rap, Read said that he was asked to run for the Conservative Party nomination for the London Mayoral elections in 2008. He subsequently announced that he was instead putting his energies behind the ultimately successful candidate Boris Johnson. On 21 July 2012, Read spoke at the UK Independence Party's South East regional Conference in Frimley, where he was also announced as a member of the party. Read has since spoken at the UKIP 2012 Annual Conference at Birmingham Town Hall on 21 September. Read wrote and recorded a song in support of the party, "UKIP Calypso", which was released in October 2014 as a single credited to The Independents. An online petition was filed by former Labour borough councillor Richard McKenzie in which he called Read's song 'racist and offensive'. Party leader Nigel Farage endorsed it and called for the party's supporters to download the song. Read adopted a faux-Jamaican accent, but said that it was 'not remotely racist' to do so, saying: 'It's a satire and a bit of fun. It's not terribly serious. It wouldn't have sounded very good sung in a Surrey accent.' Debate over the single featured on Newsnight, with UKIP spokesman Winston McKenzie, himself of Caribbean origin, praising the song and likening it to adaptations of predominantly black musical styles by Elvis Presley and The Beatles, although the BBC Asian Network's Nihal was critical of it. Read withdrew the song from sale on 22 October 2014 and apologised 'unreservedly' for the fact that it had 'unintentionally caused offence'. On 26 October 2014, the song reached number 44 on the UK Singles Chart. The Rupert Brooke Society In 1999, Read founded the Rupert Brooke Society of which he was chairman for a few years, as well as editing the society's twice-yearly magazine and creating a museum at the Orchard Grantchester. Charity work In 2013, Read and three friends formed the British Plaque Trust, a charity established to commemorate deceased achievers in show business, sport and the general arts by unveiling blue plaques on buildings with which they were associated. The organisation aimed to act alongside the work in London of English Heritage who stated that they were "restructuring" their plaque scheme. In the same year, he was one of the event presenters at Concert at the Kings in All Cannings, Wiltshire. References External links British Plaque Trust Mike Read at V2 Radio - Sussex 1947 births