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39-479: The group originated in the 1980s as the Rainbow Alliance of several small groups, founded and led by Rainbow George Weiss , which Weiss says was after he was contacted by "an extraterrestrial soulmate called Sterling Silver". It stood a variety of candidates, often on frivolous platforms. The first candidate was Weiss in the 1984 Enfield Southgate by-election ; Michael Portillo won and Weiss polled 48 votes. In

78-485: A "preferendum" where voters choose individual policies selected from those offered by each of the major parties. He also proposed that Cardiff and Belfast should become independent city states. He stood in all four Belfast constituencies during the 2007 Northern Ireland Assembly election . Standing for his Make Politicians History Party, he came third last in South Belfast and last in the three other constituencies with

117-660: A brief period to Ireland before returning to London. He spent his final years in a Highgate retirement home in London. Weiss died on 1 December 2021, at the age of 81. Weiss founded his own political party, the Vote For Yourself Rainbow Dream Ticket , and first stood for the European Parliament in 1994 in the London Central constituency. He was also a candidate at the 2001 general election for

156-525: A candidate had polled just five votes. The Vote For Yourself Rainbow Dream Ticket election record was also "surpassed" at the 2005 general election when British model Catherine Taylor-Dawson stood for the party in Cardiff North and achieved a single vote, though not from Taylor-Dawson herself, who was not eligible to vote in that constituency. Weiss himself set a new election record by simultaneously standing in 13 constituencies. In 2005, Weiss proposed

195-533: A central fountain, lay north of that up to Hatton Wall. Hatton Street followed the line of its central path. By 1666, the year of the Great Fire , the development had advanced north to form two principal blocks up to the line of St Cross Street (then called Little Kirby Street). The remaining open land was used as a refuge by Londoners escaping the Fire, which did not consume Hatton Garden. After Lord Hatton's death in 1670,

234-710: A close associate of Charles II in his exile in Paris during the Commonwealth period , 1649–1660. The bishops disputed the Hattons' title, but, under the Protectorate , Bishop Matthew Wren was a prisoner in the Tower of London , and the palace itself was sequestrated to Parliamentarian uses and was badly damaged. To raise money Lord Hatton granted a long lease of the site in 1654, which became effectively permanent in 1658, though he retained

273-519: A lease of part of the site and developed Hatton House to the northwest of the palace. In 1581, he obtained a more permanent grant from Queen Elizabeth during a vacancy in the see, and after his death, it passed into the possession of Lady Elizabeth Hatton , the widow of Sir Christopher's nephew Sir William Newport (who changed his name to Hatton). At her death in 1646, during the English Civil War , it reverted to Christopher Hatton, 1st Baron Hatton ,

312-517: A ring, not, as she expected, from a tray in Cartier's , but in a back room in Hatton Garden from a man who brought stones out of a bag in a little safe...then another man in another back room made designs for the setting with a stub of a pencil on a sheet of notepaper, and the result excited the admiration of all her friends. Hatton Garden features in the children's novel Smith by Leon Garfield , where

351-460: A total of 1,289 votes. In the Cardiff North constituency, candidate Catherine Taylor-Dawson, a singer-songwriter, received only one vote, thus setting a new record for the lowest vote for any parliamentary candidate under universal suffrage. The single vote was not cast by Taylor-Dawson, as she was not registered to vote in that constituency. The party was renamed Make Politicians History on 26 September 2005, led by Ronnie Carroll . The first action

390-585: A total of 221 first preference votes. In the 2017 general election , Weiss joined forces with the Official Monster Raving Loony Party . Together, they received 3,733 votes and did not come last. Hatton Garden Hatton Garden is a street and commercial zone in the Holborn district of the London Borough of Camden , abutting the narrow precinct of Saffron Hill which then abuts

429-418: The 1st Viscount Hatton ). He sold it in 1780s and had received around £100,000 and was to receive even more money as it sold further. A "Great Robbery in Hatton Garden" occurred in late December 1678, when twenty men turned up at the house of a wealthy gentleman claiming to have a warrant to search the house for dangerous persons. After letting them in the owner asked to see the search warrant , whereupon he

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468-414: The 2001 UK general election , pledging to rename Britain and Ireland as the "Emerald Rainbow Isles", to replace the currency with the "Wonder", made up of 100 "gasps", to make utilities, healthcare and education free, and to cancel all debt. They then stood three candidates in the 2003 Northern Ireland Assembly election , receiving a total of 124 votes. The party put up candidates in 23 constituencies in

507-611: The 2005 UK general election , six in Northern Ireland , four in Cardiff and thirteen in London . Among the party's candidates was David Kerr , a former member of the National Front , a member of Ulster Third Way , and editor of Ulster Nation , and Lynda Gilby, a Belfast journalist. They came last or second-last in every seat in which they stood. Weiss stood in 13 London seats, receiving

