Hypocrisy on the Highway - Banburyshire's Mr Pothole takes to poetry at election time -Cent
Roads campaigner Mr Pothole has taken to writing poetry as elections approach and candidates make promises about our disastrous roads.
The Brackley-based activist – real name Mark Morrell – says all opposition candidates make promises about rectifying the insane pothole crisis that has engulfed austerity-hit Britain. But once in power the commitment fades away.
His poem, entitled Hypocrisy on the Highway, is below.
When election winds begin to blow, And cones appear in quite a show,
The potholes, once ignored for years, Now spark dramatic gasps and fears.
“Disgrace!” they cry, with furrowed brow, We’ll fix these roads—we swear it now!”
They point, they pose, they shake a fist, As if the holes just popped to exist.
They promise smooth and seamless streets, With graphs and charts and glossy tweets,
Each crater turned to golden chance, For one more speech, one more stance.
But once the ballots all are cast, Their urgency fades—shockingly fast.
The roads remain a bumpy tale, While pledges quietly derail.
And those who ruled in days gone by, Now wag their fingers, asking “Why?”
Though they themselves, in power’s seat, Left every road a patchwork feat.
So round and round the cycle goes, With well-rehearsed, familiar prose—
Fix it now! (but not today), Just vote for us… we’ll pave the way.
Mr Pothole stepped back for family reasons in early 2025 but the condition of Britain’s roads has become so bad, he is now sharing his expertise again, to empower a new army of campaigners.
“I’ve never seen so many Facebook groups dedicated to potholes as there are now,” he said. “I’m on 40 that have around 250,000 members. I’ve started educating these people now and giving them the information they need to challenge their local authorities.
"One of the things they are getting is a guide to taking out a Section 56 notice to seek official recognition of a road that is ‘out of repair’, to force highways authorities to do the necessary work.
"Another area I am giving information about is claims. In 2019 there was a court case where the council said they weren’t going to pay out because it didn’t meet their intervention criteria. The judge wouldn’t accept it. He said the council was aware of the pothole and there was no defence. This is a powerful tool. Councils can’t hide behind the ‘intervention criteria’ argument.”
Mr Pothole has been sent countless photos of failed ‘cheap’ repairs and following extensive research, he has produced articles on how potholes should be fixed.
His reputation has spread and he has received contacts from TV channels in the USA (which has a £1.3trillion road repairs backlog) and campaigners in Australia and New Zealand as motorists around the world try to get their roads repaired to reasonable standards.
Mr Pothole says the backlog of work to bring carriageways in England and Wales up to a reasonable standard amounts to £19bn.
“I was warning 13 years ago that the foundational structure deterioration of the roads was happening. Opposition candidates all get the information and make promises, but when in power nothing happens,” he said.