Garry Bushell (born 13 May 1955) is an English newspaper
column
A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...
ist, rock music journalist, television presenter, author, musician and political activist. Bushell also sings in the Cockney
Oi!
Oi! is a subgenre of punk rock that originated in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The music and its associated subculture had the goal of bringing together punks, skinheads, and other disaffected working-class youth. The movement was ...
bands GBX and the Gonads. He managed the New York City Oi! band Maninblack until the death of the band frontman Andre Schlessinger. Bushell's recurring topical themes are comedy, country and
class
Class or The Class may refer to:
Common uses not otherwise categorized
* Class (biology), a taxonomic rank
* Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects
* Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differentl ...
. He has campaigned for an English Parliament, a
Benny Hill
Alfred Hawthorne "Benny" Hill (21 January 1924 – 20 April 1992) was an English comedian, actor, singer and writer. He is remembered for his television programme ''The Benny Hill Show'', an amalgam of slapstick, burlesque and double ente ...
statue and for variety and talent shows on TV. His TV column ''Bushell on the Box'' still appears weekly in the ''
Daily Star Sunday
The ''Daily Star Sunday'' is a weekly tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom. It was launched as a sister title to the ''Daily Star (United Kingdom), Daily Star'' on 15 September 2002.
The ''Daily Star Sunday'' is published by Expres ...
'', and he is the Review Editor of the ''Sunday Express''.
Early life and music career
The son of a fireman, Bushell attended Charlton Manor School and
Colfe's School
Colfe's School, previously Colfe's Grammar School is a co-educational independent day school in Lee in the London Borough of Lewisham, in southeast London, England, and one of the oldest schools in London. The school is a member of the Headmaste ...
(which was then a
grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...
). At secondary school, he first performed in the group Pink Tent, which was heavily influenced by
Monty Python. They wrote songs and comedy sketches; performed at parties and at each other's houses. Bushell was involved in the
National Union of School Students and the Schools Action Union, a
socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
organisation that had a strong
situationist
The Situationist International (SI) was an Proletarian internationalism, international organization of social revolutionaries made up of avant-garde artists, intellectuals, and Political philosophy, political theorists. It was prominent in Eu ...
streak that led them to mix schoolboy hijinks with
student activism. He worked for
Shell
Shell may refer to:
Architecture and design
* Shell (structure), a thin structure
** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses
** Thin-shell structure
Science Biology
* Seashell, a hard o ...
as a messenger, and then the
London Fire Brigade before attending
North East London Polytechnic
, mottoeng = Knowledge and the fulfilment of vows
, established = 1898 – West Ham Technical Institute1952 – West Ham College of Technology1970 – North East London Polytechnic1989 – Polytechnic of East London ...
and the
London College of Printing
The London College of Communication is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. It specialises in media-related subjects including advertising, animation, film, graphic design, photography and sound arts. It has approximately ...
simultaneously.
Pink Tent evolved into 1977 punk band the Gonads, who have also described themselves
Oi!
Oi! is a subgenre of punk rock that originated in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The music and its associated subculture had the goal of bringing together punks, skinheads, and other disaffected working-class youth. The movement was ...
,
punk pathetique
Punk pathetique is a subgenre of British punk rock (principally active circa 1980–1982) that involved humour and working-class cultural themes.
Origin
The name of the genre was coined by ''Sounds'' journalist Garry Bushell, who actively c ...
and "Oi-Tone" because they play
ska
Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...
and
street punk. Many of their songs are comical party tunes, but they have occasionally written more serious material. Two examples of their songs that include social commentary are "Dying for a Pint" (which comments on
nightclub
A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music.
Nightclubs gener ...
bouncer
A bouncer (also known as a doorman or door supervisor) is a type of security guard, employed at venues such as bars, nightclubs, cabaret clubs, stripclubs, casinos, hotels, billiard halls, restaurants, sporting events, schools, concerts, or ...
brutality) and "Jobs Not Jails" (a critique of the
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...
government's policies).
