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25 September 2014

The Returning Officer: Portsmouth Sth IV

By Stephen Brasher

The Revolutionary Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist) stood here in both 1974 elections, recording their highest vote when A D Rifkin won 612 votes in the October contest.

In the 1983 general election and the 1984 by-election, Alan Evens stood as an Independent Liberal. In 1983, he finished ahead of the National Front and the suspiciously named D W Fry of the Traditional English Food Party. Evens was still standing in local elections in Central Southsea 24 years later. In 1987, Martyn “Docker” Hughes stood for the 657 Party – representing Portsmouth’s football hooligan crew. His speech at the count featured in a documentary, on which the researcher was Phil Woolas, later MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth.