A NEW candidate - who makes Screaming Lord Sutch look relatively normal - has been announced for next month's Staffordshire South East by-election in England. It is none other than Live TV's News Bunny. A researcher at the 24-hour cable TV network has agreed to officially change his name to contest the election, forced by the death of Tory MP David Lightbown.

News Bunny has become a feature of Live TV's coverage, appealing on bulletins to give the thumbs-up or thumbs-down to news items. Kelvin MacKenzie, formerly of the Sun and now managing director of Mirror TV, which controls Live, said: "We're making a serious point about the legions of voters who feel they have been disenfranchised by the current state of the nation's major political parties." Dustin the Turkey for Dublin West, perhaps?