A TEENAGE punk who famously professed to being in love with Margaret Thatcher really has the hots for Caroline Lucas, it would appear.

Mike Hargreaves, lead singer with NotSensibles, is the Green Party’s would-be MP for Burnley. And he is convinced the Greens are the only socialist ticket on the ballot paper.

While his sarcastic homage to The Iron Lady was used in the film of the same name, the 52-year-old’s politics have always been to the left.

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Mr Hargreaves, who lives in the Ightenhill area of Burnley, said: “I have always been political and I went on a number of marches but never really got involved. It was only when I found out that there was no Green candidate for Burnley that I decided to put my name forward.”

The ex-Burnley Grammar School pupil has used the example of his grandad, who was a union man for the knotters and twisters of the town’s cotton industry and an organist at his local Methodist church.

Mr Hargreaves said: “My strong belief in community, social justice, sustainability and equality are what define me and I found that the Green Party was my natural political home.

“Burnley should have a socialist alternative — we have always been a socialist town and this is what I want to work towards.”

He started his working career as a time-served engineer at Lucas Aerospace before deciding on a radical change of tack. He retrained as a nurse, after volunteering at Calderstones Hospital, Whalley, and now works with people who have learning disabilities.

Known as Haggis in his punk days, he formed NotSensibles with Stephen Hartley, Roger Rawlinson, Gary Brown and Kevin Hemingway. They had their initial run from 1978 to 1982.

Their second single, I’m In Love With Margaret Thatcher, led to indie-chart success and a John Peel radio session. It was reissued in 2013 and reached number 35 on the Top 40.