the way we dress, and people expect us to be there.
00:02:36
Speaker
Yes. Often say, oh good, you're here. and It wouldn't be a realelection without ah a real election without you. Yeah, definitely. And have say, I love the hat. That's iconic. And it's obviously featured front of your book as well, which we'll get onto as we go. yeah Yes. So the ah the great white you hope, i love the title by the way, and we'll get onto that in a great moment. I'm lucky at that because there's so many great stories in there.
00:03:00
Speaker
and When it comes to by-elections, you've stood against countless people across the UK. and What have you learned about the British voters um that maybe the career politicians wouldn't understand? Well, I can tell you something that career politicians don't understand.
00:03:21
Speaker
People often say to me, Monster Raven Loony Party. Ha ha ha. What do you know about politics? And my response to that is I know absolutely nothing, my friend.
00:03:32
Speaker
That's just a little bit more than 650 other people like I can mention.
00:03:38
Speaker
I love that. it's such a down-to-earth response, isn't it? It's brilliant. And... um um In your time running, can I ask what's the most bizarre thing that you've seen, and either they standing from either your own party or generally in the by-elections? What's the the craziest story you've got for us?
00:03:56
Speaker
Well,
Memorable Election Moments
00:03:57
Speaker
i think I think it may have happened up here in Liverpool, actually. Oh, really? In Boothal years ago. um dr David Owen and and formed his Gang of Four and um became the... and
00:04:17
Speaker
whatever they call themselves, can't remember now. yeah And it was in Boothal, in Liverpool. ye And we beat them. s Yes, yes. And you do go on to that in your book as well, don't you? Yes.
00:04:30
Speaker
And Dr. David Owen was on television two two days later saying, the monster raving loony party they played no small part in my mind wind my party up.
00:04:43
Speaker
Have you wound people up when you've done these before? Have you got any stories and i'll of that but maybe there's been some upset, and not necessarily from yourself, but the party in general? No, not really. mean, some people say to us, generally, in the public, if you see the streets.
00:05:02
Speaker
I remember one one time in Newark, this lady coming and rushing over to us and said, you should be ashamed of yourself, you should be ashamed yourself. um Why? Why? what what why might Call yourself a loony.
00:05:15
Speaker
Okay, well why? Well, as an insult to the people that are.
00:05:20
Speaker
Maybe that goes back to your earlier comment about 650 people who are... Oh, that's brilliant. So it does always seem to be taken in good stead, doesn't it, from the British people, which is great. Yeah.
Global Presence of the Looney Party
00:05:32
Speaker
And I need to ask, what's the the craziest... We all know a couple of crazy get-ups from and from your party candidates.
00:05:40
Speaker
Is there a particular favourite of yours? Favourite what? Get-up outfit that people ah people wear Well, I suppose Buckethead was a good one, wasn't it? Yeah, it was brilliant.
00:05:52
Speaker
Yeah, that's the one the one that always comes to mind, isn't it? It's fantastic. I mean, I think the hat is giving it a real run for its money there. Brilliant. I have my white suit on, that's one well. Oh, brilliant. well we're going to have to make sure we get some images of that because we've seen the ah full getup go.
00:06:08
Speaker
It's brilliant. It's showstopper, isn't it? You can download some of that off a vo of our webpage, if you like. We'll do that. Unless you're going to be at the count, though I'm not, unfortunately, and but I think the democracy volunteers will be.
00:06:19
Speaker
Yeah. so Will there be a camera there? Will there a... Good question. We will find out. I don't know. and But yes, we'll we'll get as many cameras there as possible. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because you've been... and You've had loads of standings with other career politicians and really famous names.
00:06:36
Speaker
Is there somebody who shocked you or stood out to you as like a and what they were like in real life, real person? Only the MP who won the seat of Henley-on-Thames when Boris Johnson stood down become the town mayor. And he refused to shake my hand.
