It was reported last month that a "one issue" political party has been set up to campaign against EU rules on the sale of electronic cigarettes.
According to Mirror Online, 'The "Vapers in Power" group plans to field two candidates in the General Election, using money raised from a crowdfunding drive.'
As of April 1 it seems that £3,002 has been raised, enough to pay the deposits of two candidates and deliver leaflets to 80,000 households. Liam Bryan will stand in Kingswood (Bristol), Billy Marsden in Barnsley East.
"Our chances of getting elected are non-existent," said Bryan. "We hope our chances of fighting the e-cig laws are slightly higher."
He's right to be realistic.
Twenty-one years ago my predecessor Marjorie Nicholson represented Forest in a by-election in Dudley West.
According to Wikipedia:
The result was a Labour gain from the Conservatives, on one of the largest swings since the Second World War. This was the first significant sign of the changed political climate following the election of Tony Blair as Labour leader, which would eventually lead to Labour's 1997 general election victory. Labour gained nearly 70 per cent of the votes, whereas the Conservative candidate attracted fewer than 20 per cent of the votes.
Marjorie got 77 votes and came eighth out of ten candidates with 0.2 per cent of the vote.
To put this in perspective, the BNP came fifth with 561 votes.
The good news is that Majorie beat the Natural Law party (70 votes) and 21st Century Conservatives (55).
If Vapers in Power do better than that I'll be the first a raise a glass.