Organiser of a controversial St George’s Day parade in West Bromwich is standing for town MP
Apr 23 2010 by Chris Henwood, Birmingham Mail
THE organiser of a controversial St George’s Day parade in West Bromwich is standing for election as the town’s MP.
Mark Cowles, who helped raise £10,000 to ensure Sunday’s Stone Cross St George’s Day parade could go ahead, is the candidate in West Bromwich East for the separatist English Democrats party.
Father-of-three Mr Cowles will be taking on Labour’s sitting MP, Tom Watson, as well as candidates from the Conservative party and Liberal Democrats, plus UKIP and the BNP.
“If I didn’t think I could do any better then I wouldn’t put myself forward,” said the 41-year-old carpenter.
The party, which is fielding more than 100 candidates at the General Election, argues England should have its own parliament, like Wales and Scotland. It has been compared to Plaid Cymru and the Scottish Nationalist Party, although it opposes regional assemblies.
Former Sun columnist Garry Bushell failed to win the London mayoral election in 2008 as an English Democrat, however last year the party’s Peter Davies was elected mayor in Doncaster.