00:06:56
Speaker
Really? Yeah. And um that
00:07:01
Speaker
blatantly seen on television all around the world obviously it does in Australia yes yes especially Canada and all the expat countries anyway and I was getting letters of shock how dare he do that yeah you he he he is now ah member of your government how dare he not shake your hand yeah Yeah, and you've had loads of news coverage, haven't you? You've got some fabulous stories about so people picking up your pictures in Canada and in Australia, I think it was, wasn't it, that you've been interviewed by reporters coming over? oh yeah. yeah oh yeah if so Even Japan, Sweden, France, and do you know what?
00:07:40
Speaker
Even Argentina. Oh, really? And do you know why? ah one The biggest speaking Welsh country in the world isn't Wales, it's Patagonia.
00:07:53
Speaker
Ah yes. Because that's where the Welsh settled years ago, the coal mining and things. And so they they love a little little bit of old Britain. and And that's the only reason, if you think about it, only reason why, why do you think Argentina is the only country in the southern hemisphere of America that plays rugby?
00:08:12
Speaker
Because of the Welsh connection. Yes, of course, and they'll really good at it because of that. And yeah if we yeah we have a branch of Patagonia as well. We have two or three in America, yeah but two in Tallahassee, one in South Virginia, one in Ohio.
00:08:30
Speaker
Your party goes worldwide. It really does. Looney-versal. you Looney-versal, I like that. That's cool. Looney-versal! That is brilliant.
Quirky Policies & Their Impact
00:08:43
Speaker
So thinking about the Looney manifesto here, the Looney policies, some of them are are quite out there. With this and this by-election, what can we expect? What's in the manifesto? Anything different ah coming up?
00:08:58
Speaker
um All our policies are our loonyparty.com website. I can't remember them all now, but thing that um the thing that people have mentioned to me now, yes, we've read your policies.
00:09:12
Speaker
We love the 99 pence coin. I have to say, that's one of my personal favorites. yeah And quite a lot of your policies later on have been taken on. They're voting at 18. Yeah. and you were the first party i believe to to sort put that into a manifesto do you think the other parties are paying attention to you and actually secretly taking it on i've been told so i mean over the years i met many many politicians as you actually well know yes i've been told every time your manifesto comes out we always look at it yes there's always two or three things in there that need doing absolutely do you know our latest latest one was which is really great good
00:09:50
Speaker
In 1996, we advocated that ninety five ninety six have All banknotes should be made of plastic so we can vote so we can float the pound.
00:10:02
Speaker
Right. Okay. Bit of fun.
00:10:12
Speaker
like Labour because they're liberal. It gets picked up on news clips around the world. Yes. And this was seen in Australia. Because a friend of mine saw it and he texted me. He said, you just don't have a reason over here.
00:10:23
Speaker
I guess which country it was, thought that's a good idea to have plastic banknotes. It was Australia. Of course, yes. So you're influencing worldwide. They thought it was a good idea. yeah And now who's copied?
00:10:35
Speaker
Yes, yes. Well, here we are with plastic banknotes now. Is there a particular manifesto, a particular piece that you love the most or one that's his legacy or is there one that stands out to you?
00:10:47
Speaker
The other one that people often quote is, we were the first party ever campaign for pubs open all day. Yes. When they used to close at half past two, opening again at five.
00:11:00
Speaker
Yeah. And then it happened. And here we are. Yes. And the other one was, passports for pets. yeah Why can't you have your dog or your cat inoculated against rabies, take them abroad for two weeks and come back again without going through quarantine?
00:11:16
Speaker
Don't be silly. Passports for pets. That's lonely. that it's but Here we are now. Passports for pets. Yes, absolutely. It's really important. I love my dog. I want it to come with us. ah No, that's brilliant. i love And you're influencing. You've got some real key ideas now. It's great.
00:11:32
Speaker
So. so playing out there a little bit. If you could do a loony coalition with another party, who would it be? Why would that be?
