Meet the eccentric Exmoor landlord running for parliament

Steve Cotten is standing to be an MP in this week’s general election. He has also been called ‘Britain’s grumpiest pub landlord’ by the Daily Mail, the Mirror and the New York Post. In truth, Steve, 64, isn’t grumpy. Not often, anyway. He’s eccentric, certainly, but kind, generous and good humoured, and dedicated to his rural community and his pub’s clientele – many of whom are almost as mad as he is.

I discovered Exmoor’s Poltimore Arms five years ago, and have now made it my local despite living four-and-a-half hours away in London. The ‘Polti’, as regulars call it, has no address, only GPS coordinates. It is located between North Molton and Simonsbath in a tiny hamlet called Yarde Down. Population: two – Steve, and his black and white moggy, Osama bin Yarde Down. Steve used to have another cat, Fred Hitler, but it was run over by an electric car.