The Liberal Democrats are on 48% in a poll with the closest rival, the Greens, trailing in our wake with just a third of that total.
Unfortunately, this is unlikely to change anyone’s vote. It’s in the Big Beard Poll on Keith Flett’s blog. Keith runs the Beard Liberation Front which earlier this year announced our Julian Huppert as the Parliamentary Beard of the Year.
The campaign says that it is entirely up to voters to decide but a key criteria is how Parties are prepared to go in signing up to the BLF Beard Friendly Britain Manifesto (below)
BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, “Of course the LibDem leadership is as clean shaven and suited as other parties but the LibDems still do retain some of their traditional hirsute following. The LibDem candidate for Cambridge Julian Huppert, for example, is a former winner of the Parliamentary Beard of the Year Award.”
The Beard Liberation Front manifesto is as follows:
Beardism- pogonophobia in the Greek- is irrational prejudice against the hirsute and should be outlawed by Act of Parliament so that, for example, it becomes illegal for employers, private and public, to refuse someone a job on the grounds of their appearance.
There should be positive action to increase the number of hirsute MPs which is currently at a deplorably low level.
There must be a Government commitment to increase the number of hirsute public employees year on year and for the number of beards in senior civil service roles to be monitored
All people should be able to dress and appear as they want and this should be a cornerstone of public employment policy.
Discrimination against the hirsute at work and in social settings must end and this can be addressed partly by promoting positive images of the hirsute- for example TV news readers.
Stereotyping of the hirsute, is wrong and the ‘man with a beard’ caricature, although it is often meant in a light hearted way, must be understood as potentially offensive.
Discrimination on the grounds of appearance is something that we as Liberal Democrats should all agree on.
But the poll does make you wonder if Nick Clegg should do this…
* Newshound in training. I'm sweet and full of mischief, just like my stories.
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13 Comments
Actually more serious than that might sound – a friend of mine genuinely had ‘shave off the beard’ as a condition of employment. He has, but not happily!
David Heath, Jeremy Browne, John Thurso ….
Lord Greaves of the Birchcliffe Centre.
Need I say more?
Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn is the current Parliamentary Beard of the Year, but I’m glad that Julian Huppert managed to see off a short-lived challenge from Jeremy Browne as the Lib Dem’s most prominent beard.
Have you noticed the discrimination against women parliamentarians in this area?
Women with beards are nowhere to be seen in The Palace of Westminster.
Nick Clegg has not appointed one bearded lady to the Upper House.
When it comes to Liberal facial hair, Thurso remains the master.
Unfortunately Nick looks a little too like Noel Edmonds with a beard. Probably best avoided.
I think Bearded Clegg looks more like Commander Riker from Star Trek: TNG…..
Yeah I was thinking Riker too.
Any beard-growing should be left until post-election, perhaps as a symbol of any coalition negotiations. ‘I’m not shaving until we’ve formed a government. ‘
@ATF Viscount Thurso’s beard is a thing of wonder. Though I did like the ‘tache only look
One of our bearded local campaigners was told that his photo in Focus made him like a certain late former GP who practiced in Hyde. Oh Dear!
Come to Lynne Featherstones Campaign ( come anyway, all help will be well used) and you will find a high % of the team with beards 🙂 The non bearded (me) are also VERY welcome 🙂
I presume Plaid Cymru and Sinn Fein were not included in this.