546-528: The Belfast East constituency, where he won a total of 71 votes Weiss was a candidate at the 2003 Brent East by-election , standing for the www.xat.org party, won by Liberal Democrat Sarah Teather , in which he came bottom of a list of 16 candidates with just eleven votes. While this vote was considerably low, lower votes had previously been registered: for example, in the 1988 by-election in Kensington

585-553: The City of London . It takes its name from Sir Christopher Hatton , a favourite of Queen Elizabeth I , who established a mansion here and gained possession of the garden and orchard of Ely Place , the London seat of the Bishops of Ely . It remained in the Hatton family and was built up as a stylish residential development in the reign of King Charles II . For some decades it often went, outside of

624-470: The Hampstead and Highgate constituency at the 1992 UK general election , they stood three candidates. Some minor celebrities such as Cynthia Payne , Liza Duke and Malcolm Hardee stood for the group. The renamed Rainbow Dream Ticket stood 31 candidates in the 1997 UK general election , polling 4,104 votes. As Vote For Yourself Dream Ticket the party stood Weiss as its candidate in all four Belfast seats in

663-569: The Inns of Court . In this way a varied but harmonious townscape, with attractive detail of porches and interior panelling, grew up on a rectangular grid of new streets. Charles Street (at first called Cross Street) was laid west to east as a continuation of Greville Street, and the Bishops' orchard, which (as shown in Richard Newcourt 's map of 1658) the Hattons had laid out as a walled knot garden with

702-549: The Maxim Gun , a prototype machine gun, capable of firing 666 rounds a minute. Hatton Garden has an extensive underground infrastructure of vaults, tunnels, offices and workshops. The area is now home to many media, publishing and creative businesses, including Blinkbox and Grey Advertising . Surrounding streets including Hatton Place and Saffron Hill (the insalubrious setting for Fagin's den in Oliver Twist ) were improved during

741-495: The Northern Ireland Assembly elections in 2007, receiving a sixth preference vote from Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams. Ronnie Carroll stood in the 2008 Haltemprice and Howden by-election , and received 29 votes. A "Brand Spanking New London Party" with Russell Brand as its candidate for Mayor of London was announced, but did not stand. "I have been so impressed with what I have heard and seen from your politicians on

780-567: The Restoration period , between 1659 and 1694. It arose soon after the residential developments in Covent Garden and was contemporary with those of Bloomsbury Square . It was formerly the site of the medieval palace, gardens and orchard of the Bishops of Ely, forming their City residence. The palace stood in the southeast corner, on the site of Ely Place . During the 1570s Queen Elizabeth 's Chancellor and favourite, Sir Christopher Hatton, held

819-419: The freehold . In 1659, John Evelyn observed Hatton Street (Hatton Garden road) being laid out from south to north, hard against the west side of the palace, as the beginning of a newly planned town district. Speculative builders took leases to construct tall and spacious adjoining houses to attract wealthy men at court, city officials and country gentlefolk wanting London homes, convenient for Clerkenwell and

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858-419: The 20th century and in modern times have been developed with blocks of 'luxury' apartments, including Da Vinci House (occupying the former Punch magazine printworks) and the architecturally distinctive Ziggurat Building. The Hatton Garden area between Leather Lane in the west and Saffron Hill in the east, and from Holborn in the south to Hatton Wall in the north, was developed as a new residential district in

897-562: The east (on the site of Hatton Place) and other small yards on the west provided access to smaller dwellings and coach houses. In the southern sectors King's Head Yard (later Robin Wood Yard, Robin Hood Yard) was similarly enclosed to the west, and to the east Bleeding Heart Yard (Arlidge's Yard, with Union Court ) was developed near the palace by Abraham Arlidge (1645–1717), a carpenter of Kenilworth (Warwickshire) origins who worked extensively on

936-505: The jewellery industry and over 90 shops, representing the largest cluster of jewellery retailers in the UK. The largest of these businesses was De Beers , the international family of companies which dominated the international diamond trade. Their headquarters were in an office and warehouse complex just behind the main Hatton Garden shopping street. Sir Hiram Maxim had a small factory at 57 Hatton Garden and in 1881, invented and started to produce

975-432: The main character tries to elude two pursuers through the crumbling streets of 18th-century Holborn. In Ian Fleming 's novel Diamonds Are Forever , James Bond visits the fictional House of Diamonds in Hatton Garden, where he meets the mysterious Rufus B. Saye. The name of the street appears in a series of books Poldark by Winston Graham . (part 4 - 'Warleggan') The Avengers , Series 2, Episode 10, " Death on

1014-552: The main street, by an alternative name St Alban's Holborn , after the local church built in 1861. St Etheldreda's Church in Ely Place, all that survives of the old Bishop's Palace, is one of only two remaining buildings in London dating from the reign of Edward I . It is one of the oldest churches in England now in use for Roman Catholic worship, which was re-established there in 1879. The red-brick building now known as Wren House, at

