As Bernie Sanders announces longshot bid for US presidency, brother Larry – who moved to Britain in 1969 – runs underdog campaign for MP in south-east England

There’s a bespectacled liberal politician mounting a long-shot run for office pledging to fight for the working class and progressive ideals. If you’re thinking Sanders, you’re right – but which one?

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Bernie Sanders, the self-described socialist politician of Vermont, announced on Wednesday he plans to run for president against the Democratic frontrunner, Hillary Clinton.

Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, Sanders’s brother Larry is standing in next week’s UK general election – hoping to become the Green party MP for Oxford West and Abingdon in south-east England.

The two siblings are similar not just in appearance, but in politics. Both hope to highlight core progressive issues … and neither is expected to win.

“The people at the top are grabbing all the new wealth and income for themselves, and the rest of America is being squeezed and left behind,” Bernie Sanders said in an email to supporters declaring his candidacy, Reuters reported. “The middle class in America is at a tipping point. It will not last another generation if we don’t boldly change course now.”

Larry Sanders, meanwhile, told supporters on a Green party fact sheet that “the UK has had 30 years of governments shifting resources from the vast majority to the richest 1%”.

Both support universal healthcare and raising the minimum wage, among other things. Bernie Sanders is the longest-serving independent member of Congress, while Larry Sanders – who was born in New York like his brother but moved to Britain in 1969 – has been involved in UK politics for 15 years.

Bernie Sanders credited his brother as a large influence on his politics in a press conference on Thursday.



“I owe my brother an enormous amount. I grew up in a family that did not have a lot of money. My dad came to this country at the age of 17, dropped out of high school, never made any money. My mother graduated high school. We did not have a lot of books in the house, and it was my brother who actually introduced me to a lot of my ideas, so I hope my brother does well in his race for parliament in the UK.”