A VILLAGE pub landlord has decided to stand in opposition to James Gray in the general election.

He is not known on the local political scene, but businessman Giles Wareham, who runs the Rising Sun in Christian Malford near Chippenham, said he was fed up with what the politicians were offering.

His discontent came to a head when watching the leaders’ debates in the last fortnight. The televised shows convinced him to take the plunge and Mr Wareham has become a surprise addition to the list of candidates standing in the North Wiltshire constituency, released yesterday by Wiltshire Council.

Mr Wareham, 68, said: “What finally triggered it was the TV debate. It seems that the main parties aren’t about going forward, just having a go at each other and saying, it’s your fault. There’s no point in looking backwards.”

He said he hopes to take part in the hustings, the first of which is going ahead in Cricklade next Tuesday. As well as the Conservatives’ James Gray, he will be up against Labour’s Peter Baldrey, Liberal Democrats’ Brian Mathew, the Green Party’s Phil Chamberlain, Simon Killane and UKIP’s Pat Bryant.

On James Gray, who was the last to hold the seat, he said: “He is well-entrenched into it but within his party he’s in the middle, not in the very top end. There are people who think it’s time for a change and I don’t think they’ll move away from Gray as far as Labour.

“I have had a surprising amount of support.”

He would not say if he thought he could win, but said the £500 deposit he put down to stand was “well invested”. This is returned on receiving at least five per cent of the votes cast.

“I was only announced yesterday,” he said. “Nobody’s heard of me until today, unless of course they drink in the Rising Sun. But the election is yet to be decided, I don’t think people are locked into their views. If a sensible alternative presents itself it will pick up some votes.”

Mr Wareham is originally from London and has not voted in the UK himself since 1989, having spent several years living in Belgium and the US.

When he took the lease on for the pub with his wife Louise Manfield nearly two years ago, it had been closed for several months. Before that he worked in insurance.

In the election he is looking to target “farmers, people who believe in the NHS and people who want to keep their local pubs going.”

He said he wants to see farmers treated fairly by milk distributors. “The number of farmers that go out of business is horrific," he said.

“People buying milk from the farmers are in a strong position, it isn’t a level playing field. Milk is cheaper than water at the moment and Defra aren’t really paying much attention. It’s got to come to the forefront.

“The NHS is a fine animal that has seen better days and needs tending back to proper health. Parts of it have been sold in perhaps not the most efficient way. We have the best treatment but where it goes wrong is the waiting lists.”