The "undertone of popular protest in British politics has taken a fresh twist" with news that a League One side Millwall supporters' group is "putting up an independent pro-Millwall candidate at the general election to fight a Labour stronghold seat close to their home ground, The Den," according to Barney Ronay of the London GUARDIAN. Rumors of a pro-Millwall election bid have been "circulating" around southeast London "for the past week." Willow Winston, an independent backed by the Millwall AMS supporters' group, will be standing in Lewisham East, a seat now occupied by Labour's former shadow minister, Heidi Alexander. Winston, a 72-year-old artist and local resident, became an "accidental hero of the recent struggle against the Labour-led council's seizure of land around The Den to aid a controversial regeneration scheme." Threatened with eviction from her home, and offered £58,000 in return by the council's preferred developer, Winston was "adopted as a favourite aunt and cult figure by Millwall fans during the shared battle against the bodged 'New Bermondsey' regeneration." The decision to stand as a candidate will "spark what is certain to be vibrant and acerbic pre-election publicity campaign" (GUARDIAN, 5/8).
