You’ve probably all heard of Spiked (Koch-funded, formerly the Revolutionary Communist Party/Living Marxism) and its recent roles in Farage’s Brexit Party (Baroness Fox) & Boris’ Tories (Munira Mirza). I hadn’t realised they’re standing in next week’s election… [1/7]

…Niall Crowley, a long-term activist in all their fronts (see pics) is standing in the #Hackney by-election in Hoxton East and Shoreditch ward, this time as an independent on an anti-LTN ticket... [2/7]

…Martyn Perks is standing in #Islington in Bunhill ward, also as an independent against LTNs. He’s another veteran of Spiked, the Institute of Ideas, etc, and an RCP activist in the 1990s https://powerbase.info/index.php/Martyn_Perks …

...Together they’re also launching a new “London Democrats” platform this week. Agenda items include whether we need a new political party…

…It’s interesting they’re also standing against the lockdown. There’s a lot of angry, resentful, conspiracist energy around against the lockdown (eg the 1000s mobilised for last weekend’s protest) — which sketchy political entrepreneurs are eyeing greedily...

…Between Laurence Fox’s Reclaim and Nigel Farage’s Reform UK (not to mention UKIP, Brian Rose, David Kurten, the SDP & Piers Corbyn), the market for anti-lockdown populism is already pretty crowded…

…Up until now, Spiked have worked through existing parties. But they bring a level of organisation, experience, resources, media access, & pre-existing platforms to be able to astroturf a bigger campaign quite quickly. Probably not a major threat, but definitely worth watching.

PS If you’re not familiar with Spiked, see my blog: http://brockley.blogspot.com/search/label/RCPWatch

PPS: For more background, see @GeorgeMonbiot and @DeSmogUK: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/dec/07/us-billionaires-hard-right-britain-spiked-magazine-charles-david-koch-foundation