00:11:46
Speaker
I think my most favourite politician that I have met so far
00:11:54
Speaker
is probably Nigel France. Right, yeah. Not to with his policies, but necessarily. But as a man and the people, yes, he and I get on very, very well together. Yes, yeah, he's given a forward, hasn't he? Yes, yes, yes. Or a commendation book. Yes, yes, yes, yeah, yeah. Brilliant.
00:12:09
Speaker
Actually, we need to turn to book. You did this, you published this in 2020. Yes. And and what what inspires you to write it? There is... Well, just because many people said they knew what I'd done in my in my life in the music business, and I'd been with Chuck Berry and Roll Yourself and the Beatles, you ought to write a book.
00:12:30
Speaker
I thought, I never thought any more of it. And one day, this chappy, his name was Daryl Carr, actually, Daryl Carr, sat in my local pub, he said the same thing, you ought to write a book. He said, I wouldn't know where to start, mate.
00:12:44
Speaker
He said, well, I would. I'm okay. And then lo and behold, he got somebody rang me up and said, here, you want to write a book? and I'll help you. no It wasn't Dale, but he knew somebody would. yeah And that's how it came about.
00:12:56
Speaker
That's brilliant. And there's so many, as you mentioned, you've got the all your music. And that's played a huge part in your yeah yeah your roles here. my yeah Yeah, could you just elaborate on that little bit for people who may not know that background?
00:13:09
Speaker
Well I was part
00:13:14
Speaker
of the era of teenagers, teenage boys who missed call-up. We were born, well to be quite honest, I was born in 1942, in 1960 I should have been called up, but in 1958 they called it off.
00:13:30
Speaker
yeah So consequently um a day older than Paul McCartney, sorry, Paul McCartney's I'm two days older than Paul McCartney, a year older than Mick Jagger, and maybe Cliff Richards is a year younger than a year older than me.
00:13:46
Speaker
Now, if Call Up had carried on, all them groups, the animals, the kinks, they would never have met. No, you're right. And we were the first 18-year-olds in 1960 on the streets.
00:13:58
Speaker
That's when the girls started wearing the mini skirts, and Connelly Street was but invented. Yes, yes. All because there was no Call Up. Mm-hmm. basically. Yeah.
00:14:10
Speaker
And you've had an amazing, as you say, you've worked alongside people like the Beatles, you've've you've got all of this, this vast knowledge of that industry as well. in fact, this book here,
00:14:22
Speaker
Paul McCartney's got a copy of this. Has he? Yes, I sent a copy. Fabulous. And I know for a fact that he read it, because he on television when the Queen died, God bless our Queen, um and he was saying about his life, is that and he quoted, yes, we were the first era of teenagers to miss National Call-Up.
00:14:42
Speaker
And he's never quoted that before anyone else, ever. Yes, yes. Yeah, and
Music Career & Political Influence
00:14:46
Speaker
that's that driven straight from your pages, isn't it? yeah What's your... what What's a story in there that... a lot of our listeners may not know because there was loads things in there that i i read and i was like wow um and it sort of resonated with me what would what would be a highlight story that that people could pick up on or a memorable moment well going back to the beatles i suppose when they had they they played an order shot which would to 18 people and i had 300 people in my digits around the corner
00:15:19
Speaker
Yes, not many people could claim that, can they? Oh, that's brilliant, Ella. I'm going to take a pause there whilst we just run to these adverts.
00:15:38
Speaker
Okay, looking back to the loony by-election where we're at the moment, um lots of different slogans have been run with with your party. Do you have a favourite one? you know what what What are you running with this time?
00:15:50
Speaker
Well, in memory of our spiritual leader, Screaming Lord Such, obviously. Yes. and He always said, vote for insanity. You know it makes sense.
00:16:01
Speaker
Yes. You can't beat that, I don't think. you can't. No, I guess that is a brilliant one to have. And um we need to just speak about the fact. How do you find that the party's changed, has the party changed and evolved under yourself?