1053-577: The news in the last week or two, I see no need for the party anymore." Weiss in April 2009 The party was disbanded in April 2009, reportedly due to Weiss being impressed at the progress of the Northern Ireland peace process after the Massereene Barracks shooting , and it was deregistered on 8 June 2009. Rainbow George Weiss Rainbow George Weiss (13 October 1940 – 1 December 2021)

1092-464: The north, Farringdon Road to the east, Holborn and Charterhouse Street to the south and Gray's Inn road to the west. Michael Flanders and Donald Swann , humorists in the 1960s and 1970s, celebrated Hatton Garden's connection with the jewellery trade in their song of a sewage worker, "Down Below": In Evelyn Waugh 's novel Brideshead Revisited , Rex Mottram takes Julia Marchmain to a dealer in Hatton Garden to buy her engagement ring: He bought her

1131-497: The northern sector up to Hatton Wall was completed by 1694, in the time of his son Sir Christopher Hatton, 1st Viscount Hatton , whose agent was the noted accountant Stephen Monteage (1623–1687). Work on the Hatton Street church (now Wren House) commenced in 1685–86. Great Kirby Street, parallel to Hatton Street on the east side, enclosed a central block with rear gardens backing, but in the northern sectors, Hatt and Tunn Yard on

1170-402: The offence on 22 January 1678/9 . In 1685, the notorious informer and confidence trickster Thomas Dangerfield , who was being returned to prison after a public whipping, was killed in Hatton Garden in an altercation with a barrister called Robert Francis, who struck him in the eye with his cane. Rather to the surprise of the general public, who thought the killing was an accident, Francis

1209-614: The project and made his fortune by judicious investments. Arlidge's survey of 1694 shows the completed estate in detail: he succeeded Sir John Cass as Master of the Worshipful Company of Carpenters in 1712. Among early residents were Christopher Merret , Robert Ferguson , John Flamsteed , William Whiston and Captain Thomas Coram . Later the Hatton Garden estate was inherited by George Finch-Hatton esq (great grandson of

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1248-433: The sale of a mews house in Hampstead , north London, which he moved into in 1969, but stopped paying rent in 1984, remaining there as a squatter for the required 12 years. He was a neighbour and friend of Peter Cook . He made a profit of £710,000 from the sale of the house in 2004 after HM Land Registry awarded him possessory ownership of the property, known as acquiring title by adverse possession . Weiss moved for

1287-624: The south-east corner of Hatton Garden and St Cross Street, was the Anglican church for the Hatton Garden development. It was taken over by the authorities of a charity school , and the statues of a boy and girl in uniform were then added. Hatton Garden is London's jewellery quarter and the centre of the diamond trade in the United Kingdom . This specialisation grew up in the early 19th century, spreading out from its more ancient centre in nearby Clerkenwell . Today there are nearly 300 businesses here in

1326-462: Was a British political figure, who was best known as a serial fringe political party candidate in various elections in the UK. The son of a diamond merchant, Weiss failed his 11 plus exam on the day King George VI died. He subsequently worked for his father in Hatton Garden for 15 years. He admitted to enjoying gambling too much, after it became legal to bet on the high street on 1 May 1961. He

1365-509: Was a long time Newcastle United supporter since the 1952 FA Cup Final . Later in life, he very nearly recruited their former striker, Jackie Milburn , to stand for his Captain Rainbow's Universal Party in 1985 in Tyne Bridge . As a political candidate, he stood in 13 constituencies in the 2005 general election , polling 1,289 votes in total. He founded his own parties from the proceeds of

1404-458: Was convicted of murder and hanged. In July 1993, thieves stole £7 million worth of gems belonging to the jewellers Graff Diamonds . This was London's biggest gem heist of modern times. In April 2015, an underground safe deposit facility in the Hatton Garden area was burgled in the Hatton Garden safe deposit burglary . The total stolen may have had a value of up to £200 million, although court reports referred to £14 million The theft

1443-418: Was forced at gunpoint into an inner room and locked in while the intruders rifled the house of its valuables. However, someone managed to escape and raised the alarm, and the thieves made a run for it. They were apprehended two days later while trying to dispose of the stolen property, which was recovered. George Brown, John Butler, Richard Mills, Christopher Bruncker and George Kenian were hanged at Tyburn for

1482-546: Was investigated by the Flying Squad , a branch of the Specialist, Organised & Economic Crime Command within London's Metropolitan Police Service , leading to the arrests and March 2016 convictions of seven perpetrators. This is a list of the etymology of street names in the London district of Hatton Garden. Its area has no formally defined boundaries – those used here are the generally accepted ones of Clerkenwell Road to

1521-578: Was to announce in January 2006 a referendum fronted by snooker player Alex Higgins , in which postcards were sent to all residents in Belfast calling for the city to be renamed "Best" and made self-governing. The party wanted Ulster residents to make decisions issue by issue through an electronic voting system. The party released a music CD, Let's Tick Together , in May 2006. Weiss stood in the four Belfast constituencies in

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