Official Monster Raving Loony Party and Symphony No. 91 (Haydn): Difference between pages

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The '''Symphony No. 91''' in [[E-flat major]] (Hoboken 1/91) is written by [[Joseph Haydn]]. It is occasionally referred to as ''The Letter T'' referring to an older method of cataloguing Haydn's symphonic output.
{{articleissues|peacock=May 2008|NPOV=May 2008|citations missing=December 2007|restructure=September 2007|tone=May 2008|advert=January 2008}}
{{Infobox_British Political Party
| party_name = Official Monster Raving Loony Party
| party_articletitle = Official Monster Raving Loony Party
| party_logo =
| leader = [[Howling Laud Hope|Alan "Howling Laud" Hope]]
| foundation = 1983
| ideology = [[Insanity]], [[Satire]], [[Pragmatism]], [[Existentialism]]
| position = N/A
| international =
| european =
| europarl =
| colours = [[Yellow]] & [[Black]] primary<br>[[Green]] & [[Purple]] sometimes added
| headquarters = 59 New Barn Close Fleet Hampshire GU51 5HU
| website = [http://www.loonyparty.info/ www.loonyparty.info]
}}


== Date of composition and scoring ==
It was completed in [[1788]].


The work is in standard four [[movement (music)|movement]] form and scored for [[flute]], two [[oboe|oboes]], two [[bassoon|bassoons]], two [[Horn (instrument)|horns]], [[Figured bass|continuo]] ([[harpsichord]]) and [[String instrument|strings]]. It is the last symphony that Haydn composed that is not scored for [[trumpet]]s and [[timpani]].
'''^..^ HI CHRIS ^..^'''
CHRIS IS A COMPLETE AND UTTER MONSTER, THAT IS, A GENTLE GIANT
CHRIS IS A COMPLETE AND UTTER RAVER, JUS NOT IN THE CHAV SENSE
CHRIS IS A COMPLETE AND UTTER LOON, BUT IS MUCH LOVED
CHRIS IS THUS A MEMBER OF THE MONSTER RAVING LOONEY PARTY


== Movements ==
:D
*I. [[Tempo#Italian tempo markings|Largo]] - [[Tempo#Italian tempo markings|Allegro]] assai
*II. [[Tempo#Italian tempo markings|Andante]]
*III. [[Menuet|Minuet]]
*IV. [[Tempo#Italian tempo markings|Vivace]]


The first movement opens with a slow introduction which Haydn works beautifully into the opening allegro assai. The movement features a legato theme and a dancelike second theme. Both the themes are closely linked with the opening largo. It consists of a set of three variations on a theme. Listen to the bassoon and the accompanying string filigree in the first variation and the series of trills near the end of the movement. The minuet includes a trio in the bassoon accompanied by plucked strings. The finale opens quietly and builds gradually to a close.
The '''Official Monster Raving Loony Party''' (OMRLP) is a registered [[political party]] established in the [[United Kingdom]] in 1983 by musician and politician [[Screaming Lord Sutch|David Sutch]], also known as ''[[Screaming Lord Sutch]]'' (1940-1999).

==Sutch's early political activity==
Beginning in 1964, Sutch, of [[Screaming Lord Sutch and the Savages|Screaming Lord Sutch & The Savages]], stood under a range of party names, mainly as the [[National Teenage Party]] candidate. At that time the voting age was set at 21. The name "National Teenage Party" was intended to highlight what Sutch and others saw as [[hypocrisy]] on a national scale: while teenagers were denied the right to vote on the basis of their supposed immaturity, the "adults" running the country were involved in such shenanigans as the [[Profumo Affair]].

==Formation of the Official Monster Raving Loony Party==
After being shot at during a mugging attempt while living in the [[United States]], Sutch returned to the [[UK]] and to politics during the 1980s, and it was at this time that the "Raving Loony" tag first appeared.

A similar concept had appeared in the "[[Election Night Special]]" sketch by ''[[Monty Python's Flying Circus]]'' in 1970 in which the "Silly Party" and the "Sensible Party" competed against each other, and [[The Goodies (TV series)|The Goodies]] did a similar skit with [[Graeme Garden]] standing as a "Science Loony". Monty Python and [[The Goodies]] also popularised the word "[[loony]]" in the sense that Sutch was using in the name of the OMRLP, but it is equally possible that Sutch inspired the two comedy shows by managing to stand against [[Harold Wilson]] in 1966 and in the [[City of London]] election in 1970. There had also been a "Science Fiction and Loony" candidate in the 1976 [[Cambridge]] [[by-election]].

There were two other individuals important in the formation of the future OMRLP. The first was [[John Dougrez-Lewis]], who stood at the [[Crosby by-election, 1981|Crosby by-election of 1981]] (which was won by the [[Social Democratic Party (UK)|Social Democratic Party]]'s co-founder [[Shirley Williams]]). Dougrez-Lewis stood at the by-election as ''[[Tarquin Fin-tim-lin-bin-whin-bim-lim-bus-stop-F'tang-F'tang-Olé-Biscuitbarrel]]'' (a name taken from the aforementioned Monty Python sketch), having changed his name by [[Deed of change of name|deed poll]] from the somewhat plainer John Desmond Lewis, on the behalf of the [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge University]] Raving Loony Society (CURLS) despite a legal challenge to stop him from standing by a [[far-right]] candidate wishing to highlight his suspension from [[Middlesex University|Middlesex Polytechnic]] for his views{{Fact|date=July 2008}}. CURLS were an "anti-political party" and charity fund raising group formed largely to be a fun counter response to increasingly polarised student politics on campus and responsible for a number of fun-stunts (their Oxford University equivalents were the “Oxford Raving Lunatics”) Dougrez-Lewis was to become Sutch's agent at the notorious [[Bermondsey by-election, 1983|Bermondsey by-election of 1983]] where the OMRLP banner was first officially unfurled.

The second person who helped found the party was Commander [[Bill Boaks]], a retired [[World War II]] hero involved in the sinking of the ''[[German battleship Bismarck|Bismarck]]'', who had campaigned and stood for election for over 30 years on limited funds, always on the issue of [[road safety]] (he had been prosecuted several times as a result of his campaigns against several prominent figures who had mysteriously managed to escape prosecution for [[drunk driving|drunk-driving]] offences). Boaks foresaw the problems that increased traffic and more roads would cause the country, but by the time his predictions of unnecessary child deaths, pollution and [[traffic congestion|congestion]] were proved correct, he had died as a result of head injuries received three years earlier from a motorcycle collision. Boaks acted as one of Sutch's counting agents at Bermondsey and also proved influential on Sutch's direction as the leading anti-politician: "it's the ones who ''don't'' vote you really want, because they're the ones who think". Boaks subsequently retired from standing at elections due to his injuries, content that someone else was now taking up the anti-Establishment baton he had held for three decades.

==Elections and party manifesto==
The OMRLP are distinguished by having a deliberately bizarre [[manifesto]], which contains things that seem to be too impossible or too absurd to implement – usually to highlight what they see as real-life absurdities.

Despite its [[satire|satirical]] nature, some of the things that have featured in Loony manifestos have become law, such as being able to vote at 18, "[[Pet passport|passports for pets]]", and all-day pub openings. Similarly, the outcry following [[Howling Laud Hope|Alan Hope]]'s appearance on the [[BBC]]'s ''Nationwide'' current affairs programme after he was elected &ndash; during which he mentioned that butter and milk surpluses were being dumped down abandoned mine shafts under [[European Community]] rules to maintain prices (something the media of the day had failed to expose) - resulted in the distribution of such surpluses to the needy or charities instead.

The Loonies generally field as many candidates as possible in [[United Kingdom general elections]], some (but by no means all) standing under ridiculous names they have adopted via deed poll. Sutch himself stood against all three main party leaders ([[John Major]], [[Neil Kinnock]] and [[Paddy Ashdown]]) in the [[United Kingdom general election, 1992|1992 General Election]]. Parliamentary candidates have to pay their own deposit (which currently stands at £500) and cover all of their expenses. No OMRLP candidate has managed to get the required 5% of the popular vote needed to retain his deposit, but this does not stop people standing. Sutch came closest with 4.1% and over a thousand votes at the [[Rotherham by-election, 1994|Rotherham by-election]], whilst [[Stuart Hughes (politician)|Stuart Hughes]] still holds the record for the largest number of votes for a Loony candidate at a Parliamentary election, with 1,442 at the [[United Kingdom general election, 1992|1992 General Election]] in the [[Honiton]] seat in east [[Devon]]. The all time highest vote achieved was by comedian [[Danny Bamford]] aka Danny Blue, who secured 3,339 votes in the 1994 European Elections under the pseudonym of "John Major". Bamford had also acted as an election agent for Lindi St Clair's rival [[Corrective Party]], and was a former close associate of Stuart Hughes.

==Divisions within the Loony Party==
Just like any other party, the OMRLP has long suffered from splits over policy regarding just how silly it should be. Many believed that the splits were flimsy attempts at poking fun at the series of splits going on in British politics during the late 1980s—at the [[Vauxhall (UK Parliament constituency)|Vauxhall]] [[Vauxhall by-election, 1989|by-election]] there were two [[Green Party of England and Wales|Green Party]] candidates (due to an error on their part) and two [[British National Front|National Front]] candidates from their warring "[[Official National Front|Third Way]]" and "[[Flag Group|Flag]]" factions, whilst at the same time feuding continued between the [[Liberal Democrats|Social and Liberal Democrats]] and [[Social Democratic Party (UK, 1988)|Social Democratic Party]] candidates, both products of a merger — but the splits were serious, despite Peter "Top Cat" Owen's blithe dismissal to journalists that "the only splits I'm interested in are the ones with bananas in them" (which led to his adoption of an inflatable banana when on the campaign trail. Owen's election leaflets are also noted for stressing his political philosophy as a "pragmatist").

