'Allo 'Allo star flops in local elections

Hidden deep in this week's local election results you might spot a familiar comedy name.

Francesca Gonshaw, who played waitress Maria in 'Allo 'Allo, stood for the Liberal Democrats in Westminster.

Sadly, her celebrity didn't impress voters, and she came sixth with just 371 votes.

Gonshaw was in the first three series of the wartime-set sitcom, later complaining that 'I wanted to be a serious actress. Now I seem to be known only as a bawdy waitress wearing stockings and suspenders.'

After leaving the BBC comedy, she appeared in Howard's Way, but gave up acting soon afterwards.

In the 1900s she was senior vice-president of books in Harvey Weinstein's Miramax empire, and has been an artist since 2009

Published: 7 May 2022