![Lars Frederiksen & Garry Bushell](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/Lars_Frederiksen_%26_Garry_Bushell.png)
Other Bushell musical projects have included the bands Prole, Orgasm Guerrillas, the Ska-Nads and Lord Waistrel & the Cosh Boys. Prole was a socialist punk band that also included Steve Kent, the original guitarist of the Oi! band
the Business. Bushell managed
the Blood
The Blood are an English, London-based punk rock band, formed in 1982. Led by Cardinal Jesus Hate and JJ Bedsore (AKA Colin Smith and Jamie Cantwell), the band formed in the early 1980s under the name "Coming Blood". Their music is a blend of ...
and
Cockney Rejects
Cockney Rejects are an English punk rock band that formed in the East End of London in 1978. Their 1980 song "Oi, Oi, Oi" was the inspiration for the name of the Oi! music genre. The band members are supporters of West Ham United, and pay ...
, getting them their
EMI
EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...
deal. He also got
Twisted Sister
Twisted Sister was an American heavy metal band originally from Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey, and later based on Long Island, New York. Their best-known songs include " We're Not Gonna Take It" and " I Wanna Rock", both of which were associated with ...
signed in the UK to Secret Records. He compiled the first four Oi! compilation albums and contributed songs to later collections.
Journalism and writing
In 1973, at the age of 18, Bushell joined the
International Socialists and started writing for their newspaper ''
Socialist Worker
''Socialist Worker'' is the name of several far-left newspapers currently or formerly associated with the International Socialist Tendency (IST). It is a weekly newspaper published by the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) in the United Kingdom since ...
''. He also wrote for ''Temporary Hoarding'', ''Rebel'', and his own punk fanzine ''Napalm'', and edited the North East London Polytechnic Student Union magazine ''NEPAM''. From 1978 to 1985, he wrote for ''
Sounds
In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid.
In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the ...
'' magazine, covering punk and other street-level
music genres, such as
2 Tone
Two-tone, two tone, or 2 tone, etc., may refer to:
Audio and sound
* Two-tone analysis, in nonlinear system measurement
* Two-tone attention signal
* Two-tone chime, such as the "ding dong" sound of a doorbell
* Two-tone sequential paging, sel ...
, the
new wave of British heavy metal
The new wave of British heavy metal (commonly abbreviated as NWOBHM) was a nationwide musical movement that started in England in the mid-1970s and achieved international attention by the early 1980s. Journalist Geoff Barton coined the term i ...
and the
mod revival
The mod revival was a subculture that started in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s and later spread to other countries (to a lesser degree). The mod revival's mainstream popularity was relatively short, although its influence lasted for de ...
. Bushell was at the forefront of covering the
Oi!
Oi! is a subgenre of punk rock that originated in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The music and its associated subculture had the goal of bringing together punks, skinheads, and other disaffected working-class youth. The movement was ...
subgenre, also known as ''real punk'' or
street punk. In 1981, when ''Strength Thru Oi!'' was released, it was controversial because its title was a play on a Nazi slogan "
Strength Through Joy
NC Gemeinschaft (KdF; ) was a German state-operated leisure organization in Nazi Germany. Richard Grunberger, ''The 12-Year Reich'', p. 197, It was part of the German Labour Front (german: link=no, Deutsche Arbeitsfront), the national labour or ...
", and the cover featured
Nicky Crane
Nicola Vincenzo "Nicky" Crane (21 May 1958 – 7 December 1993) was an English neo-Nazi activist. He came out as gay before dying from an AIDS-related illness in 1993.
Neo-Nazism
Nicky Crane joined the British Movement (BM) in the late 1970s ...
, a
British Movement activist who was serving a four-year sentence for racist violence. Garry Bushell, who was responsible for compiling the album, insists its title was a pun on
The Skids
Skids are a Scottish punk rock and new wave band, formed in Dunfermline in 1977 by Stuart Adamson (guitar, keyboards, percussion and backing vocals), William Simpson (bass guitar and backing vocals), Thomas Kellichan (drums) and Richard Jo ...
