Winston Truman McKenzie (born 23 October 1953) is a British political activist and perennial candidate for public office.

A British Jamaican, McKenzie worked as a boxer before later running a pub with his brothers; it was closed down after police found many of its customers to possess weapons and drugs.

In 2006 he joined the Conservative Party, standing to be their London mayoral candidate but failing to be shortlisted, before becoming a political independent again.

[1] After an acrimonious departure from UKIP, McKenzie joined the English Democrats in December 2015 and attempted to run for Mayor of London in the 2016 election.

That year, he competed on the reality television show Celebrity Big Brother, and was the first contestant to be eliminated, after receiving negative attention for his views on homosexuality.

Once a regular fixture in British politics, standing in up to three elections per year, McKenzie has stood for public office only once since 2018.

He stood in the 2022 Croydon Mayoral Election as an independent, campaigning on a platform based largely on local economic stimulation and regeneration.

"[8] They opened it as the McKenzie Bros Bar & Grill, but it was threatened with removal of its licence in July 2001 "after being caught several times by police serving alcohol after hours.

"[8] It closed down in December 2002, after a single police raid resulted in 25 people on the premises being charged with various drugs and firearms offences.

He stood in the September 2003 Brent East by-election as an independent candidate on a slogan of "The black voice for Great Britain".

[14] McKenzie joined the newly formed Veritas party in 2005, calling for "a blanket ban on immigration and asylum for one year",[15] and becoming its principal spokesman on sport.

After the election he denounced party leader Robert Kilroy-Silk, whom he publicly blamed for his defeat, his lost deposit and other financial losses as a result of his campaign.

[20] McKenzie joined the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) in September 2009, and immediately announced he was a candidate to succeed Nigel Farage in its leadership election.

"[26] There were five other candidates for the UKIP nomination: David Coburn, Michael Corby, Mick McGough, Paul Oakley and Lawrence Webb.

[27] In January 2012, UKIP announced that it had selected McKenzie as candidate for the Croydon and Sutton seat in the 2012 elections to the London Assembly.

On 27 November 2012, McKenzie gave two interviews to the Croydon Advertiser and the London Metro which were repeated in the local[30][31][32] and national[33][34] press.

[31] The Croydon Advertiser interview also described as "a bizarre rant" McKenzie's related comments about people who "pretend" to be gay: The subsequent Metro interview, held to clarify McKenzie's earlier remarks, quoted him as elaborating: "To say to a child, 'I am having you adopted by two men who kiss regularly but don't worry about it' – that is abuse.

He had been Chairman of the Lambeth and Croydon North branch of UKIP, but was suspended on 19 December 2014 after "months of infighting" and accusations that he had misappropriated donations.

[44] Almost immediately after joining the English Democrats, McKenzie was selected as the party's candidate for the 2016 London mayoral election, at a national council meeting held in Bradford.

Refuting allegations of malfeasance from Inside Croydon, McKenzie insisted: “£20,000 was paid in cash at City Hall”, for the London election.

It was subsequently confirmed, both by election administrators, and by the Leader of the English Democrats who accompanied McKenzie as the paperwork was submitted, that no money had been ever been paid.

[39] On 8 April 2016 it was confirmed that McKenzie would be standing in a borough council by-election in Croydon to be held on the same day as the mayoral election.

In December 2016, less than a year after joining the English Democrats, McKenzie announced that he was standing for the party's leadership, seeking to unseat its long-serving leader Robin Tilbrook.

In 2017 McKenzie registered the Unity in Action Party with the Electoral Commission, declaring himself as Leader, and his partner, Marianne Bowness, as Treasurer.

However, McKenzie later explained that administrative difficulties prevented him from standing, including routine re-registration with the Electoral Commission, which was "Not as easy as we imagined!

"[51] In January 2016, McKenzie became a contestant on the Channel 5 reality television show Celebrity Big Brother., expressing the view that doing so was a "good opportunity to get exposure" for his mayoral candidacy.

[52] McKenzie stated that if there was to be a gay person in the house, "I guess I'll just have to stand with my back against a brick wall all the time.

[55] McKenzie was however defended by the spokesperson for the English Democrats, Steve Uncles, who compared the gay community to Nazis "when it comes to freedom of speech" and stated that McKenzie's viewpoint was being unfairly demonised given that – in his view – any Muslim contestants on Celebrity Big Brother would try to throw gay men off buildings.