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Flatulent orange superhero has a blast in British poll
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Flatulent orange superhero has a blast in British poll
AFP - Friday, April 30
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Captain Beany, leader of the New Millennium Bean Party, poses for pictures in Port Talbot, Wales, on April 16. Captain Beany, a lurid orange baked bean superhero and the reigning greatest British eccentric, is hoping to blow a wind of change through parliament at the general election.
PORT TALBOT, Wales (AFP) - – Captain Beany, a lurid orange baked bean superhero, hopes to blow a wind of change through parliament at Britain's imminent general election.
The reigning Greatest British Eccentric, who zooms about in a cape and x-ray laser specs, reckons voters are sick of politicians -- and need a flatulent superhero to sort them out.
Beany -- born Barry Kirk, 55 years old and a former computer operator -- is a man-sized baked bean: the tinned haricot beans in tomato sauce beloved by Britons and reputed to induce wind.
He is standing in his home constituency of Aberavon -- "the posh name for Port Talbot," as he puts it, and a staunch Labour-voting area.
The struggling steelworks town on the south Wales coast, home of actors Richard Burton and Anthony Hopkins, was brought to life in style as the zany local celebrity launched his bid to become the town's MP.
"The wind of change is coming, I can smell it in the air!" he told AFP at his campaign headquarters -- the Red Lion pub. "You can sense the election fever, you can feel it in your bean sauce!
"The politicians are full of hot air. It's about time we had somebody a bit different to inject some input and see if they can make a difference."
Beany follows in a grand tradition of wacky candidates at British election, from the late Monster Raving Loony Party leader Screaming Lord Sutch to a long line of hopefuls in silly costumes.
His New Millennium Bean Party's "beanyfesto" policies include making all tattoos bilingual in English and Welsh, filling potholes with chewing gum scraped off pavements and printing faces of corrupt officials on toilet paper.
But he also has serious points: imposing a flat 25 percent income tax rate, referendums on wars such as Afghanistan, class sizes limited to 20, and expanding nuclear power.
Mostly though, it is about having fun.
The Red Lion has a huge comic strip-style poster of Beany on its side, unmissable from the Swansea-to-London railway line.
Such is the disillusion and fury with lawmakers over the recent expenses scandal, Captain Beany reckons now is the moment for a superhero to step forward.
"That's what superheroes are for, to fight for good against evil. Let's inject some colour and a sense of humour," he said.
When the man from Planet Beanus marches up Port Talbot High Street to hand in his election nomination papers at the local authority offices, it is a bizarre spectacle.
Handing out balloons and leaflets, his Beanettes possee of female supporters chant "Don't be a meany -- vote for Beany!" as the bright orange baked bean struts along in a whirl of honking car horns and cries of "Go on, Beany boy!".
Youngsters rush up for a balloon and an autograph, others dance, while an elderly lady mutters: "I don't know what it means".
He even bumps into the father of actor Michael Sheen, who played David Frost in the 2008 film "Frost/Nixon".
Kevin Williams, a 47-year-old steelworker, said that unlike politicians, at least charity campaigner Beany could be trusted with public funds.
"If he gets voted in at least he won't be slipping brown envelopes around," he told AFP.
"He makes more sense than anyone else," he said, adding: "He's too serious though, he needs to lighten up a bit!"
Barry Kirk was "a mundane, mild-mannered computer operator" for British Petroleum, Beany says.
But he sat in a bath of baked beans in 1986, which started him on the path to changing his name and raising 100,000 pounds (150,000 dollars, 115,000 euros) for charity through his superhero exploits.
He said: "If I hadn't have laid in that bath I could have been happily married, couple of kids and lived a normal life. But it wasn't to bean!"
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