I've done a check on election rules (pretty easy on the internet). To set Yasmin's mind at ease (if that is possible) it seems that the rules changed a couple of years ago. One of those changes was that if somebody puts "known as", they appear on the ballot paper as the "known as". Apparently before then they appeared with their full moniker followed by "known as". So somebody like Paddy Ashdown would now be able to stand for election (if he wasn't in the Lords) as Paddy Ashdown, not his full name with a "known as".
Looking down the official Manchester City Council list, it seems that all strange middle names have vanished and several candidates are standing under how they are known - the list is now full of people called Mike, Tom, Bernie, Rob, Bob and others. In fact many candidates are standing under a shortened version of their given names when two years ago, they'd have had to stand under their full birth certificate jobs.
A cynic asks if most candidates last year hadn't cottoned on to that one?