Some members believe that OMRLP activities are purely for fun (and an ego trip or publicity for their entertainment business), while others see the party in the same vein as ''[[Private Eye (magazine)|Private Eye]]'' magazine or programmes such as ''[[That Was The Week That Was]]'' or ''[[Spitting Image]]'', using satire to make serious points on issues of the day. Tensions have often resulted because the more serious types in the OMRLP have managed to do what most observers considered impossible—actually achieve a creditable number of votes—tending to put the noses {{Fact|date=August 2008}} of the "Fun-Da-Mental-ists" out of joint.

There were also objections in some quarters to the continued presence of alleged [[brothel]] keeper and minor celebrity [[Cynthia Payne]]—a friend of Sutch—who was at the front of many party [[photo ops|photo opportunities]] but continued to stand instead as a member of the rival [[Rainbow Alliance]] party (aka Captain Rainbow's Universal Abolish Parliament Party) of [[Rainbow George Weiss|George Weiss]] (a friend of [[Ian Dury]] and [[Peter Cook]]). The controversy heightened after Weiss was convicted of [[heroin]] possession (the ''[[News of the World]]'' settled a damages claim by the OMRLP, for saying Weiss was a member, out of court).

Due to ill health, Lord Sutch became less involved with the party and his last campaign was in Winchester after a by-election was called when the main election was undecided due to a count difference of just two votes between the Conservative and Liberal Democrat candidates. Assisted by his Campaign Manager and Election Agent, Peter '[[Uncle Belly]]' Byford, the party gained 316 votes.

==Split leads to Raving Loony Green Giant Party==
In 1989, [[Stuart Hughes (politician)|Stuart Hughes]], along with [[Danny Bamford]] (later Danny Blue), [[Roly Gillard]], [[Melvyn Hartshorne]], inventor [[Mike Madden]] and tree surgeon [[Stuart Greenwood]] formed the breakaway [[Raving Loony Green Giant Party]] (RLGGP), mainly due to personality clashes with OMRLP Chairman Alan Hope and other "Fun-da-Mental-ists"—the final straw being the latter (and Sutch's) behaviour during a sponsored walk to the [[Scilly Isles]] for the children's cancer charity, [[CLIC]], where they only turned up at the start and finish for the media call whilst Hughes and others did the whole event.

==Electoral success for Raving Loony candidates==
In 1987, the OMRLP won its first seat on [[Ashburton, Devon, England|Ashburton]] Town Council in [[Devon]], as [[Howling Laud Hope|Alan Hope]] was elected unopposed. He subsequently became Deputy Mayor and later Mayor of Ashburton in 1998 (mainly opposed by the local Conservatives - they never forgave him for becoming a member of the OMRLP, which is considered to be defection in the Conservative Party and led to his expulsion) until he moved to [[Hampshire]] after Sutch's death. His hotel in Ashburton "The Golden Lion" (referred to by some in the party as "The Mucky Mog" for reasons apparent to anyone visiting it for the first time) was the party's Headquarters and conference centre for over a decade.

The first Raving Loony to win as a result of a straight vote (versus being elected unopposed) was [[Stuart Hughes (politician)|Stuart Hughes]], taking the "safe" [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] seat of [[Sidmouth]] Woolbrook on [[East Devon]] District Council in May 1991. He then took a seat on [[Sidmouth]] Town Council from the Conservatives the following day. His success was met with hostility from the local Tories. Hughes' reaction was to attempt to make their lives a misery for the next three years: eg. refusing to pay his Community Charge (also known as the [[Poll Tax]]), then dumping scrap metal in the middle of the council chambers to the value of his unpaid tax when threatened with legal action. He also formed an alliance known as "The Coastals" (because of the seats they held) of Independents and the sole [[Green Party of England and Wales|Green Party]] councillor, giving East Devon's ruling Conservatives the first true opposition they had faced for decades (the local Liberal Democrat and Labour Parties being negligible).

Hughes retained his seats with increased majorities in subsequent elections, and the final humiliation for the Conservatives came when he took the [[Devon]] County Council seat from the local party's [[Chief Whip]] in the council. Hughes remains a member of all three councils to this day although he now does his politicising— ironically—as a Conservative.

The RLGGP's better organisation and success at the polls proved a wake up call to the OMRLP, and at one stage in England during the early 1990s there were 16 councillors elected despite having the phrase "Raving Loony" accredited to them, and one in [[Scotland]]—[[Mark Boyle]] on Johnstone Community Council—who stood as a joint Official Monster Raving Loony Party ''and'' Raving Loony Green Giant Party candidate because he disagreed with the split (Hughes and Sutch thought having a joint councillor for two warring factions hilarious, Hope less so). To date, two have risen to become mayors — Alan Hope in Ashburton in Devon and [[Chris Driver|Chris "Screwy" Driver]] on the Isle of Sheppey in [[Kent]].

==Loonies embarrass Social Democrats: the First Bootle By-Election ==
At the [[Bootle by-election, May 1990|Bootle by-election]] in May [[1990]], the Loony candidate (Sutch) received more votes than the candidate for the [[Social Democratic Party (UK, 1988)|continuing Social Democrats]]. The OMRLP newsletter for June 1990 released by Alan Hope said "WHAT IS GOING ON?" and Sutch himself appeared utterly shocked when interviewed by the BBC after the result was announced.

