[Amy]

A FRIEND of former Tatton MP Neil Hamilton is among the 13 housemates spending their first full day in the Big Brother House today.

Tory political analyst Derek Laud, 40, has written speeches for high-profile figures like Margaret Thatcher and appears in John Major's autobiography.

He is a supporter of Neil and Christine Hamilton. First into the house, he said he was "great friends" with the couple.

The former lobbyist was forced to withdraw his candidature from the 1997 general election after being convicted of drink-driving in America.

Derek, who became the first black master of foxhounds in the New Forest, is inside the house with the most provocative mix of contestants in Big Brother history.

Abducted

They include a maintenance engineer who hates people with political views, a male belly dancer and white witch who says she's been abducted by aliens - seven times.

Mary O'Leary, 30, was one of several housemates booed by the crowd as she walked into the house last night dressed in a cloak and carrying a broomstick.

She is the daughter of a former priest and nun and has already asked to leave because she thinks gnomes in the garden are alive. Others competing for the £100,000 prize include Lesley, who chose a PVC nurse's uniform for her arrival and Saskia, whose previous boyfriends include a Premiership footballer.

There was no hiding place for the 13 new housemates at the start of the sixth Channel 4 series of Big Brother. The house has transparent internal walls, heat-seeking cameras and the garden is also scattered with those gnomes, one of which contains a hidden camera.

Article Manchester Online