Relatively unknown London Mayoral candidate Alan Craig is surging ahead of
mainstream candidates in online campaigning through hits on Youtube, the
video-sharing website.

Standing as "The Christian Choice" on 1 May, Cllr Craig's videos are being watched thousands of times, with his campaign against food poverty in the East End his most popular mayoral web broadcast so far.

Graded by Youtube site managers for relevance for 'London Mayor', Alan Craig, Leader of the Christian Peoples Alliance, comes above Ken Livingstone, the Lib Dem and the Green candidates. Just media personality Boris Johnson has had more viewings.

John Lumgair is producer for video-company, Quirky Motion. He explained
Alan's online breakthrough in London:

"Ken Livingstone's channel is very much a model of top down government -
his videos no longer allow feedback. In contrast, Alan is open to debate with any one who wants to. His videos are full of lively discussion, street comments and video responses - even from the Islamist who gave him a death treat. On the day of his Mayoral launch, Alan Craig's upload was the most discussed political video in the UK."

Now, new videos featuring The Christian Choice's response to the Olympics
mega-mosque 'Open Day' and the treatment by the London Development Agency of London's biggest church, Kingsway International Christian Centre (KICC), have gone live on www.youtube.com/MeetAlanCraig

The Christian Choice has said it aims to mobilise London's 600,000 regular
church-goers through using the internet. Its strategy of Youtube videos and
shared email messaging to potential supporters using campaign website,
http://www.thechristianchoice.org.uk is based on Barack Obama and Mike
Huckabee's campaigns in the US Presidential campaign. One church alone in
West London has seen 147 of its members sign-up as campaign volunteers.

Commenting, running mate Paula Warren of the Christian Party said, "Our campaign is going over the heads of the secular media and straight to London's wider public. That is why we have already generated so much online interest.

"Much of what the Church does in London goes unnoticed and unsung. But
The Christian Choice is addressing issues others won't in this campaign and
our policies are striking a chord. "

This is not the first time the public have ranked Christian political options
unexpectedly high. At the 2005 General Election, BBC Newsnight ran a
'speed-candidating' contest in south London among viewers - ranking the
Christian Peoples Alliance as 2nd most popular party choice above Labour,
Conservative, Liberal Democrats and Green (but behind the Scots and Welsh
Nationalists).

And in 2000, The Times newspaper reported a New Statesman magazine online
initiative, which placed CPA Mayoral candidate, Ram Gidoomal CBE as
run-away winner of a contest to find the candidate who's policies most
matched what their readers were looking for in a London mayor.