Beauty queen targets Parliament

Ms Garrett said British politicians "should be sexy not sleazy"

A Belfast beauty Queen is set to fight a by-election in a bid to "glamorise" the House of Commons.

Gemma Garrett, who is the current Miss Great Britain, is standing in the safe Labour seat of Crewe and Nantwich.

The by-election was triggered by the death of Gwyneth Dunwoody - the longest serving female MP - aged 77.

Ms Garrett, 26, will represent the newly formed Beauties for Britain party, which is striving to inject a bit of European glitz into Parliament.

She launched her election bid at Westminster's College Green on Monday.

Ms Garrett has pledged to "help make Westminster as glamorous a place as its fellow European legislatures, where beautiful women abound in the higher echelons of government".

The Northern Ireland model also vowed to be a political sleaze-fighter, campaign for transparency and accountability and "make Britain feel beautiful again".

"I may not know a lot about politics yet but I do know about people and how everyone would prefer that Britain looks and feels beautiful instead of dwelling on the ugly and negative side of life and politics," she said.

"I want British politicians to be sexy not sleazy and to show that they really care about women.

Gwyneth Dunwoody served as the area's MP for 34 years

"For British politics it's all change at Crewe and I am really looking forward to meeting all the voters there and to showing them the power of beauty."

Ms Garrett is being joined on the campaign trail by Robert de Keyser, the chairman of the Miss Great Britain contest and her political advisor. The by-election takes place on 22 May.