Enlarge imageLONDON (Reuters) - Gamblers are betting chat-show host turned politician Robert Kilroy-Silk will cause a major upset when the nation votes next Thursday.
Kilroy-Silk, who founded his own party Veritas on a tough anti-Europe, anti-immigration agenda, is standing for parliament in Erewash, Derbyshire.
Bookmakers William Hill say the flamboyant ex-presenter is the heaviest backed candidate for any individual constituency after they received a string of bets including two of a thousand pounds each.
They have slashed his odds to 7/1 to win the seat, with Labour still 4/7 favourites and the Conservatives on 13/8.
"Mr Kilroy-Silk’s supporters have been backing him big time and we are looking at a potential six-figure payout if he wins," said Hill’s spokesman Graham Sharpe.
Advertisement starts
Advertisement ends
The seat is currently held by Labour’s Liz Blackman who won in 2001 with a majority of almost 7,000.
"The know-alls in London keep saying I can’t win, but people on the street say differently and it looks like the bookies are catching up," Kilroy-Silk told Reuters.
"It would be very nice if I made a lot of people a lot of money."
The former Labour MP, who quit his BBC chat show over anti-Arab remarks that sparked outrage, helped the United Kingdom Independence Party stun the political establishment by winning 12 seats in the European Parliament last year.
He left UKIP amid bickering over his leadership pretensions, and launched Veritas -- "Truth" in Latin -- in February.
The party, which is fielding 65 candidates countrywide, promises to introduce a flat tax of 22 percent, to withdraw Britain from the European Union and to clamp down on the number of refugees entering the country.
The other candidates standing in Erewash are: David Bishop (Church of the Militant Elvis Party); Martin Garnett (Liberal Democrat); Sadie Graham (British National Party); Geoffrey Kingscott (UK Independence Party); R.U. Seerius (Monster Raving Loony Party); David Simmonds (Conservative).
