Barry, 82, goes from Hemel Hempstead parliamentary candidate to rapping on Britain's Got Talent

Despite being 82-years-old, Barry Newton showed that he was still up to speed with modern music as he rapped a Stormzy song - complete with explicit lyrics - to the disbelief of judges, including Simon Cowell.

Barry, from Boxmoor, was previously known locally after standing for UKIP in parliamentary elections in 2001 and 2005.

Since then however he’s been more used to starring on our screens and flaunting his lyrical talent.

In 2016, the Gazette reported how he went viral for rapping on the streets of London in a publicity stunt for the Unilad website. He has also appeared on sketch show ‘Off Their Rockers’.

And on Saturday he took his performance to the ITV talent show, and won over both the crowd and the judges, who sent him through to the next round. The winner of the show gets to perform at The Royal Variety Show.

Judge David Walliams told Barry: “I did hear a rude word in there - it’s not the sort of language you would expect the Royal Family to enjoy!”

Speaking after his audition, Barry said: “I got four yeses from the judges and about another 10 from the audience, much to my surprise!

“They asked me why I chose to do ‘Shut Up’ by Stormzy. I didn’t really choose it, I just adapted something that I heard and tried out before and thought was funny.

“So I thought it would be worth a try and strangely enough it worked!”