00:16:14
Speaker
Yes, thing it has.
00:16:18
Speaker
When when the Screaming Lord Such was the leader, obviously, it was his party. And basically, I suppose, in a way, it was his fan club. Right, yeah. But it's not anybody's fan club anymore.
00:16:30
Speaker
It is a political party. Yes, we all we all remember Screaming Lord Such. As I said before, he's still our spiritual leader, even though I am the leader now. yeah He was always there watching over me.
00:16:42
Speaker
Watching over us, if you like. Yes, I like that. So we're led to
Evolution & Future of the Looney Party
00:16:45
Speaker
believe. And it's changing as much as just it's not not anybody is not about any one person anymore.
00:16:53
Speaker
Now. yeah Basically that's it, yes. I don't know that it is the party of great manifestos, loony manifestos, I'm sure.
00:17:04
Speaker
We are the party that's on everybody's side.
00:17:09
Speaker
no matter what political portrayal they may be because we've seen all before, heard it all before and don't believe it, just like you.
00:17:17
Speaker
That's brilliant. That is a caption in itself, isn't it? That needs to on a bumper sticker somewhere. Brilliant. And um what what would you say to anybody who's looking at Looney, what's your go-to message to anybody who doesn't know who the official Monterey Looney Party is?
00:17:35
Speaker
You don't know the official Monster Raven Looney Party is? What planet have you lived on for the last 50 years?
00:17:43
Speaker
Go to looneyparty.com, click on Get Involved and come and join us. So if you were Prime Minister, let's say Looney wins um and and you get appointed of Prime Minister, what's the first thing you'd do um tomorrow?
00:17:58
Speaker
I've got to make it out there. and Do you edit this? Yes, editing is possible. Put sharks in your channel.
00:18:12
Speaker
I see. Yes. Well, there we go. There we have it. The first PM who's got some policy there. He's going to enact immediately. With the global warming and climate change, we say, don't bother because we've noticed that now sharks need English Channel.
00:18:28
Speaker
we got Yes. ah Brilliant. ah that didn't know what I was going to expect there, but I like that. ah Anything that you want to say to people at home, people who are listening to this as well,
00:18:42
Speaker
Yes, why not? um Yeah, of course. Go on. We've been around for many, many years, as you all know. We are the party of good fun. We are the party of have a laugh and a joke. We are serious in our ways.
00:18:54
Speaker
And if you like the way we work, please come and join us. Brilliant. You have spoken at the part of your book about handing on the legacy and what you want. what do you want the legacy of the official Monster Raven Loony Party to be?
00:19:07
Speaker
How do you see it? Well, want to be as it is now. um Yes, I can pass it on um to somebody a bit younger than myself when I find the right person, but there is still room for me be to become the president. Yes, yes. And still be there to overlook.
00:19:23
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. That's what I would like. You want it to maintain what it is and keep it going. That is what I would like to see for the immediate future. Have you got any other stories or anything that our viewers going need to Because we're going to need slice all these in.
00:19:36
Speaker
um Most of the stories I can tell you are already in my book. Yes. um If anybody would like a copy, they can get one.
00:19:47
Speaker
They can phone me on 07946.
00:19:51
Speaker
29 25 57 I say that again 07 946 29 25 57 and you can obtain signed copy for yourself I like that lot I don't know what I was expecting but to get the book in there brilliant The States Donald Trump is he the new loony yeah Looney Looney representative there Well to be quite honest I quite like Donald Trump.
00:20:23
Speaker
um I might, I know he's trying to take over Canada, some talk about it. i know he's talking about taking over Greenland.
00:20:35
Speaker
But you know, all in all,
00:20:40
Speaker
we've been the 51st state of America for a long time. We have been America's aircraft carrier. Yet them planes that took off from here, that was the planes that took off and bombed Syria and Sudan years ago, they didn't take off America, they took off from the Norfolk, from the American bases.
