Charlie Burling

Born at a very early age in extremely messy circumstances, I have lived a bit and ended up here. On the way, I have worked for the oxymoron known as British Intellegence, did my best to bring capitalism to its knees during a spell at the London Stock Exchange and ran a greyhound track (I'm not making this up). I spent many years as an elected Councillor on Croydon and Stroud, where I pissed a lot of people off. I stood for parliament in 1997, doubling the Labour vote and halving the Tory majority. Close, but no cigar. I did a runner from Croydon (which involved a man who'd got the wrong end of the stick wielding a spanner) and ended up running a youth housing and education project, which I managed to get out of 'Special Measures' having bull-shitted Ofsted and various government inspectors. Along the way I actually managed to house and educate a few young people. Unfotunately, one afternoon, I threw a computer out of the window, which led to a diagnoses of Bi-Polar Disorder. Since this 'Oh Shit' moment,