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By Jennifer Faull, Deputy Editor

February 20, 2013 | 3 min read

Back in November, online food ordering company Just Eat “backed” an anti-cookery political party with a £72,000 “donation”.

Just Eat's mock party was represented by a Italian takeaway chef called Mr Mozzarella, who has previously appeared in two of Just Eat’s ads, in the Corby by-election in November last year.

The political campaign centred on celebrity chefs who, it was claimed, are re-awakening too much interest in cooking and therefore damaging takeaway businesses.

Before the election, Mr Mozzarella put out an ad to woo the voters, stating: "Me and my fellow takeaway chefs of Great Britain is angry. We is slavin' away in hot kitchens up and down the country ready to deliver your dinner, and yet many many people are trying to cook for themselves.

"Why you want to waste your time cooking these '15-minute meals' which actually take two hours, and tastes no good, when you could be sitting down, 'avin' a chat, or watching the telly?"

Unfortunately for the Don't Cook Party and the world of politics, Mr Mozzarella netted just 73 votes when it came to ballot time – meaning Just Eat paid nearly £1,000 per vote in the PR stunt.

The party gathered 132 Twitter followers and 509 Facebook likes.

A spokesman for Just Eat said they “donated” to the Don't Cook Party "as we stand for the same things - the right to have a night off from cooking. We are thrilled that the Don't Cook Party, and Mr Mozzarella, stepped into the political debate".

Mr Mozzarella recently announced he was stepping away from politics for a while, stating he would not be standing in the Eastleigh by-election on February 28: “It is a sad day for the people of the Great Britains [sic]. Never has our effort to liberate them from the tyranny of cooking been so timely. Even Delia Smith has admitted things have gone too far, and has left our telly boxes for good. All I can hope is that I can persuade another candidate to put this issue to a referendum, just as UKIP has enlisted the Conservative party to do theirs. Maybe the candidates can discuss this over a thin crust at Fanelli’s Pizza on Bournemouth Road in Eastleigh.”

But David Cameron shouldn't breath a sigh of relief just yet. Mozzarella added: “I’d like to assure my supporters that I will be back to earn my place amongst the great Prime Ministers – Stanley Baldywin, Boy George and Winston Churchill, the insurance dog in due course.”

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