' EP ''Strength Through Joy'' and that he had been unaware of the Nazi connotations. He also denied knowing the identity of the skinhead on the album's cover until it was exposed by the ''
Daily Mail'' two months later. The original cover model had been Carlton Leach. The same year, Bushell wrote the book ''Dance Craze – the 2-Tone story'', and in 1984, he wrote the
Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...
biography ''Running Free''.
His scathing reviews of the early punk incarnation of
Adam and the Ants
Adam and the Ants were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. The group existed in two incarnations, both fronted by Adam Ant, over the period 1977 to 1982. The first, founded in May 1977 and known simply as The Ants until November of t ...
led to him being name-checked, along with veteran ''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' writer
Nick Kent
Nick Kent (born 24 December 1951) is a British rock critic best known for his writing for the '' NME'' in the 1970s, and his books ''The Dark Stuff'' (1994) and ''Apathy for the Devil'' (2010).
Early life
Kent, the son of a former Abbey Road S ...
, in the band's song "Press Darlings", containing the line "If passion ends in fashion, Bushell is the best dressed man in town."
On the studio version, immediately after this line, lead singer
Adam Ant
Stuart Leslie Goddard, better known as Adam Ant (born 3 November 1954), is an English singer, musician, and actor. He gained popularity as the lead singer of new wave group Adam and the Ants and later as a solo artist, scoring 10 UK top ten ...
can be heard muttering "You can say that again, the scruffy sod!"
Bushell also attracted the attentions of Crass who responded to his criticisms with the song "Hurry Up Garry" and the Notsensibles who released the song "Garry Bushell's Band Of The Week".
Bushell moved to
Fleet Street in 1985, working for ''
The Sun'', ''
Evening Standard
The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format.
In October 2009, after be ...
'' and the ''
Daily Mirror
The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print c ...
''. He went back to ''The Sun'' to write its "Bizarre" column and to be the showbusiness editor. In 1991, he briefly became assistant editor of the ''
Daily Star'', where he wrote a current affairs column called "Walk Tall With Bushell", as well as his TV column. Three months later, he quit and returned to ''The Sun''.
In 1994, Bushell was named critic of the year at the UK Press Awards. In the mid-1990s, Bushell hosted the TV programme ''Bushell on the Box'', commenting on the week's TV programmes. The show included rants, interviews, star guests and comedy sketches. It ran for 50 episodes and was number one on ITV's Night Network. The following year, Bushell became resident critic on
Jonathan Ross's ITV series ''The Big Big Talent Show''. He also hosted ''Garry Bushell Reveals All'' for Granada Men & Motors. He has appeared on a wide range of other shows, including ''Celebrity Squares'', ''Noel's House Party'', ''Drop! The Celebrity'', ''Newsnight'' and ''
This Morning''. In 2001, he was resident TV critic of ''
The Big Breakfast
''The Big Breakfast'' is a British breakfast light entertainment television programme that was broadcast on Channel 4. Originally presented by Chris Evans and Gaby Roslin, the show was latterly presented by Mo Gilligan and AJ Odudu.
The p ...
''.
In 2001, Bushell's
crime novel ''The Face'' about undercover detective Harry Tyler was serialised in the ''Daily Star'', leading to his dismissal from ''The Sun'', even though the book's publisher
John Blake admitted Bushell had no knowledge of the serialisation deal. After he was dismissed, he started legal proceedings against ''The Sun'' who settled out of court.
In 2002, Bushell published the book ''King of Telly: The Best of Bushell on the Box'', containing highlights of his column. He has since published two more Harry Tyler novels, ''Two-Faced'' and ''Facedown''. A fourth is due out in 2021.
After ''The Sun'', Bushell wrote for ''
The People
The ''Sunday People'' is a British tabloid Sunday newspaper. It was founded as ''The People'' on 16 October 1881.
