Will Bernie Sanders's brother replace David Cameron?
New York-born Green Party veteran Larry is running in the Witney by-election next week
Former Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders (pictured) has released an endorsement video for another political hopeful – and it's not Hillary Clinton.
The US senator has given his support to his older brother Larry, who is running to replace David Cameron in his Witney constituency.
Larry Sanders was born in Brooklyn, New York, and moved to the UK in the 1960s to study for a masters in social work at the University of Oxford. He has lived in Oxfordshire ever since and previously stood as a Green Party candidate in Oxford East.
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In the video, Sanders says he does not know "a heck of a lot about British politics", but he does know his brother, who he describes as having "a very strong influence over my life".
He says: "My brother is a very, very caring human being, who wants to see government represent all of the people, not just the people on top."
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He also paid tribute to Larry Sanders's dedication to state-run healthcare – one of the senator's own major ambitions for the US. Sanders Sr is the Green Party's health spokesman.
Sanders says: "For decades now - and I hear this from him almost every week - he has been working to strengthen the NHS to ensure that it is the quality system that everyone in the UK is entitled to," he tells voters in the clip.
Wresting control of Witney away from the Conservatives will be no mean feat. Considered an ultra-safe seat, the district has returned only Tory MPs since it was created in 1983. At the last election in 2015, the Green Party took 5.1 per cent of the vote, building on a small but steady increase across previous elections.
Conservative candidate Robert Courts, currently the deputy leader of West Oxfordshire district council, is firm favourite to win. Labour is represented by Witney East councillor Duncan Enwright, who took 17.2 per cent of the vote when he stood in the general election last year.
Voters go to the polls on 20 October, the same day that the Batley and Spen constituency will hold a by-election to replace murdered MP Jo Cox.
Although the major parties agreed not to contest the election as a mark of respect to Cox, Labour candidate Tracy Brabin will face opposition from the far-right parties BNP, National Front and Liberty GB.
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