Fervent anti-mobile phone mast campaigner may still stand at this year's General Election after finishing as runner-up in a reality TV search for an independent MP.
Eileen O'Connor, from Wishaw, Sutton Coldfield, was pipped to the top prize in ITV1's Vote For Me show by right-wing Rodney Hylton-Potts, even though the panel of celebrity judges backed her to win. Mr Hylton-Potts, a lawyer from Surrey, had been branded a bigot by judges Lorraine Kelly, John Sergeant and Kelvin MacKenzie.
Today, 41-year-old Mrs O'Connor said she felt viewers had given Mr Hylton-Potts the sympathy vote, despite his policies.
Mrs O'Connor said: "The past week has been a whirlwind for me, it's been a real eyeopening experience."
The dedicated campaigner wants to find out how many votes she received in the final, "to give me the confidence to stand".
She said: "I am considering standing against the Lib Dem candidate, Nicola Davies, in Hodge Hill, because everybody is incensed by what she's doing after the outcry over the by-election."