The story was a major headline in many UK newspapers; ironically the by-election itself had attracted little coverage: the little media attention there was focused on a bizarre row between Labour and the Raving Loonies. Relations between Labour members and Raving Loonies had never been good, but they reached a new low when the Labour agent tried to have the Loony candidate, [[Screaming Lord Sutch]], arrested for breaking the old electoral law forbidding using a public house as an election campaign headquarters, a law which had been repealed in 1987. The tabloid newspapers referred to "Kinnock’s Killjoys" ([[Neil Kinnock]] being the Labour leader at this time) for the campaign's duration, and the OMRLP never looked back.

The result was the last straw for the continuing Social Democrats — centred around former Labour Foreign Secretary and Social Democratic leader [[David Owen|Dr. David Owen]]—who had refused to accept the merger of the SDP with the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberals]] to form the [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]]. Rubbing salt in their wounds, Sutch offered in jest to form a coalition with them, but they instead disbanded, though in a repeat of the events of 1988 once again a week later some members voted to carry on. Almost a year after Bootle, the supposedly dead SDP finished fourth at [[Neath]], beating the OMRLP to 5th place in the process, and survive to this day (for the history of the post-Owen SDP, see the [[Social Democratic Party (UK, 1990)|continuing Social Democratic Party]]).

Although there have been far more prestigious Loony results before and after (particularly Monmouth), Bootle is still regarded by Raving Loonies as their finest hour, the watershed moment when they had to be treated as a serious political party, albeit one largely lampooning the political world.

==Serious attempts to gather votes: the Tempest/Beckett era ==
Sutch also defeated a joint [[Plaid Cymru]]/[[Green Party of England and Wales|Green Party]] candidate at the bitter [[Monmouth (UK Parliament constituency)|Monmouth]] [[Monmouth by-election, 1991|1991 by-election]] and almost beat the ruling Conservative Party's candidate at the [[Islwyn (UK Parliament constituency)|Islwyn]] [[Islwyn by-election, 1995|1995 by-election]] later on—but by this time the OMRLP were organised enough to make coming in fourth the norm in by-elections in England and Wales.

The credit for this must lie with [[John Tempest]], a former Liberal/Liberal Democrat press officer and election agent (and co-founder of the award winning Bradford Soup Run charity for the homeless). Together with friend and OMRLP activist [[Willi Beckett]] (one of the founders of the anarchist [[One-In-Twelve Club]] in [[Bradford]]), they transformed the way the party fought elections. From the outset they were determined to make the OMRLP reap the rewards of being the unofficial "protest vote party" of the UK: now posters, car stickers, and a never-ending series of headline-grabbing stunts not only made it easier for the party to gain publicity, but also ensured they were treated fairly by the media (three by-election TV shows were cancelled when the OMRLP used the law to stop them having candidate debates that barred the Loony candidate). The party even managed to attract some corporate sponsorship from the makers of "Monster Munch" crisps & "Spillers" dogfood, albeit to lampoon the manner in which [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] under Blair in particular had become big business puppets.

Tempest and Beckett suffered the same problems from the "Fun-da-Mental-ist" faction, but by then new people had entered the party such as future Chairman [[Peter 'T.C.' Owen]], to whom beating the other parties was what it was all about and who saw nothing funny about coming last with a handful of votes. Also Tempest was known &ndash; ironically &ndash; as one not to suffer fools gladly (there were a number of clashes between him and Hope). It was no coincidence that during the era of Tempest and Beckett, other well known "alternative" parties such as the Greens, [[British National Front|National Front]], [[British National Party]], and the [[United Kingdom Independence Party|UK Independence Party]] often withdrew their candidates from seats after an OMRLP member had announced their candidature because of the damage to party morale from finishing with fewer votes than a "Raving Loony".

Beckett was forced to drop out of Loony activities due to ill health, prompting Tempest to end his association with the OMRLP, thanks to work & Soup Run commitments—along with being fed up with the lack of gratitude and backbiting from the "Fun-da-Mental-ist" faction that were happy enough to ask for his help to get them out of a number of scrapes—including a nasty election feud in Holmfirth between Melodie Staniforth and Mike Madden of the rival RLGGP faction during the mid 1990s (Madden eventually quit standing in elections).

==Sutch's death, and its aftermath==
Screaming Lord Sutch, a [[bipolar disorder|manic depressive]], after the death of his mother Annie in 1998, committed suicide on [[June 16]], [[1999]].

Sutch's death drew tributes from right across the political spectrum. There were also however some not-so-complimentary comments, the worst coming from [[Roseanna Cunningham]], at the time MP for [[Perth, Scotland|Perth]] and a columnist for the Scottish [[Sunday Mail (Scotland)|Sunday Mail]]. Cunningham claimed newspapers were more interested in the death of someone she felt had contributed nothing to politics nor society whilst 'ignoring' the death that same week of Cardinal [[Basil Hume]] (in fact most had given long obituaries to Hume) who she felt had done more (she did not name any specific achievements). Cunningham had previously been upstaged by the OMRLP on the night of her victory at the ill-tempered [[Perth and Kinross by-election, 1995|Perth & Kinross by-election]] due to the death of [[Sir Nicholas Fairbairn]]. A foul-up between SNP spin doctors inside and outside Perth City Hall and the BBC led to expectant nationalist supporters gathered outside cheering Sutch, Boyle and Beckett for five minutes instead when they stumbled out of Perth City Hall first; leaving Cunningham trapped inside whilst the OMRLP (and one defecting Scottish Liberal Democrat) conducted the crowd in choral renditions of both "Spot the Loony" and "Let's All Laugh At Labour". (Labour had spent a fortune in vain on trying to win the seat for [[Peter Mandelson]]'s then aide [[Douglas Alexander]].)

