TV’s politician search gets underway
The political version of Pop Idol got underway on Monday night as ITV launched its search for a popular candidate to stand at the next general election.
Billed as a search to find an individual “chosen by the people to represent the people”, the show will see 13 candidates whittled down to one by the end of the week.
The show’s producers say it is their response to declining voter turn out.
Whoever wins the contest will be free to stand in any constituency in the country. But, under electoral rules ITV will be barred from giving any financial support to the winner.
But the show has been shunted into the 11pm graveyard slot meaning audience figures are likely to be low, so it is unclear how much of a boost the publicity will be.
The panel of judges consists of veteran reporter John Sergeant, former Sun editor Kelvin MacKenzie and GMTV’s Lorraine Kelly.
Contestants range in age from 23 to 53 and have a wide divergence of political views. These range from radical wealth redistribution and lowering the voting age to 16, to keeping Britain out of the Euro and wielding a tough immigration policy.
