A former Nunhead priest who gained notoriety for running onto the tracks at Silverstone turned up at 10 Downing Street with a placard saying ‘Britain should have a Christian Prime Minister’.
Neil Horan, who has a history of fanatical stunts, was reportedly removed by police shortly before incoming Hindu PM Rishi Sunak addressed the nation, on Tuesday, October 25.
According to witnesses, the gathered crowd “waved their fists” and shouted “f*ck off’ at the 75-year-old Irish devotee.
Ulf Reinhard, who witnessed the commotion, said: “I was in the crowd watching the changing of PMs, and all of a sudden some music blasted out, really loud, church hymns. People turned around to see what it was and it was an oddly dressed man – I thought it was an old lady at first – walking in the middle of the road with this most ludicrous banner about Britain being a Christian country and that it should not have a Hindu PM.”
Horan, defrocked by the Catholic Church in 2005 because of his disruptive antics, grabbed national attention when he scampered onto the track at the Formula One British Grand Prix at Silverstone Circuit, in 2003.
Several drivers swerved to avoid the orange skirt-wearing fanatic, who waved a banner saying ‘Read the Bible. The Bible is always right’.
In 2004, he ran onto the course during the Athens Olympics men’s marathon event and shoved over Brazilian runner Vanderei de Lima, who then lost twenty seconds and finished third in the race.
Tuesday’s protest also sparked panic amongst fans of the disbanded boyband One Direction, who feared heart-throb Niall Horan had ditched the microphone in favour of public zealotry. One fan said: “It really did take me a moment to work out you were not talking about @NiallOfficial. Seriously the last few weeks have been so crazy I don’t know what to expect next!”
Another Twitter user joked: “Give it a couple of months and he [Neil Horan] may actually be PM.”