Lieutenant Commander William George Boaks died On This Day 4th April 1986.
A Royal Navy officer who became a political campaigner for road safety. A pioneer of British eccentric political campaigning, he jointly held the record for the fewest votes recorded for a candidate in a British parliamentary election, taking five at a by-election in 1986
Mr Boaks lost £4,200 in deposits for his 28 elections after failing to secure enough of a share of votes to reclaim his £150 deposit.
His first election was in 1951 when he had intended to stand against the prime minister, Clement Attlee, but stood for the wrong constituency mixing up Walthamstow East with Walthamstow West where the prime minister was standing. Mr Boaks got 174 votes out of a possible 40,001.
He reportedly disagreed with the idea of door-knocking or being overly persuasive with voters. Instead, he would ride around on a bike festooned with placards and road safety signs.
He lived his wife Ivy at 31 Palace Road and ironically he was killed in a road traffic accident in 1986, by which time he had pulled in just 7,772 votes, despite being a candidate in 28 different elections.
(Sky News)
A Royal Navy officer who became a political campaigner for road safety. A pioneer of British eccentric political campaigning, he jointly held the record for the fewest votes recorded for a candidate in a British parliamentary election, taking five at a by-election in 1986
Mr Boaks lost £4,200 in deposits for his 28 elections after failing to secure enough of a share of votes to reclaim his £150 deposit.
His first election was in 1951 when he had intended to stand against the prime minister, Clement Attlee, but stood for the wrong constituency mixing up Walthamstow East with Walthamstow West where the prime minister was standing. Mr Boaks got 174 votes out of a possible 40,001.
He reportedly disagreed with the idea of door-knocking or being overly persuasive with voters. Instead, he would ride around on a bike festooned with placards and road safety signs.
He lived his wife Ivy at 31 Palace Road and ironically he was killed in a road traffic accident in 1986, by which time he had pulled in just 7,772 votes, despite being a candidate in 28 different elections.
(Sky News)