This in many ways sums up the OMRLP's role in politics. Politicians and the media loved them, so long as they themselves did not fall foul of their antics.

Sutch's funeral, organised by Tempest, was attended by members of the OMRLP and RLGGP, including Hughes, who with Freddie Zapp brought along a huge floral tribute shaped as an OMRLP rosette; they provided a more dignified entourage than Sutch's own relatives and romantic partners, who fought with one another at the graveside. The running of the OMRLP fell to [[Howling Laud Hope|Alan "Howling Laud" Hope]] and his late cat, [[Cat Mandu]] (killed 2002), who were the joint winners of the 1999 membership ballot for the replacement for Sutch.

The OMRLP fielded 15 candidates in the [[United Kingdom general election, 2001|2001 General Election]], where they actually ran up their best General Election results to date.

==Second split: the Rock 'n' Roll Loony Party==
This, however, has been followed by a series of disastrous by-election results and a further split. Town Councillor [[Chris Driver]] formed the [[Rock 'n' Roll Loony Party]] with Mike Young & others dissatisfied with Alan Hope's leadership, in a sad replay of the events surrounding the OMRLP/RLGGP split a decade earlier (interestingly [[Roly Gillard]], who had rejoined the OMRLP upon the RLGGP's demise, also took part in this split).

This splinter however did not last anywhere near as long as the RLGGP, although in a replay of what happened to Stuart Hughes and the RLGGP, success at the ballot box ensured the failure of the new party. Chris Driver's election as Mayor of Queensborough Town Council for the municipal year 2002/2003 curtailed on its leader's time enough to ensure party activities effectively ground to a halt. By 2004, the RRLP was effectively dead, with most of its members having rejoined the OMRLP. (Gillard however dropped out of politics altogether in 2002 after his wife's suicide).

==Non-Loonies who nevertheless claimed to be==
The party suffered from a number of individuals that claimed to be members—usually for their nefarious reasons—down the years (leading in several instances to recourse to the Law), eg. one Peter “The Mad Monk” Dixon in Cheshire stood as an "Official Monster Raving Loony Christian Party" candidate to promote his own religious views—he was promptly disowned by John Tempest in the press). Two cases in particular deserve mention.

Sir [[Patrick Moore]], the famous British TV astronomer, claimed several times to be the party's Minister for Flying Saucers. In fact, Moore was not welcome at all within the party due to his past involvement as joint leader of the far-right [[New Britain Party]]. Moore has since proclaimed his allegiance to the UKIP.

[[Hugh Reed & The Velvet Underpants]], a band barely known outside of the Scottish University circuit released the song "Vote Monster Raving Looney" in 1992. They were however nothing to do with the Official Monster Raving Loony Party (hence the different spelling of "Loony") & similarly disowned by a press statement from John Tempest. The band subsequently became involved in fund-raising activities for the "ultra-nationalist" (i.e., ethnic/cultural nationalist) [[Siol nan Gaidheal]] group (who were expelled from the [[Scottish National Party]] in 1982).

==Councillor defects to BNP==
One of the few bright moments for the party after the death of Sutch came in 2000 when Angela Ashcroft won a seat on the multi-member Cuckoo Oak ward on [[Madeley, Shropshire|Madeley]] Parish Council in [[Shropshire]]. This soon turned to embarrassment (and horror) when she defected not long after to become the local organiser for the far-right [[British National Party]].

==2005 general election ==
A biography of Sutch,"The Man Who Was Screaming Lord Sutch" (by Graham Sharpe, the Media Relations Manager for bookmakers William Hill) was released in April 2005 (ISBN 1-85410-983-9), but its description of what remains of the party as "wannabes, never-would-bes and some bloody-well-shouldn't bes" was hardly what the party needed in the middle of a General Election campaign, though it is debatable just how much an effect this had on the party’s fortunes at the General Election. (They did gain an impressive article in the financial section of ''[[The Times]]'' days before the vote itself.)

The manifesto, entitled "The Manicfesto", for the [[United Kingdom general election, 2005|2005 General Election]] the OMRLP's major manifesto commitment was once more their long held pledge to abolish income tax, citing as always that it was only meant to be a temporary measure during the Napoleonic Wars. This has been a Loony staple policy since the original manifesto was written by Sutch's agent Pauline Read in 1983. Also included was another old staple, the "Putting Parliament On Wheels" idea of having Parliament sit throughout the country rather than solely in London—with special emphasis this time in its creation negating the need for national/regional assemblies.