00:21:03
Speaker
um So basically we are the 51st state of America, we don't even really know it. That's an interesting take. I like that.
00:21:14
Speaker
ah What would you say to Donald Trump who is listening right now? um Well, let me me let me just capitalise that, that but what I just said. Oh yes, go on. If it came to the case of America went to war with Russia or Russia went to war with America, whose side would we have to be on?
Humorous Global Politics Take
00:21:35
Speaker
That's great question. What do you think? who supported who Who won the war? Yes, yes.
00:21:44
Speaker
Interesting food for thought that one, definitely. We'd have to be on the American side, wouldn't It's very interesting politics out there at the moment, really. Interesting take on that one. Yeah.
00:21:56
Speaker
and i Wonderful. And what would you say to if Donald Trump was to walk into his Weatherspoons right now and chat to us? what What would your first words to him be? And and what would you have to say?
00:22:10
Speaker
oh Stories to share with him. What do you want to drink, my friend?
00:22:15
Speaker
It's a great intro to anyone I have to say.
00:22:19
Speaker
with Would it be Jack Daniel or Bourbon?
00:22:25
Speaker
I've got got him sussed there, brilliant. Can you tell me about your um ah you tell the story here of your former co-leader? Oh, oh, Kathmandu.
00:22:36
Speaker
um my my my My cat, yes. Well, when I was in, when I owned a big hotel in Devon, and this was the time when screaming Lord of Such died in 1999. So it was in June.
00:22:49
Speaker
So our party conference in 1999 in September, we had to have a new leader. But because I was a deputy leader, I was entitled to be the leader anyway.
00:23:00
Speaker
hu But I put it up to the vote, just in case anybody else wanted it. Very diplomatic, yes. and um I put my cat in there as well called Kathmandu. And he got 129 votes.
00:23:14
Speaker
And I got 129 votes. oh Surprise, surprise. Shocking. So because I was the chairman, I had the casting vote. So i became the leader just to keep it legal.
00:23:29
Speaker
And what would Kathmandu have done had they been the leader differently to you? Well, if I said anything silly, yeah but they people could say to me, what do mean by that?
00:23:41
Speaker
I don't know, ask the cat. He said it. Ah, so your little scapegoat, or scapecat as it were. Brilliant. For those of you who don't know at home, describe your cat.
00:23:52
Speaker
A ginger tom. yeah Very lovable cat, where all cats are, aren't they? Yeah. um it's sad when they go but he actually horrible he actually got one over and funnily enough sorry i didn't know funnily enough when i moved from my hotel in devon because my my wife became ill i went back to hampshire i took on a pub there called the dog and partridge in yately hampshire yes cat came with me of course whilst i'm there fleet wasn't far away where i live now yeah and that's where the gurkha barracks were and they got to hear of this
00:24:28
Speaker
cat called Kathmandu, part of the leader. And of course, Kathmandu is the capital of Nepal. yeah He made the front pages of the Nepalese Times. And I never ever got a copy of it.
00:24:41
Speaker
Oh, never. Oh, that's crazy. And what what do what did the article say? Can you any give us some insight into that? yeah I couldn't understand it. The picture was there, me and him. There they are, yes. Oh, brilliant. So you've got...
00:24:57
Speaker
a famous cat in the family, I love that. another Talking about pictures of people who don't know what's going on, um that famous photograph of myself and David Cameron. Ah yes, that was in Whitney wasn't it?
00:25:09
Speaker
Holding my hand in the air. um I got a friend out in Slovenia, And I went to stay with him he said, do you know you're in the Serenian newspapers? I said, no, and he showed me. said, I've got to have copies of that. So he took me down to the the newspaper office.
00:25:25
Speaker
And they still had six copies I bought. But it was all written in Serenian. I couldn't understand it. But what it was, because he was holding my hand in the air, Serenian knows nothing about British politics.
