Of the 14 parties standing in the North Shropshire by-election, few can boast the heritage oft eh Monster Raving Loony Party.

Party leader Alan 'Howling Laud' Hope will be standing to replace Owen Paterson at next month's by-election, having taken over the party mantle from Screaming Lord Sutch when he died in 1999.

Well – in part. He shared the leadership with his cat Catmando until 2002, when his co-leader was killed in a road accident.

He has contested a number of elections before – and was even mayor of Ashburton in Devon for two years between 1998 and 2000.

The many and varied strange tales of the Loony Party history are too numerous to list here, so instead, for the benefit of our politically-savvy readers, here are some of their recent policy announcements from the party's own Twitter feed:

  • Raising the height of the Westminster urinals "to keep MPs on their toes".
  • Building a high speed railway to the Falkland Islands, bemoaning the current HS2 plans as "neither daft nor expensive enough"
  • Government whips to be reserved for when MPs have been "really bad", merely using a slipper for lesser offences
  • Making it free to cycle around safari parks to encouraging cycling
  • Demanding a ban on shoes made of coal to help cut people's carbon footprints
  • Keeping Trident, but only using it on evenings and weekends to help save money
  • Reducing net migration by ensuring nets are firmly tethered to the ground

And there are many more where that came from. Your move, mainstream parties...