Good on you Mark. It's time this ridiculous war got into the election campaign.

All of the "old" - and in this I of course include the Lib Dems - parties maintain that fighting the people of Afghanistan protects us here.

Of course that is exactly wrong, the more Afghanis we kill the more will they want to kill us.

All we are doing there is propping up a bunch of corrupt politicians - perhaps that gives our "main" parties some common interest?

A festival of the depressed indeed. How many scapegoats do we need to make it all better?

voting for a independent party,could let in new labour again.

What we need is an independent candidate in every borough, then new labour, old labour, cons, or libdems or any other machine wouldn't get in.

And we would get representation and even, goodness, democracy!!!

It's funny how these "double dipping" MPs are probably one of those who moan about how the working classes leech the welfare system. A bit hypocritical isn't it? I think this is what we would call "posh benefit fraud"

Gary, as much as I agree with the campaign he ran, isn't it a bit disingenuous referring to him as an independent? Isn't he SWP?

Good luck mark

Although ?giving answers to questions? is not normal you understand!

Maybe that?s why you were not seen as ?mainstream?.

Too straight forward?

Can?t imagine why so many are seen as ?disillusioned?!

PrimroseandBlue - no he's not SWP and to my knowledge never has been, although I do think he stood as a Respect candidate once. As far as I know he's not a member of a political organisation. Moreover, he is running as an independent, which is all I said.

Gary

Good article. Those who run the three main parties just don't "get it". Mark is raising important issues and doing so in an imaginative way.

As for the main issue of the day - the economy - it is increasingly hard to tell the difference between the main parties - doom today or doom tomorrow

Keep it up Mark.

Gary,

I'm loving your videos, some of the best told stories of this election, pls do more.

Check his criminal record. He is bad news

Check his criminal record. He is bad news

Using the media yet again, to heighten his political platform.
Perhaps you should ask Mr France who was the real driving force behind his so called succesful campaign. Perhaps Mr France would like to divulge information as why this successful campiagn was nothing to do with his efforts but the efforts of many other people, a hijacked campaign,by a master of deception.
Why the Tories discredited his campaign after the resignation of its spokesperson.
Why continued pressure from many members of this constituency resulted in the previous MP not standing for reselection.
There is a call for CRB checks to be enforced to all prospective parlimentary candidates in this constiuency, for valid reasons.
It beggars belief that a national newspaper who should have done there homework on this subject is assisting a decietful false individual to claim sainthood for a campaign he actually destroyed with his irrational behaviour.

All prospective MP's should have a CRB check (ON FACEBOOK).
Really what a load of rubbish.

Mr France has been a member of many different parties and changes direction with alarming regularity. His employment record is similarly chequered. He has had, and lost, 3 jobs in Bromsgrove alone since returning here a couple of years ago. It would be very interesting to have a look at his background as he has had many serious allegations made against him, both in Bromsgrove and Huddersfield.
Many of the points he has made in the video clip are very much 'open to interpretation' and I would welcome further investigations into the remarks that he made.
I am afraid to say that, in my opinion, he is totally unsuitable for any public office. It is also my opinion that Mr France would bring Bromsgrove into disrepute. Thankfully, many Bromsgrovians know Mr France to be a master of manipulation which is why he came in last place, jointly with the BNP, in last year's local elections.

Far from leading the Julie must GO! campaign to victory, Mr France almost single handedly scuppered it. He refused to hand over the petition, claiming that it was covered by the Data Protection Act. Imagine that, a petition you can't hand in! When Julie Kirkbride announced her intention to resign, he hijacked the Facebook group Julie must GO! and changed it to Julie must GO NOW! calling for her immediate resignation and a bye-election. This was against the wishes of the majority of the members and was forced through on a show of hands at a poorly attended rally in Sanders Park. Over half of the members left. Mr France then hijacked the group again calling it BEST for Bromsgrove and using it as a platform for his own candidature in that bye-election. When this did not work Mr France hijacked it yet again and came out of the closet with Vote4MarkFrance. When the petition was finally handed in it was found to contain only half the signatures claimed by Mr France and many of those proved to be duplicates and none-Bromsgrove constituency residents. When Julie Kirkbride got wind of the total farce that the campaign had become she announced her decision to stand again. It was only after a concerted campaign by local people including many loyal Tories begging David Cameron to give the town someone they could vote for, that Julie Kirkbride was finally 'persuaded' to stand down. Far from being the hero of the piece Mr France's antics nearly left us with Julie Kirkbride as a sitting MP.

Mark France. A wholesale hijacker of worthy causes. A master of manipulation. Speaker of untruths and disparager of decent, respectable people. A self made "victim".
I am astounded that the Guardian online didn't look into this man's history, or find out a little more about his modus operandi.
This is NOT the kind of person who should be representing our constituency in Parliament.

What is very sad is that anyone who posts anything negative about Mr France sees their post enter moderation or disappear altogether.
The people of Bromsgrove want this man to cease his constant desire for publicity and to stop bringing the town into disrepute. We have witnessed how he speaks to his possible constituents using terms of abuse.
This man, in my opinion, is unworthy of any public post.