'Men's rights' campaigner announces bid to oust Theresa May from Maidenhead seat

The leader of a men’s rights party has announced he will stand against the Prime Minister for the Maidenhead seat in the next General Election.

Mike Buchanan, leader of the Justice for Men and Boys (And The Women Who Love Them) party said he will stand in the 2020 election against Theresa May, and plans to start campaigning before Christmas.

The party, which was founded by Mr Buchanan in 2013, claims to be the only party in the ‘English-speaking world’ campaigning for the human rights of ‘men and boys’.

Mr Buchanan said: “I created the party after it dawned on me that feminism was a truly evil ideology driven by the hatred of men and boys.

“If you ask 100 people in Maidenhead what misandry is, I doubt five could tell you.

“Feminists are in major positions of power, Theresa May was photographed wearing a t-shirt that said ‘this is what a feminist looks like’.

"She's nailed her colours to the mast."

When asked why he was standing to be MP of Maidenhead, Mr Buchanan said: “It’s the place to raise the issue of men’s issues; the state is astonishingly anti-male.

“In our party manifesto we outline 20 areas where the human rights of men and boys are assaulted by the state’s actions and inactions, generally to the advantage of women and girls, although men collectively pay almost 75 per cent of the income taxes which largely fund the state.”

Mr Buchanan, who worked in Maidenhead during the 1980s as a buyer at The Brylcreem factory in Norreys Drive, said the party will campaign to make male circumcision illegal, for more support for male victims of domestic violence and for male education rights.

He also spoke about his belief the criminal justice system shows a leniency towards women and the gender pay gap.

He said: "There is no gender pay gap under the age of 40. Between the ages of 20-29 it is in favour of women, from 30-39 it's about the same, and after 40 a significant gap emerges as a result of women simply not devoting time and effort to their careers.

"From the moment they leave school females are more likely to not work or work part time."

Mr Buchanan stood in the last General Election for the Ashfield seat in Nottinghamshire, but lost to Labour MP Gloria De Piero, who was then the shadow minister for women and equalities.

The party intends to contest Conservative seats held by 'prominent feminists' in the next General Election.

Mr Buchanan, who lives in Bedford, plans to spend his time street campaigning in Maidenhead and says he will move to the town if he is elected.