HER hobbies include knitting and gardening. She thinks the country is going to the dogs. And she says that her friends and family are backing her all the way.
Meet Jacqueline Hunt, the 61-year-old grandmother standing in next month’s local elections for the British National Party.
The retired Newbury woman, who has lived in the district all of her life, decided that enough was enough recently when her grandson came home from school after a citizenship lesson and said that he was learning about other religions.
The Thatcham North candidate, who insists she and her party are not racist, claimed: “We are a Christian country and we should be taught about Christianity. It’s good to find out about other religions, but not in school times.”
She said that most of her time was devoted to her four grandchildren and stressed that, far from being bigoted, she was “too cowardly to be racist”.
“I did not rush into joining the BNP,” she said. “I thought about it very seriously for a long time. But I am disgusted by Tony Blair, and David Cameron has nothing to offer.
“I am a strong believer in the truth and I want my grandchildren to have a future.
“The BNP tell the truth. We can’t cope with the influx of people coming from the EU. That’s not racist.”
Before marrying and having two children, Mrs Hunt worked in the 1960s as a secretarial assistant for Nias of Newbury.
She then gave up work to bring up her children, before running her own security firm for 17 years. She lives in Newtown Road, Newbury.
What will be her first foray into local politics promises to be a baptism of fire next month and she will be scrambling for votes alongside former Newbury MP David Rendel and fellow BNP candidate Andy Clasper among others.
She is coy about her chances of winning, but said that, if elected, she would do her best to represent old and young people in the area.