Anti-immigrant winner

British audience picks an anti-immigrant former lawyer for election run:

A television contest to choose a candidate for a seat in Britain's Parliament produced an unexpected winner — a convicted con man with a platform to emasculate all child molesters and deport 20 million immigrants.

Rodney Hylton-Potts, a 59-year-old former lawyer, was picked by viewers of the ITV network's "Vote For Me" talent contest to run as an independent parliamentary candidate in the nation's upcoming general election, expected this spring.

And here is his platform:

Mr. Hylton-Potts ran on a platform that he described as a "cabbie's manifesto," calling for the mandatory castration of pedophiles, the legalization of all drugs, a massive program of prison building, and the deportation of 20 million immigrants.

"I won because of the cabbie vote," he insisted.

He said the cabdrivers he talked to all favored his anti-immigration stance. "People didn't vote for me. They voted for that policy." ITV appeared a bit stunned by the vote result.

"We have been underwhelmed by the response to Rodney's victory," a network spokesman said. "From an ITV point of view, the show was always hoping to engage people in debate and increase interest in politics.

"To that end," he asserted, "it was a success. [But] we can't be responsible for what Rodney says."