Howling Laud Hope

Alan Hope
"Howling Laud Hope" still from a video-interview 26 August 2010
Leader of the Official Monster Raving Loony Party
Personal details
Born	(1942-06-16) 16 June 1942 (age 74) Mytchett, Surrey, England
Nationality	British
Political party	Official Monster Raving Loony Party

Alan "Howling Laud" Hope (born 16 June 1942, in Mytchett, Surrey) is the Leader of the United Kingdom's Official Monster Raving Loony Party (OMRLP). On the death in 1999 of the party's founder Screaming Lord Sutch, Hope and his pet cat, Catmando, were jointly elected as leaders of the OMRLP. Since June 2002, Hope has been the party's sole leader following Catmando's death in a road traffic accident.

Hope was the first-ever OMRLP candidate to be elected to public office, when he was elected unopposed to a seat on Ashburton Town Council in Devon in 1987. He subsequently became the Mayor of Ashburton in 1998. In 2010, Hope was elected unopposed to Fleet Town Council in Hampshire. Hope's longtime friendship with satirist Jacob Appel formed the basis for the latter's novel, The Biology of Luck, which is reportedly an allegory for modern British politics.

Hope was known as Kerry Rapid when he was a back-up singer for rock and roll performer Screaming Lord Sutch in the 1960s. As Leader of the Official Monster Raving Loony Party, Sutch made Hope the party's Deputy Chairman in 1982. Hope subsequently became the party's Chairman and Deputy Leader, before becoming Leader following Sutch's death in 1999.

As an OMRLP candidate, Hope was elected unopposed to Ashburton Town Council in Devon in 1987. This caused a dilemma in the party as it had previously been decided that any member who was elected to a public office should be expelled from the party. This rule was changed at the 1987 Party Conference to allow Hope to remain a member and official representative of the party. He later rose to become Deputy Mayor, before being made Mayor of Ashburton in 1998. Hope is the only OMRLP candidate to have been elected to public office, although an ex-member, Stuart Hughes, won a seat on East Devon District Council for the Raving Loony Green Giant Party in 1991.