stance led to his becoming the first promoter of ethnic minority candidates in United Kingdom elections. His usual set-piece response when confronted over his label by anyone non-white was to say: "Why 'White Resident'? Because that's what I am!" He would then grab the questioner's hand, slap a pound note into it and say: "Now find 149 more of those [the deposit then being £150] and stand as a 'Black Immigrant' candidate for what YOU believe in. If you don't, who will?" Boaks reckoned that he had given away a couple of hundred pounds in this manner. Summary of parliamentary election results Personal life Boaks married Ivy June Colier in 1930, with whom he had three children. Death and legacy In 1984, Boaks was injured in a second minor road traffic accident while getting off a bus. Following the accident, he rarely left his home, except for twice-weekly visits to the hospital. As a result of complications from the head injuries he sustained, he died of pneumonia and heart failure at St George's Hospital in Tooting on 4 April 1986. Boaks' funeral was attended by the Minister of Transport, Peter Bottomley. He was buried at sea with full honours in the naval graveyard outside Portsmouth Harbour. Boaks's legacies include: Pedestrianisation of London's Carnaby Street, which he took an active part in campaigning for, along with Screaming Lord Sutch, and which has set the precedent for pedestrian precincts elsewhere in the UK. , which is moored near Tower Bridge in London as a tourist attraction. It was Boaks' advice as to the depths of the waters of the Thames that persuaded the Royal Navy of the ship's viability as a floating museum rather than scrapping her. References External links Robert Ingham, "Boaks, William George (1904–1986)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 Description of Boaks' campaigning (Hansard, House of Lords debates, 10 October 2004) Photograph of Boaks on his campaign bicycle 1904 births 1986 deaths People from Walthamstow Royal Navy officers Royal Navy officers of World War II Independent British political candidates Graduates of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich Pedestrian road incident deaths Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) Road incident deaths in London