At one point owned by Odhams Press, The ''People'' was acquired along with Odhams by the Mirror Group in 1961, along with the ...
'' until 18 February 2007 when he left to work on books and screenplays. He announced his resignation as a TV critic, stating that he was becoming depressed at the state of British television. In 2005, Bushell co-wrote ''Cockney Reject'', the autobiography of Jeff "Stinky" Turner (née Geggus) of punk band
Cockney Rejects
Cockney Rejects are an English punk rock band that formed in the East End of London in 1978. Their 1980 song "Oi, Oi, Oi" was the inspiration for the name of the Oi! music genre. The band members are supporters of West Ham United, and pay ...
, and penned a film script for ''Join the Rejects – Get Yourself Killed'', an abortive feature film project on the band which was replaced by a documentary film, ''East End Babylon''.
![Patti Boulaye & Garry Bushell](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/Patti_Boulaye_%26_Garry_Bushell.png)
Bushell has published his own autobiography, ''Bushell on the Rampage'', a book attacking the BBC soap opera ''
EastEnders
''EastEnders'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the Ea ...
'' called ''1001 Reasons EastEnders is Pony'', and a book on UK youth subcultures called ''Hoolies''. He has also co-written the autobiography of Cockney comic Jimmy Jones, ''Now This is a Very True Story'', published in 2011 and a new expanded version of Dance Craze, about 2-Tone, which is subtitled 'Rude Boys on the Road'. In May 2007, Bushell's column returned to the ''Daily Star Sunday''.
In August 2007, Bushell made a remark during a humorous exchange on the
talkSPORT programme ''
Football First
''Football First – Match Choice'' is an interactive television programme on Sky Sports that shows extended highlights of every Premier League match played on the day, except matches shown live on BT Sport
BT Sport is a group of pay televis ...
'' implying that homosexuality was a perversion, leading the regulator
Ofcom
The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries of the United Kingdom.
Ofcom has wide-ranging powers acros ...
to find the segment in breach of standards for failing to justify offensive material by the context in which it was presented.
Ofcom rejected talkSPORT's claims that the comments made had been "off the cuff", and talkSPORT issued a statement saying its staff had been "made aware" that what Bushell had said was "unacceptable".
Bushell later said that it was not homosexuality which he was referring to as a perversion, but the further lowering of the age of consent; and that his remarks were taken out of context. He has since left talkSPORT. In his 2009 book, ''The World According To...'', Bushell says he made the remark to wind up another broadcaster.
In 2007, Bushell started presenting a monthly punk and
ska
Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...
podcast
A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...
show on
TotalRock, and the Heritage Foundation named Bushell "Critic of the Year". In 2009 he started an occasional punk and ska show called Rancid Sounds for Total Rock radio.
Writing style
Bushell's columns are known for their
simile
A simile () is a figure of speech that directly ''compares'' two things. Similes differ from other metaphors by highlighting the similarities between two things using comparison words such as "like", "as", "so", or "than", while other metaphors c ...
s and
metaphor
A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wit ...
s, such as describing something as being "as fair as
Frank Bruno
Franklin Roy Bruno, (born 16 November 1961) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1982 to 1996. He had a highly publicised and eventful career, both in and out of the ring. The pinnacle of Bruno's boxing career was winning ...
's
arse
Arse or ARSE may refer to:
* A Commonwealth English slang term for the buttocks
* Arse, the name for the Iberian settlement of modern-day Sagunto
* Arse (district), a district in the South Tapanuli Regency, North Sumatra province, Sumatra, Indone ...
" or (in his 1 May 2005 column) "Today's TV is so obsessively gay, it's a wonder the ''
Radio Times'' doesn't come with a pink
Versace
Gianni Versace S.r.l. (), usually referred to as Versace ( ), is an Italian luxury fashion company founded by Gianni Versace in 1978 known for flashy prints and bright colors. The company produces Italian-made ready-to-wear and accessories, as ...
wrap and a free glass of
Muscadet
Muscadet ( , , ) is a French white wine. It is made at the western end of the Loire Valley, near the city of Nantes in the Pays de la Loire region. It is made from the Melon de Bourgogne grape, often referred to simply as ''melon''. While most ...
