Cynthia Payne through by standing for Parliament as a candidate for the Payne and Pleasure Party in the Kensington by-election in July 1988, followed by her standing in her own area of Streatham for the Rainbow Dream Ticket in the 1992 UK General Election. She did not gain a parliamentary seat. There are two films that are loosely based on her life, both released in 1987: "Wish You Were Here", about her adolescence, with Emily Lloyd in the lead role, and "Personal Services", about her adult life, starring Julie Walters. Both were written (and "Wish You Were Here" was directed) by David
Bruce Payne but enhanced" and that his portrayal of Flikker "was a headbutt of reality in a fantasmagoria of overkill." One critic stated that Payne gave a "meaty, saving-grace performance" in the film. The film journalist and editor, Ann Lloyd, selected Payne as the most promising newcomer of 1987 for his role in the film. In the same year Payne appeared in the Mel Brooks film "Solarbabies", along with fellow British performer Alexei Sayle, as filthy bounty hunters named Dogger and Malice. Payne said of his and Sayle's performances in "Vogue" that "the old image of an English arch-villain – Boris Karloff,