The unnamed Man was one of the members of the public who attended an election meeting in May 2001 when candidates Audrey Roberts and her opponent Desmond Worthing were supposed to debate local issues. However Audrey had just heard from her best friend Alma Halliwell that she might have cancer and her mind wasn't on the task in hand. She made a lacklustre speech and then invited questions from the floor. The man asked a question about the state of children's playgrounds but was told by Audrey that housing was the priority for the council's budget. Soon afterwards, she reached the end of the tether and, claiming illness, walked out of the meeting leaving her campaign manager, Curly Watts, to field the questions. He did such a good job that the suggestion was soon made that he become a candidate himself, which after some thought, he agreed to. He was successfully voted in later the same month.