Church of the Militant Elvis Party | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader | David Bishop |
| Founded | 15 May 2001 |
| Headquarters | Nottingham, England |
| Ideology | Political satire |
| Website | |
| grumpyoldelvis.co.uk at the Wayback Machine (archived December 10, 2022) | |
The Church of the Militant Elvis Party is a frivolous political party in the United Kingdom. The leader of the party was David Bishop (1944–2022),[1] who went by the nicknames of 'Lord Biro' and 'Bus-pass Elvis'. The party had seven registered campaign groups: 'Bus-pass Elvis', 'Elvis Defence League', 'Elvis turns Green', 'Militant Elvis Anti-Tesco Popular Front' (MEAT-PF), the 'Elvis and the Yeti Himalayan Preservation', and 'Militant Elvis Anti-HS2'.
The party was concerned with the depletion of the Amazon rainforest, climate change, the power of Tesco on the British high street and the power of large corporations. A book on Elvis Presley noted that "an obviously ironic attitude toward Elvis is used in the service of rather serious anti-imperialist political objectives".[2] It deregistered in December 2008,[3] but re-registered in March 2010[4] and stood in the 2010 general election in Kettering,[5] gaining 112 votes.[6]
- ^ "Dave Bishop: Man behind Bus Pass Elvis political party dies". Bbc.co.uk. 5 December 2022. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
- ^ Reece, Gregory L. (2006). "Elvis on the internet". Elvis religion: the cult of the King. I.B. Tauris. ISBN 1-84511-256-3.
- ^ "List of Political Parties either renamed or deregistered since 2002" (PDF). Electoral Commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 June 2009. Retrieved 8 February 2010.
- ^ "Church of the Militant Elvis". The Electoral Commission. Retrieved 28 April 2010.
- ^ Matthews, Jenny (28 April 2010). "Election 2010: Potholes to peace – more unusual pledges". BBC News. Retrieved 28 April 2010.
- ^ "Election results – Corby, Kettering and Wellingborough's votes". Archived from the original on 28 May 2010. Retrieved 18 December 2010.