He has curated Stuckist shows, organised demonstrations against the Turner Prize, run an art gallery, stood for parliament and reported Charles Saatchi to the OFT.

There were, however, personality clashes in the group, particularly between Billy Childish and Thomson, who said, "There was friction between us, especially when he started heckling my poetry reading and I threatened to ban him from a forthcoming TV documentary.

Childish left the group in 2001 and Thomson remained as the figurehead, gaining extensive media coverage for his activities and outspoken views.

From 2000 to 2005 he staged yearly Stuckist demonstrations against the Turner Prize (making use of props such as clown costumes and blow-up sex dolls).

He stood in the 2001 United Kingdom general election, as a Stuckist candidate against the then-Culture Secretary, Chris Smith.

Later that year he obtained, under the Freedom of Information Act, Tate Gallery minutes about the purchase of a trustee Chris Ofili's work The Upper Room.

This led to an ongoing press controversy about the purchase[7] and resulted in an official investigation by the Charity Commission, who censured the Tate in July 2006 for acting outside its legal powers.

He writes a regular arts column for 3:AM Magazine, which carries work by a number of Stuckists, ex-Stuckists and their opponents.

"[15] Thomson said that they had a business arrangement to promote themselves as an art couple, there was no condition of marriage, and that she was "really selling herself short" by saying that was her motivation.

[15] She later told The Times that it was "impossible to explain"[24] why she married Thomson, that he didn't "give a s*** about art or the Stuckist movement",[24] and that he saw her as a means of gaining his own publicity: "When I met him and he saw some of my history, he saw dollar signs.

[26] In September 2004, Vine threatened suicide if her work was included in The Stuckists Punk Victorian show at the Liverpool Biennial, and the owner of the painting withdrew it.

[27] In October 2006, The Stuckists held a group show, Go West, at Spectrum London gallery, including two of Thomson's paintings, Stripper and Strip Club, "explicit images of his ex-wife.

[31] In September, Thomson wrote in The Jackdaw, criticising the Tate gallery for not having work by a number of figurative painters, among whom he listed Vine,[32] and said she should have been one of that year's Turner Prize nominees for her show at Modern Art Oxford.

It has been reviewed: Thomson has painted what must be the masterpiece of Stuckism so far: Sir Nicholas Serota Makes an Acquisitions Decision.

Here the slick handling and smartass irony of Britart are turned on its champion to make a very funny point and a rather good portrait.

A few weeks after I did the painting, Tracey Emin was shown on TV getting very angry about an installation because someone had substituted another pair of knickers for hers ... That makes it a bit sad.

He likens colour to feeling and concludes, "The final image is a synthesis of material, emotional and spiritual experience.