TV critic and 'anti-liberal' challenges for mayor

Garry Bushell may be best known as the self-styled "king of telly" whose outspoken reviews have demolished hundreds of small screen performances.

But now the former punk singer turned campaigner for English nationalism is to try to topple Ken Livingstone as Mayor of London.

Mr Bushell has been nominated to stand for mayor under the banner of the English Democrats party, which campaigns for England to be granted its own Parliament.

Last month he mocked David Cameron for being "about as much use as a concrete parachute" and he has declared himself opposed to "Blairism, big government, over-taxation and all forms of bureaucracy and liberal self-loathing".

Now the fireman's son from West London, who is currently the Daily Star Sunday's television critic is presenting himself as "serious about London", insisting "it's time for the English to wake up and reclaim their birthrights".

Mr Bushell, a father of five who is working on a history of youth cults in the 1970s and 1980s, including Two Tone, mods, punk and the new romantics, stood for the English Democrats in Greenwich and Woolwich in the 2005 general election, pushing the UK Independence party into fourth place. He says on his website: "It's a crying shame they stood against us, because most of their policies are bang on too." But he describes the experience "as a small but significant step on the way forward to an English Commons. From little acorns the mighty oak of English liberty will grow".

He also stood in the South Staffordshire by-election in 2005, coming fourth with 643 votes. But now he has his sights set on City Hall.

The English Democrats were formed in 2002 to campaign for English devolution after the creation of the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly.

Today, they boast a membership of 1,500 and they fielded 78 candidates in last month's local elections. They even put up a candidate for the Welsh Assembly calling for a referendum on the return of Monmouthshire to England.

The party's chairman, the Essex solicitor Robin Tilbrook, said Mr Bushell was "very likely" to win the party's nomination. He said the mayoral race would be the biggest showcase yet for his party's policies and insisted Mr Bushell would be an antidote to the far right. He also insisted his party was in favour of integration.

He said: "He has been nominated but not formally selected to stand for us, but I think it is very likely he is going to be selected. Garry is a proper Londoner in every respect."

"Part of the reason we thought of the slogan 'serious about London' is that he is," he added. "His personality is jokey and witty, but there are things about him which are serious. He is a serious English patriot which is what we're about."