Richard John Huggett (born January 1944) is a British former teacher who has been a candidate in a number of elections, using descriptions which were similar to those of established political parties, leading to this practice being outlawed under the

Registration of Political Parties Act 1998 The Registration of Political Parties Act 1998 (c. 48), is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which made legal provision to set up a register of political parties in the United Kingdom. Previously there had been no such register, and ...

Background

Huggett studied

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

and

zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

and obtained a diploma in social and administrative studies. He lived for about 10 years in the South of France where he built

yacht A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

s.Sally Weale, David Hencke, "Literal candidate denies acting as Tory stooge", ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 15 June 1994. Huggett was reported to have been an intelligence officer, who from 1989 ran a school for children in Hampshire.Peter Dunn, "Party officials find literal truth is hard to take", ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', 14 June 1994. The school closed down in 1993 when the lease ran out on the building. He was a father of four, and had produced a first education video.

1994 European Parliament election

At the European Parliament Election, 1994, Huggett was nominated under the label "Literal Democrat" for the Devon and East Plymouth seat. He ran his campaign from

Canonteign Canonteign (originally "Canons' Teign") is an historic tything in the parish of Christow, near Chudleigh, in South Devon, England and situated in the valley of the River Teign. The 'canon' in the name refers to the Augustinian canons regular, ei ...

Manor, the home he shared with his mother near

Christow Christow is a village and civil parish in the Teignbridge district of Devon, England, about southwest of Exeter. The village is in the Teign Valley, just off the B3193 road that links Chudleigh and Dunsford. Christow is on the eastern edge of ...

in the

Teign Teigne (also : Teign, Tègne, Teeñ, Tin or Tañ in Wolof language) was the title of the monarch of the pre-colonial Kingdom of Baol, now part of present-day Senegal. In Wolof, "Teigne" means the support that is placed on the head to carry so ...

valley in

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

. In an interview recorded during the campaign but due to be broadcast after it Huggett hinted that future government should be conducted through electronic

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

s and said "the traditional party system generates all sorts of undemocratic processes." When the nominations closed and it was revealed that Huggett was a candidate with the description "Literal Democrat", the Liberal Democrats launched legal action in the

High Court of Justice The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Courts of England and Wales, Senior Cou ...

alleging that the

Returning Officer In various parliamentary systems, a returning officer is responsible for overseeing elections in one or more constituencies. Australia In Australia a returning officer is an employee of the Australian Electoral Commission or a state electoral c ...

had wrongly accepted a nomination which was designed to confuse voters. The Judge ruled that the nomination had to stand.Patricia Wynn Davies, "Historic win for Ashdown in West Country", ''

'', 13 June 1994. In the result, Huggett won over 10,000 votes, far more than the 700 vote majority of the Conservative candidate over the Liberal Democrat.

Winchester constituency

Huggett also attempted to run as "Gerald Maclone" in the Winchester constituency in the 1997 General Election and the following

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

(the sitting MP was junior minister

Gerry Malone Peter Gerald "Gerry" Malone (born 21 July 1950) is a British Conservative Party politician who served as a member of Parliament (MP) from 1983 to 1987 and again from 1992 to 1997. Early life Born in Glasgow, Malone was educated at St Aloysius ...

). He stood under his own name as "Liberal Democrat Top Choice for Parliament" in the General Election and as a "Literal Democrat Mark Here to Win" in the following by-election.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Huggett, Richard 1944 births Living people 1994 elections in the United Kingdom 1997 elections in the United Kingdom European Parliament elections in the United Kingdom Alumni of the University of London Place of birth missing (living people)