An Edinburgh Central MSP candidate dressed as a giant gannet seabird has attempted to gatecrash the Scottish Conservatives’ manifesto launch. He was calling for an end to the UK’s last legal seabird hunt.

Scottish parliament hopeful Robert Pownall turned up in full costume at an Edinburgh press event on Tuesday 7 April. He attempted to present his own “Ganifesto”. This is a single-issue campaign calling for an end to the guga hunt.

Footage shows Pownall holding the oversized gannet head under his arm as he speaks with security at the entrance. Staff refuse him entry and decline to confirm the nature of the event.

In the video, Pownall calls on:

the Conservative Party… and all parties, and the future government to end the guga hunt for good.

He adds:

This is meant to be a protected species. It’s about time they were properly protected.

The guga hunt, which takes place annually on the remote island of Sula Sgeir, involves the killing of young gannet chicks. They’re taken from their nests, bludgeoned to death, and eaten as a local delicacy on the Isle of Lewis.

It remains legal due to an exemption under Section 16 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act.

Pownall says his election campaign has just one demand: end the guga hunt by removing the exemption that allows it to continue:

This isn’t complicated. This isn’t controversial. This is about whether we think it’s acceptable to kill wild animals for tradition alone.

My Ganifesto has one line: end it.

The stunt comes as Pownall, founder of non-profit organisation Protect the Wild, launched his campaign for the Edinburgh Central seat. He’ll be standing against the likes of the SNP’s Angus Robertson and the Scottish Conservatives’ Jo Mowat.

A petition calling for protection of the gannet chicks which Protect the Wild set up is nearing 130,000 signatures.

Pownall says he is aiming to force the issue of wildlife protection onto the political agenda ahead of May’s election:

Gannet chicks are being snatched from their nests and bludgeoned to death for nothing more than a tradition. You don’t need a 50-page manifesto to know this is wrong.

If political parties won’t talk about the Guga hunt, then I’ll bring it to their doorstep, dressed as the bird they’re failing to protect.

The candidate says he will continue using “creative disruption” to force political attention onto the issue throughout the election campaign.

Featured image via Protect the Wild

By The Canary

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