Beard Liberation Front
PRESS RELEASE 14th December
Contact Keith Flett 07803 167266
LIBDEM MP JULIAN HUPPERT BEATS JEREMY CORBYN TO PARLIAMENTARY BEARD OF THE YEAR
The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has said that the race for the Parliamentary Beard of 2013 has ended with LibDem MP for Cambridge Julian Huppert beating former winner the Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn by a beard length in a public poll 46% to 34%.
LibDem MP for Caithness John Thurso, another former winner, was third and Labour’s Paul Flynn fourth with Tory MP John Randall coming fifth after the poll was weighted to allow for political balance.
The BLF says that the Liberals have traditionally been the party of the hirsute but in recent years Labour has taken that role with the Conservatives coming very late to the issue, with David Cameron admitting recently that he could not grow a beard
The Award goes to the MP or Peer whose hirsuteness has made the most Parliamentary impact during the year underlining that beards are continue to be a powerful force in Parliament even with a largely clean shaven Coalition Government and for the first time this year Labour Peer Lord Toby Harris made the shortlist and polled respectably
In 2012 the Award was tied between Jeremy Corbyn MP and John Randall MP
BLF organiser Keith Flett said, Julian Huppert’s victory underlines that the LibDems can still win something and perhaps the fact that it was the Parliamentary Beard Award suggests that a return to their traditional hirsute image could be a way forward. That aside Jeremy Corbyn underlined his role as the Parliamentary standard bearer for hirsute causes
Parliamentary Beard of 2013 Short List
David Anderson [Labour, Blaydon]
Jeremy Corbyn [Labour, Islington North]
Paul Flynn [Labour, Newport West]
George Galloway [Respect, Bradford West]
Fabian Hamilton [Labour, Leeds North East]
Lord Toby Harris [Labour]
Kelvin Hopkins [Labour, Luton North]
Julian Huppert [LibDem, Cambridge]
John Randall [Conservative, Uxbridge & South Ruislip]
John Spellar [Labour, Warley]
John Thurso [LibDem, Caithness, Sutherland & Easter Ross]
Congratulations to Julian Huppert on winning Parliamentary Beard of the Year! Many thanks to all wh vtes for me. May the hirsute prosper in 2014 and an axis of liberty grow between North Londn and Cambridge!
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