The rest of the party's manifesto included:

*Refusing to sign up to the [[euro]], but inviting the rest of [[European Union|Europe]] to join the [[Pound sterling|pound]].
*Drivers can go straight over a [[roundabout]] when there's no traffic coming "to make driving through [[Milton Keynes]] more fun".
*Traffic cops "too stupid" for normal police work to be retrained as vicars.
*Withdrawal of MPs' £118,000 expenses allowance, and the money "in future be distributed to the poor and needy so that they can waste it instead."
*Any MP whose constituency sells off a school playing field for development will be required to relinquish their own back garden as a replacement sports facility for the school.
*All motorways to become massive cycle tracks instead
*All speed cameras will be abolished and replaced by a new device fitted to cars which will automatically slow down to the speed limit when driven though an infra-red beam.
*The introduction of a 99p coin to "save on change".

Overall the results were a disappointment for the OMRLP after their success in the previous general election showed there was life after Sutch, the only improvement being Alan Hope’s increase of the vote to over 500, but all other candidates saw marked reductions—including Owen haemorrhaging over 300 votes straight over to the BNP, contesting the Wokingham seat for the first time. "Top Cat" Owen is the only member of the current OMRLP line up ever to poll over 1000 votes (he polled 2,859 votes in the 1994 European elections), and his dip in fortunes despite a previously strong local following appears to have killed the last realistic chance the party ever had of seeing a saved deposit.

==York Branch terminal split==
The party also suffered from an ill-needed row over its York branch, which led to there being no "official" City of York candidate and gave more credence to those that denounced the post-Sutch OMRLP as little more than a PR machine for pub-circuit entertainers rather than a political party. Graham Cambridge, otherwise known as Eddie Vee, the Elvis-impersonating previous candidate, wished to stand again, but the branch honorary secretary John E Morris and the branch treasurer, Gareth Sheehan (also known as "Spydaz") elected to have the famous alternative artist Andy "Milladdio" Hinkles as the candidate and asked Vee to stand elsewhere.

Morris and Spydaz were well known enough in York, Morris as a former [[British National Front|National Front]] and then Green Party activist, whilst Spydaz was known as York's "super-squatter", an activist of the York Peace Collective that led a series of highly publicised squats during 2003 and 2004 to highlight neglected "listed" buildings (their antics included the holding of Art exhibitions within such abandoned properties).

The response however from OMRLP headquarters was for Deputy Leader Boney Maroney to promptly expel Morris and Spydaz from the party. In York's "Evening Press" newspaper of 12/4/2005, Maroney claimed it was "for selling loony merchandise against Electoral Commission rules": to be precise the OMRLP's Financial Scheme as registered with the Electoral Commission, which meant any Branch of the OMRLP taking money on the party's behalf would be breaching the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 Part 2. As such, the York Branch's alleged selling of merchandise provided a pretext to expel the entire branch—bar Vee—and declare Vee to be the "approved" York candidate.

Vee then failed to raise the £500 deposit to stand, but the expelled York Branch members had the deposit for Hinkles—now standing as a York Integrity Party (although the ballot paper simply reads "Independent Hinkles")—submitted within days of the Notice of Election being posted.

Morris, Hinkles and Spydaz offered an olive branch to party HQ, but with no response, and with the Socialist Alliance and the Green Party contesting the seat, any hopes the Hinkles candidature may have had of attracting the "alternative" vote from his association with Spydaz were dashed—he barely took 100 votes.

==2005 school mock elections shock==
There were however two crumbs of comfort. For the third election in a row, the OMRLP found its candidates being debarred from the [[Hansard Society]]/BBC TV "[[Newsround]]" School Mock Elections running in tandem with the General Election (the same fate befell the BNP), and the party advised pupils to get voters to spoil their ballot papers in protest or simply write "OMRLP" on the ballot papers in schools that refused to back down. In the event, 102 Raving Loony school candidates stood, winning in 21 of these, and taking enough votes in two parliamentary constituencies to be declared to have 'won' the seat—the two being Bristol East (the former seat of [[Tony Benn]]) and the hard-line Tory constituency of Chesham & Amersham, neither of which have any history of active Raving Loonyism before.

==Party Press Officer Forced To Resign Upon Assault Charge==
On 31st August 2006, an article appeared in "This Is London/News Shopper", attributed to Alison White, stating that Brian Borthwick (aka Lord Toby Jug), the party's Press Officer, was asked to resign by Deputy Leader Melodie Staniforth, after Borthwick had appeared in court in Dartford pleading guilty to a charge of common assault against his partner Julie Diana Smith on August 14. Borthwick blamed his actions on the medication he was taking for his mental illness. (see reference/link below)

==The current status of the OMRLP==
The OMRLP's official headquarters was originally the (now gone) "Golden Lion Hotel" in [[Ashburton, Devon|Ashburton]], then the "Dog & Partridge" pub at [[Yateley]] in [[Hampshire]], but this was lost shortly after the 2005 General Election. Conference venues are now chosen in advance—the 2006 conference was held at Torrington in Devon, the 2007 conference is due to be held in Jersey.

