David Edward Sutch (10 November 1940 – 16 June 1999), known as Screaming Lord Sutch, was an English musician and perennial parliamentary candidate.
He was the founder of the Official Monster Raving Loony Party and served as its leader from 1983 to 1999, during which time he stood in numerous parliamentary elections. He holds the record for contesting the most Parliamentary elections: 39 between 1963 and 1997. As a singer, he variously worked with Keith Moon, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Ritchie Blackmore, Charlie Watts, John Bonham, Noel Redding, Mitch Mitchell and Nicky Hopkins, and is known for his recordings with Joe Meek, including "Jack the Ripper" (1963).
David Edward Sutch was born on 10 December 1940 in Hampstead, London. His father, a policeman, was killed in the Blitz when Sutch was 10 months old. He was raised by his mother, Annie (also known as Nancy), who worked as a cleaner and store clerk. Sutch grew up in Harrow.
In the 1960s, inspired by Screamin' Jay Hawkins, he adopted the stage name "Screaming Lord Sutch, 3rd Earl of Harrow", although he had no link whatsoever with the peerage. The British press subsequently took to referring to him as "Screaming Lord Sutch", or simply "Lord Sutch".
During that decade, Screaming Lord Sutch became known for a horror‑themed stage show in which he appeared dressed as Jack the Ripper, anticipating the shock rock theatricality of Arthur Brown and Alice Cooper. Accompanied by his band, the Savages, he would open the performance by emerging from a black coffin (on one occasion he became trapped inside, an incident later parodied in the film Slade in Flame). His other props included knives, daggers, skulls and artificial corpses. Sutch organised themed tours, among them "Sutch and the Roman Empire", for which he and the band dressed as Roman soldiers. The fellow musician Chas McDevitt later claimed that he himself had suggested a Screamin' Jay Hawkins‑style act to Sutch's manager, Paul Lincoln, after seeing Hawkins perform in New York in 1957. McDevitt had contemplated emulating Hawkins by beginning his own act with an emergence from a silk‑lined coffin, but had concluded that he "(didn't have) the personality to carry this off", observing that "no one in this country had heard of Hawkins until the mid‑60s".
Despite what was widely regarded, and what he himself acknowledged, as a limited vocal ability, Sutch released a string of horror‑themed singles during the early to mid‑1960s, the most popular of which was "Jack the Ripper". His single "The Cheat" has been cited as a proto‑psychedelic recording. His early output included recordings produced by the audio innovator Joe Meek.
In 1963, Sutch and his manager, Reginald Calvert, took possession of the Shivering Sands Army Fort, a Maunsell Fort off Southend, and the following year launched Radio Sutch with the aim of competing with other pirate radio stations such as Radio Caroline. The broadcasts featured music, together with Mandy Rice-Davies reading from Lady Chatterley's Lover. Sutch soon lost interest in the station and sold it to Calvert, after which it was renamed Radio City and continued until the Marine Broadcasting Offences Act took effect in 1967. In 1966, Calvert was shot dead by Oliver Smedley in the course of a financial dispute; Smedley was acquitted on grounds of self-defence.
Around this time, Ritchie Blackmore left the band, and Roger Warwick departed to establish an R&B big band for Freddie Mack.
Sutch's album Lord Sutch and Heavy Friends was named the worst album of all time in a 1998 BBC poll, a distinction it also holds in Colin Larkin's The Top 1000 Albums of All Time.
For the follow‑up, Hands of Jack the Ripper, Sutch gathered a group of British rock celebrities for a concert at the Carshalton Park Rock ’n’ Roll Festival. The performance was recorded—though unbeknown to the musicians—and released to their surprise. Those who appear on the record include Ritchie Blackmore (guitar), Matthew Fisher (keyboards), Carlo Little (drums), Keith Moon (drums), Noel Redding (bass) and Nick Simper (bass).
In 2017, Sutch's song "Flashing Lights" was featured in the Steven Soderbergh film Logan Lucky.
In the 1960s, Sutch stood in parliamentary elections, often as representative of the National Teenage Party. His first was in 1963, when he contested the Stratford by-election caused by the resignation of John Profumo. He gained 208 votes. His next was at the 1966 general election when he stood in Harold Wilson's Huyton constituency. Here, he received 585 votes.
He founded the Official Monster Raving Loony Party on 16 June 1982 at the Golden Lion Hotel in Ashburton, Devon, and fought the 1983 Bermondsey by-election. In his career, he contested over 40 elections. He was recognisable at election counts by his flamboyant clothes and top hat. In 1968, he officially added "lord" to his name by deed poll. On 1 October 1985, the deposit paid by candidates was raised from £150 to £500. This did little to deter Sutch, who increased the number of concerts he performed to pay for campaigns. He achieved his highest poll and vote share at Rotherham in 1994 with 1,114 votes and a 4.2 per cent vote share.
At the Bootle by-election in May 1990, he secured more votes than the candidate of the Continuing Social Democratic Party (SDP), led by former Foreign Secretary David Owen. Within days, the SDP dissolved itself. In 1993, when the British National Party gained its first local councillor, Derek Beackon, Sutch pointed out that the Official Monster Raving Loony Party already had six. He contested 39 parliamentary elections – a record number – losing his deposit in all of them.
He appeared as himself in the first episode of ITV comedy The New Statesman, coming second ahead of Labour and the SDP, in the 1987 election which saw Alan B'Stard elected to Parliament.
Adverts in the 1990s for Heineken Pilsener boasted that "Only Heineken can do this". One had Sutch at 10 Downing Street after becoming Prime Minister.
Screaming Lord Sutch actively encouraged young people to take an interest in politics. As founder of the National Teenage Party and later the Official Monster Raving Loony Party, he campaigned to lower the voting age and emphasised the importance of youth participation in democracy. Visiting schools and youth gatherings across Britain, Sutch delivered lively talks that mixed satire with civic engagement, urging teenagers to see the ballot box as a means of change. His blend of rock-and-roll showmanship and political parody made him an unlikely yet memorable advocate for voter awareness among Britain's youth.
Sutch pulled out of the 1997 general election to take care of his sick mother in South Harrow. Later that year he contested his last two by-elections, in Uxbridge and Winchester.