Controversial candidate Mark Aldridge quits Trumpet of Patriots days out from election

A controversial SA political candidate has quit his Clive Palmer-backed party just days out from the federal election. Find out why.

Mark Aldridge has sensationally quit the party days out from the election. Picture Greg Higgs

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A controversial South Australian political candidate has sensationally quit the Trumpet of Patriots just days out from the federal election.

Mark Aldridge took to social media on Monday night to announce he had resigned from the Clive Palmer-backed party.

Mr Aldridge is standing as a candidate in the northeastern suburbs seat of Makin, which has been held by Labor MP Tony Zappia since 2007.

“There were promises made to me by the party which haven’t come true, there were promises made to me by Clive” Mr Aldridge told The Advertiser.

“The reason for me joining the party was to assist the conservative right of politics, not the left, but of course when they put out how to vote cards in lots of seats preferencing the left I offered my resignation immediately.

But, after being talked back into running by party heads, he said the final straw came this week when thousands of Australians bombarded with unsolicited texts from the Trumpet of Patriots in the lead up to the election.

“That was the pièce de résistance ...somebody has been put in the position to run the campaign and they’ve done a terrible, terrible job and they’ve disadvantaged myself and everyone else in the party.
“It’s kind of like people don’t matter.”

The Clive Palmer-backed party has come under fire for spamming voters with unsolicited texts in the lead up to the election. Picture: Dan Peled/Getty Images

Despite resigning from the party, Mr Aldridge will still continue with his candidacy for the tightly-held seat.

“I don’t think I’ve got much options, I’m on the ballot paper, people have already voted for me that I know,” he said.

“It’s going to be a hard ask to win a safe Labor seat.’

An AEC spokesman confirmed the election would “continue as normal” as “polling is well underway”.

Mr Aldridge has previously run as an independent and One Nation candidate at a number of state and federal elections.

In 2020, he had his firearm licence cancelled after a tribunal found he threatened to shoot hoon drivers following a confrontation in 2017.

Two years earlier, he was ordered to pay a business rival $100,000 in compensation after defaming him on Facebook.

Originally published as Controversial candidate Mark Aldridge quits Trumpet of Patriots days out from election