Ronnie Carroll

Ronnie Carroll (born Ronald Cleghorn; 18 August 1934 – 13 April 2015) was a Northern Irish singer and entertainer and political candidate.

Career

Carroll was born in Roslyn Street, Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 1934. Through work in variety theatre he met his first wife, Millicent Martin. He scored his first hit in 1956 with "Walk Hand in Hand" on the Philips label. Having taken part in the 1960 UK Eurovision selection contest with the song "Girl with a Curl", he returned to win the selection and be Britain's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1962, and with the song "Ring-a-Ding Girl" shared fourth place, the same placing he reached in 1963 with another British Eurovision Song Contest entry, "Say Wonderful Things". Carroll is the only singer to have represented the UK in the competition two years in succession. This success was followed by two Top 10 hits during 1962 and 1963, but a lack of good material meant that he could not sustain a chart presence.

Carroll subsequently worked on cruise ships, including the QE2, with John Marcangelo who was the drummer with the Ronnie Carroll Orchestra. He played a pop musician named 'Ronnie' in the 1965 film Man in the Dark.

He contested Hampstead and Highgate in the 1997 UK General Election, and the Uxbridge by-election in July 1997, both for the Rainbow Alliance. In the 2005 he released a comeback album, Back on Song. He stood in the 2008 Haltemprice and Howden by-election as a candidate for Make Politicians History and received 29 votes despite announcing that he was trying to enter the record books by receiving no votes.}}

He latterly lived in Hampstead, London, and was a regular caller to phone-in shows on BBC London 94.9. He died aged 80 on 13 April 2015.

Carroll is running as an independent candidate for the 2015 United Kingdom general election, in the Hampstead and Kilburn constituency. Should he win the election in this constituency, it will be re-run, due to Carroll being dead.

Singles discography

• "Walk Hand in Hand" - (1956) - UK Singles Chart - No. 13
• "The Wisdom of a Fool" - (1957) - No. 20
• "Footsteps" - (1960) - No. 36
• "Ring-A-Ding Girl" - (1962) - No. 46
• "Roses Are Red" - (1962) - No. 3
• "If Only Tomorrow" - (1962) - No. 33
• "Say Wonderful Things" - (1963) - No. 6