When Portsmouth’s 6.57 Crew tried to hijack the general election – and accidentally helped the Tories win

Docker Hughes 6.57 Crew

“I suppose Marty wasn’t your average election candidate,” says Mark Dewing, the founder of one of British politics’ most short-lived parties. “In fact, I’m not too sure he would have recognised Maggie Thatcher if you’d shoved a picture of her in his face.”

In the South Portsmouth constituency in summer 1987, though, that didn’t matter. He might have been short on intellect and general knowledge but, with the backing of Portsmouth’s infamous 6.57 Crew (a name apparently derived from the time of the first train up to London on a Saturday), Marty ‘Docker’ Hughes was suddenly the man that everyone was talking about.

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