Tim Farron will have to defeat a giant fish finger after crowd-funding campaign raised £1,500 for joke candidate to stand against him in snap election
Comes after a Twitter poll suggested more people trusted a breaded cod than the Lib Dem leader
TIM FARRON will have to defeat a giant fish finger if he wants to keep his seat in the election after a bizarre crowd-funding campaign against him.
More than £1,500 has been raised for the joke candidate to stand against the Lib Dem leader after a Twitter poll suggested more people trusted a breaded cod than him.
It is now believed someone will change their name by deed poll to Mr Fish Finger and dress up as a fish finger on the campaign trail in his North West constituency.
The web page to donate funds asks people: “Want to knock Tim Farron off his perch and put him in his plaice?
“Then vote for Mr Fish Finger as MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale.”
The campaign needed to raise £500 for the deposit required to stand as a candidate in the General Election.
They said any funds raised above that total – which is now more than triple that figure - will “ensure that Mr Finger looks dashing as he embarks on his new career”.
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The campaigner promised to bring an end to “foreign fish in our fingers” if elected during a post on its Twitter campaign page.
But Mr Farron has said he "welcomes the challenge" posed by 'Mr Fish Finger', telling ITV he is "more of a chips and mushy peas man".
It marks a tough start to the snap election campaign for the Lib Dem leader, after he came under fire for refusing to deny homosexuality was a sin.
The committed Christian was left squirming during a Channel 4 interview when he was asked to disown some of his past comments.
He has since clarified he does not believe homosexuality is a sin after coming under fire from a Tory backbencher in the House of Commons.
Nigel Evans said of Mr Farron: “A lot of his views will be asked about over the next seven weeks and he was asked one question which he refused to give an answer to.
“I'd be interested if he could today. Does he think being gay is a sin?”
The party boss responded “I do not”, adding he was proud to have backed the Coalition Government’s introduction of gay marriage.