Although Alan Hope took over as Party Leader after Sutch's death, the real day-to-day running of the party has always been done by other party members. Even on the council election circuit, its vote, funds — and public interest — appear to be in terminal decline, facing a tighter squeeze for the "protest vote" from other minor UK parties with more members, money, and organisation.

The party fell foul over its funding on [[26 September]] [[2005]] when the Electoral Commission forced them to return a donation of £350 sent by a supporter from the independent British Dependency of the [[Isle of Man]].

The party's last elected representative was [[R. U. Seerius]] (formerly Jon Brewer) on the 11 member Sawley Parish Council in South Derbyshire, first elected (uncontested) in 2005. He was no longer a member as of May 2007, having failed to appear in no less than 11 statutory meetings during his time in office (see links to Sawley Parish Council minutes)

The party contested both the [[Bromley and Chislehurst by-election, 2006|Bromley and Chislehurst]] and the [[Blaenau Gwent by-elections, 2006|Blaenau Gwent]] Parliamentary by-elections on 29th June 2006; and with it a degree of their previous by-election lustre—a matter perhaps the result of the return of [[Willi Beckett]] to frontline OMRLP activities; tragically in October 2006 he was diagnosed as terminally ill with cancer, and he died on Friday 2nd March 2007, less than a day after setting up his own MySpace website. His ashes were later used to make his farewell vinyl single.

==Deputy Leader Staniforth Resigns==
In March 2007, Melodie "Boney Maroney" Staniforth, the Deputy Leader resigned from the party, though she stood in the April 2007 Kirklees council elections as an OMRLP candidate. The party's webmaster, Stuart "Parish Poisoner" Estell did likewise. According to her 29 March 2007 interview with the "Huddersfield Examiner" newspaper, she was doing the party's books, merchandising & electoral law work with little help, and had grown fed up with the lack of leadership accountability. Asking Hope to become Party President whilst she would become official Party Leader, Hope refused, saying he was leader until death.

Ironically, she had been the most vociferous critic of the Raving Loony Green Giant and Rock'n'Roll Loony factions that had left the OMRLP for largely the same reasons, and of John Tempest's more organised approach to elections and funding. She has since stood as a candidate for [[the Blah! Party]].

Hope retaliated with a press release stating - with little appreciation of the irony - that "although the sudden resignation of a main party member was a shock the Loony party is not just one person and will continue regardless." and that "the party will never again be reliant on one person".

The post-Staniforth OMRLP succeeded in standing in the two by-elections of 19 July 2007 in Sedgefield and Ealing Southall, but again achieving derisory results: Alan Hope acquiring 129 votes (0.46%) and John Cartwright taking 188 (0.51%), beating the English Democrats but coming behind even the so-called [[Operation Christian Vote|Christian Party]] of the Reverend [[George Hargreaves (politician)|George Hargreaves]] and David Braid.

==“Top Cat” Owen Takes Over As Deputy Leader==
In recognition that reforms were needed, [[Peter 'T.C.' Owen]] was moved from the honorary position of Party Chairman to that of Deputy Leader (& thus effective day-to-day leader) of the OMRLP, whilst Anthony "The Jersey Flyer" Blyth (owner of the Ommaroo and a member of the [[Jersey Heritage Trust]]) took over Owen’s role. A self styled [[pragmatist]], Owen comes from the side of the OMRLP that always took the fighting of elections seriously and is one of four Raving Loonies to have scored over 1000 votes in an election.

==Crewe and Nantwich By-Election==
Nick "The Flying Brick" Delves was the candidate at the [[Crewe and Nantwich by-election, 2008]] on 22 May 2008. He is the party's current treasurer and has contested several General elections and council elections for the OMRLP. Delves finished 7th out of 10 candidates with 236 votes (0.57%), coming behind the [[Green Party]], U.K. Independence Party (who stood MEP [[Mike Nattrass]] as their candidate) and even the [[English Democrats]]. At the announcement of the result, the candidates were made to stand with the returning officer on the right side of the stage, whilst their agents stood some distance away on the left. However, Alan Hope and Nick Delves swapped places so that Hope would be televised being the first to shake the victorious Conservative candidate's hand.

==Membership==
The statement of accounts for the period 1 January to 31 December 2007 <ref>[http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/files/dms/Official-Monster-Raving-Looney-Party-Statement-of-Accounts-2007_29264-21736__E__N__S__W__.pdf]{{Dead link|date=July 2008}}</ref><ref>[http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/templates/search/document.cfm/21736]{{Dead link|date=July 2008}}</ref> outlines membership at 1,236, made of 53 paying members and 1,183 "lifetime but non-paying".

==Current By-Elections==

Currently a by-election is being fought by a candidate.