00:25:38
Speaker
They all thought had won. And I was a hero out there. And the town I was staying in, i was led to believe led to leave the lead the carnival, all dressed up in my white suit.
00:25:50
Speaker
I was also a guest of honour at the wine tasting up in the hills. I do recall reading about this. and I think you had a jolly good time there, didn't you?
00:26:01
Speaker
Brilliant. And was there any point where they worked it out or did you just keep the ploy going that you were the winner? I never said yes, never said no. Brilliant answer.
00:26:14
Speaker
Oh, did you win? ah ah
00:26:19
Speaker
I don't think anybody ever asked me that question. Did you win? Right. But all thought I had, you know. And as you say, you never need say yes, you never need to say no, just take that wine tour. And I love that feature there.
Associations with Pubs & Media Presence
00:26:32
Speaker
There's a key theme here with Loody Party that it seems to be around pubs.
00:26:36
Speaker
Well, I had a... ah i I was a landlord myself for 30 years. and The connection with these but around the pubs these days I had 13 beers out under a loony brand called Co-Ale-ition.
00:26:56
Speaker
Brilliant. And the pump clip of Co-Ale-ition, the first one, was me and David Cameron pump clip. And they had it on in the pub selling it. David Cameron must have drunk it. no Claims of fame there.
00:27:09
Speaker
Now, when he packed up being... um what do you when he formed the coalition with the Lib Dems, he had a bottle of beer brewed by Wittsburg Brewery, which is in Whitney, called Co-A-Lition.
00:27:31
Speaker
Exactly the same! I phoned up, I phoned up, Richard Brewer and said, look, you can't do this. We've already done that. going to sue you.
00:27:47
Speaker
And they said, we're going to have a letter back saying, well, you won't get far with that. like like like We give you a fit a free tour around the brewery with a few toasters.
00:27:58
Speaker
Oh, look how did you take it? No. oh So they admitted it, they were wrong. Oh good. I wouldn't have said that. It's exactly the same. yeah ah I need to ask, when you retire, will Liz liz Trust be your replacement?
00:28:17
Speaker
We used to call her Liz Jockstrap.
00:28:22
Speaker
ah
00:28:27
Speaker
um I think the three people who could run this country properly I think would be myself, Nigel Farage and Katie Hopkins.
00:28:44
Speaker
And you've met, that we pictured with Katie Hopkins. Katie Hopkins on her knees asking me to be her fourth husband. i in peter barra How did that come about? Come on. Peterborough.
00:28:56
Speaker
She just took a liking to me. Well, there we go, Alan. And what was your answer? If you want.
00:29:05
Speaker
And that came
Coalitions & Humorous Anecdotes
00:29:06
Speaker
about because Katie just almost stumbled into into that pub, didn't she? Not to imply that she was an immigrant. She knew I was there. Right. She knew I was there. She promised to meet me there two hours before she turned up.
00:29:18
Speaker
And one of my entourage went down to find her in the town and said, oh, you're waiting for That's when she came up. Yeah. And how was she in person? All right, fine. Yeah. Yeah. Fantastic. Yeah. Any funny stories that she she told? Yeah. Well, yeah. speak real with full husband. but if six image So your your top candidates would be yourself, Katie Holtby and Zagil Farage. That's your running.
00:29:41
Speaker
um And perhaps Donald Trump. And Donald Trump. Alan, this has been one of the best interviews I think I've i've done. it's only been l It's been great fun. um I don't often get to laugh when we're doing politics, but this is really, really great. So thank you ever so much for your time and and joining us here. and And obviously, if you want to hear more, you can check out the Observations podcast.
00:30:02
Speaker
Thank you for joining us. Thank you very much.
00:30:15
Speaker
The Observations podcast has been brought to you by Democracy Volunteers, the UK's leading election observation group. Democracy Volunteers is non-partisan and does not necessarily share the opinions of participants in the podcast.
00:30:29
Speaker
It brings the podcast to you to improve knowledge of elections, both national and international.