/ 26 September 2005

New Zealand MP exposes near-naked ambition

A New Zealand politician who promised to run naked through the streets if he lost an election bet attempted to honour his pledge on Sunday, but in the nature of politicians he wasn’t prepared to expose himself fully to the naked truth.

Keith Locke from the Green Party instead wore a G-string on his 500m jaunt through the main street of the Auckland suburb of Newmarket.

He also opted for the “artistic rather than crude” approach, so the only bare skin on sight was his face and hands. The rest of the body was covered by detailed body painting with a Green Party theme.

Onlookers appeared to be more relieved than outraged by the politician’s cover-up.

Locke had sworn at a public meeting during the recent general election campaign that he would run along the street naked if rival Rodney Hide from the minor ACT Party won the local electorate.

Against all predictions, Hide won the seat. — AFP