* [[Mad Cow-Girl]] is contesting the [[Haltemprice and Howden by-election, 2008]]

==Quotations==
{{Unreferenced|date=October 2007}}
*"Vote for insanity. You know it makes sense." - Screaming Lord Sutch (a parody on Margaret Thatcher's oft-used "You know it makes sense" by-line circa 1979-1983
*"Why is there only one [[Competition Commission|Monopolies Commission]]?" - Screaming Lord Sutch (on many occasions)


== References ==
== References ==
*Robbins Landon, H. C. (1963) ''Joseph Haydn: Critical Edition of the Complete Symphonies'', Universal Edition, Vienna
{{reflist}}

"The Man Who Was Screaming Lord Sutch" - Graham Sharpe, April 2005 (ISBN 1-85410-983-9)

"Life As Sutch" - Lord David Sutch (ghost written by Peter Chippendale), Angus & Robertson 1991 (Expanded Edition 1992)(ISBN 0-207-17240-4).

Sutch's "autobiography" needs to be treated with care, as amid the facts are fictions from Chippendale because he thought they made the book more entertaining. During this period, a number of UK publishers released many such spurious "faction" autobiographies from minor celebrities only too happy to take the royalties (or having little choice but to do so owing to financial problems).

Another problem for researchers on the OMRLP is the tendency of newspapers to simply make up policies the party purported to have or even statements from members when they did not (a problem most minor UK parties face without adequate access to legal redress).

== Further reading ==
* {{cite news|title=OMRLP accounts with Electoral Commission|url=http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/files/dms/TheOfficialMonsterRavingLooneyPartyGB_17362-12789__E__N__S__W__.PDF}}
* {{cite news|title=Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh Way|author=Louis Cooke|work=[[Flak magazine]]|url=http://www.flakmag.com/opinion/ukvote2.html}}
* {{cite news|title=Beyond a joke|author=Jon Ronson|date=[[2000-01-15]]|work=[[The Guardian]]|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,,237558,00.html}}
* {{cite news|work=[[The Argus (Brighton)|The Argus]]|date=[[1999-10-15]]|title=FAREWELL TO THE LOONY LORD|publisher=Newsquest Media Group|url=http://archive.theargus.co.uk/1999/10/15/196920.html}}
* {{cite news|work=[[Evening Press]]|date=[[1999-10-15]]|title=LOONIES AT EACH OTHERS VOTES|publisher=Newsquest Media Group|url=http://archive.yorkpress.co.uk/2005/4/12/226415.html}}
* {{cite news|work=[[Huddersfield Daily Examiner]]|date=[[1999-10-15]]|title=BYE BY LOONIES|publisher=Trinity Mirror Group|url=http://ichuddersfield.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100localnews/tm_method=full%26objectid=18827692%26siteid=50060-name_page.html}}
* {{cite news|work=[[News Shopper]]|date=[[2006-10-31]]|title=Loony Party Boss Sorry For Hitting Partner|publisher=Newsquest Media Group|url=http://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/news/boroughpolitics/councilnews/display.var.898857.0.loony_party_boss_sorry_for_hitting_partner.php}}
* {{cite web|url = http://www.sawleyparishcouncil.co.uk/sawleynews.htm |title = Sawley Parish Council minutes of meetings, 26/4/2005 until present |accessdate = 2008-07-01}}

==See also==
* [[List of frivolous political parties]]
* [[Pet passport]]

==External links==
* [http://www.loonyparty.info/ Official web site] of the Official Monster Raving Loony Party.
*[http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/regulatory-issues/regpoliticalparties.cfm?frmGB=1&frmPartyID=72&frmType=partydetail OMRLP listing on Electoral Commission register of parties]
* [http://www.thisisyork.co.uk/york/news/YORK_NEWS_DIARY2.html The Hinkles/Vee Row (continued)]
* [http://www.midsussex.gov.uk/Nimoi/sites/msdcpublic/resources/PCS2326.PDF Baron Von Thunderclap's 2005 election result]
* [http://www.curls.org.uk/ Cambridge University Raving Loony Society]
* [http://www.aravingloony.co.uk/ R.U.Seerius]
* [http://croydonloony.co.uk/ John Cartwright - Croydon Branch OMRLP]


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[[Category:Official Monster Raving Loony Party| ]]
[[Category:Political parties in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Political parties established in 1983]]
[[Category:Joke political parties]]


{{HaydnSymphonies}}
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[[Category:Symphonies by Joseph Haydn|Symphony 091]]
[[zh:官方妖怪狂歡發瘋黨]]

Revision as of 18:40, 13 October 2008

The Symphony No. 91 in E-flat major (Hoboken 1/91) is written by Joseph Haydn. It is occasionally referred to as The Letter T referring to an older method of cataloguing Haydn's symphonic output.

Date of composition and scoring

It was completed in 1788.

The work is in standard four movement form and scored for flute, two oboes, two bassoons, two horns, continuo (harpsichord) and strings. It is the last symphony that Haydn composed that is not scored for trumpets and timpani.

Movements

The first movement opens with a slow introduction which Haydn works beautifully into the opening allegro assai. The movement features a legato theme and a dancelike second theme. Both the themes are closely linked with the opening largo. It consists of a set of three variations on a theme. Listen to the bassoon and the accompanying string filigree in the first variation and the series of trills near the end of the movement. The minuet includes a trio in the bassoon accompanied by plucked strings. The finale opens quietly and builds gradually to a close.

References

  • Robbins Landon, H. C. (1963) Joseph Haydn: Critical Edition of the Complete Symphonies, Universal Edition, Vienna
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