An anti-sleaze party should fight 100 seats

A week ago, I blogged about the possibility of running for Parliament as an anti-sleaze candidate and the response has been overwhelming — overwhelmingly negative, that is. “When Toby Young puts himself forward, you know the country is in desperate trouble,” wrote Martin Bright.

I am probably not the man for the job, but the silent majority deserves to be represented by someone who is serious about holding politicians to account — and I’m not 100 percent convinced that Esther Rantzen is that person. I’ve no axe to grind against Rantzen, who may turn out to be an excellent candidate, but the public’s anger over MPs with their snouts in the trough is so great I think a number of independents should stand for Parliament.

What I’d like to see is a new anti-sleaze party devoted to curbing the financial excesses of all politicians, both national and local. A party that not only wants to bring transparency to MPs expenses and abolish the second-homes allowance, but also promises to reduce the £70 billion the government spends on quangos every year and stop local authorities wasting hundreds of millions on publicity.