". His humour angered some ''Sun'' executives, such as
Rebekah Wade
Rebekah Mary Brooks (; born 27 May 1968) is a British media executive and former journalist and newspaper editor. She has been chief executive officer of News UK since 2015. She was previously CEO of News International from 2009 to 2011 and w ...
, but fans include
Barbara Windsor
Dame Barbara Windsor (born Barbara Ann Deeks; 6 August 193710 December 2020) was an English actress, known for her roles in the Carry On (franchise), ''Carry On'' films and for playing Peggy Mitchell in the BBC One soap opera, ''EastEnders''. ,
Dom Joly
Dominic John Romulus Joly (; born 15 November 1967) is an English comedian and writer. He is best known as the star of '' Trigger Happy TV'' (2000–2003), a hidden camera prank show that was broadcast in over 70 countries worldwide.
Early lif ...
and
Roy Hudd, who has called him "the
Max Miller of the press." His tabloid column and writing style were once satirised in adult comic ''
Viz'', including a one-off comic strip titled ''Garry Bushell The Bear'', about a homophobic, xenophobic brown bear.
Responding to comments made by Bushell in the 25 November 1993 issue of ''The Sun'' ("Liberal permissiveness is eating the fabric of our society. You want
video nasties
Video nasty is a colloquial term popularised by the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association (NVALA) in the United Kingdom to refer to a number of films, typically low-budget horror or exploitation films, distributed on video cassette that ...
peddling stomach-churning filth? You got 'em. Western values? Who needs 'em!"), John Martin's book ''Seduction of the Gullible: The Truth Behind the Video Nasty Scandal'' says: "
en Bushell isn't blustering about decency and Western values, he can be found gloating and cracking jokes in his column over such incidents as the death of several transvestites in a sex cinema fire."
Politics
Bushell started his political activism as a
socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
and was a member of the
Trotskyist
Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a ...
International Socialists (which became the
Socialist Workers Party). In 1986, in his '"On the Soap Box" column, Bushell raged against the middle classes, who he claimed had ruined the
Labour Party. He has opposed the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
and unfettered immigration, because he said it undercut working class wages. He has written articles supporting the
Smithfield meat porters who were fighting to preserve their market, and in favour of the
UDR Four, working class comedians and
Page 3
Page 3, or Page Three, was a British newspaper convention of publishing a large image of a topless female glamour model (known as a Page 3 girl) on the third page of mainstream red-top tabloids. '' The Sun'' introduced the feature, publishi ...
girls. In the 2000s, his focus has been on patriotism and individual liberty. He has campaigned to have
St George's Day
Saint George's Day is the feast day of Saint George, celebrated by Christian churches, countries, and cities of which he is the patron saint, including Bulgaria, England, Georgia, Portugal, Romania, Cáceres, Alcoy, Aragon and Catalonia.
Sa ...
recognised as a public holiday in England, in the same way
St Patrick's Day
Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick ( ga, Lá Fhéile Pádraig, lit=the Day of the Festival of Patrick), is a cultural and religious celebration held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (), the foremost patr ...
is a holiday in Ireland.
In the
2005 General Election, he stood as a candidate for the
English Democrats Party
The English Democrats is a right-wing to far-right, English nationalist political party active in England. A minor party, it currently has no elected representatives at any level of UK government.
The English Democrats were established in 2 ...
, who promote the establishment of an
English Parliament
The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advised t ...
, and who wanted England to leave the European Union. Bushell got 1,216 votes (3.4% share) in the
Greenwich and Woolwich
Greenwich and Woolwich is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Matthew Pennycook of the Labour Party.
Constituency profile
The seat is dominated in the south by expansive and panoramic Green ...
constituency, finishing fifth out of seven in a race won by
Nick Raynsford
Wyvill Richard Nicolls Raynsford (born 28 January 1945), known as Nick Raynsford, is a British politician who served as a government minister from 1997 to 2005. A member of the Labour Party, he was Member of Parliament (MP) for Greenwich and Wo ...
of the
Labour Party. The result represented the high point for the English Democrats in the election, and Bushell finished ahead of the
UK Independence Party
The UK Independence Party (UKIP; ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two members of Parliament and was the largest par ...
candidate in that constituency. Bushell also represented the party in
South Staffordshire
South Staffordshire is a local government district in Staffordshire, England. The district lies to the north and west of the West Midlands county, bordering Shropshire to the west and Worcestershire to the south. It contains notable settlement ...
, in the delayed vote (due to the death of a candidate) on 23 June; winning 643 votes (2.51%). His campaign was supported by the
Campaign for an English Parliament and
Veritas
Veritas is the name given to the Roman virtue of truthfulness, which was considered one of the main virtues any good Roman should possess. The Greek goddess of truth is Aletheia (Ancient Greek: ). The German philosopher Martin Heidegger argues ...
. He considered running for
Mayor of London
The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom.
The current m ...
against
Ken Livingstone in 2008, but he pulled out of the race in January 2008 and stood aside for
Matt O'Connor. Bushell announced on 7 December 2011 that he would join and support
UKIP
The UK Independence Party (UKIP; ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two members of Parliament and was the largest p ...
.
"Bushell joins UKIP party"
He is not now a member of any political party.
Elections contested
UK General elections
Personal life
Bushell has five children – three with Carol Bushell and two with Tania Bushell – and lives in Sidcup, South East London.
Bibliography
;Novels
* ''The Face'' (2001)
* ''Two-Faced'' (2004)
* ''Face Down'' (2013)
* ''All or Nothing'' (2019)
* ''Hell Bent'' (2019)
;Non-fiction
* ''Running Free – The Authorised Biography of Iron Maiden'' (1984)
* ''Twister Sister – The First Official Book'' (1985)
* ''Diary of a Mad Man'' (with Mick Wall) (1985)
* ''The Best of Garry's Goofs'' (1992)
* ''Cockney Reject'' (with Jeff Turner) (2005)
* ''The World According to Garry Bushell'' (2008)
* ''Hoolies'' (2010)
* ''Now This Is a Very True Story'' (2010)
* ''Dance Craze – Rude Boys on the Road'' (2012)
* ''Time for Action'' (2012)
* ''1001 Reasons EastEnders Is 'Pony (2015)
* ''Sounds of Glory'' (2016)
* ''1979: The Ska Revival'' (2019)
* ''1979: Time For Action, The Mod Revival'' (2019)
Discography
*''The Gonads: Live – The Official Bootleg'' (1984)
*''Live & Loud'' (1988)
*''Back and Barking'' (1999)
*''Schitz-Oi!-Phrenia'' (2001)
*''Old Boots, No Panties'' (2006)
*''Live Free, Die Free'' (2009)
*''Glorious Bastards'' (2010)
*''Greater Hits Volume One: Plums'' (2011)
*''Greater Hits Volume Two: The Mutt's Nuts'' (2012)
*''Built for Destruction'' (2013)
*''Greater Hits Volume Three: The Complete Cobblers'' (2015)
*''London Bawling'' (2016)
*''All the Loon Stompers'' (2017)
*''American Gonads'' (2018)
References
External links
Official Garry Bushell website
*
Official Gonads website
Bushell talks about what it is to be English
Bushell's monthly radio show podcast
Bushell's Official London Mayor campaign website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bushell, Garry
1955 births
People from Woolwich
English Democrats politicians
English music journalists
English punk rock musicians
English television presenters
Living people
People educated at Colfe's School
Socialist Workers Party (UK) members
UK Independence Party politicians
Alumni of the University of East London
The Sunday People people