Common Sense Party (UK)

Common Sense Party
Leader Graham Cartmell[1]
Founded 23 October 2003 (2003-10-23)
Ideology Populism
Colours      Black
House of Commons
0 / 650
House of Lords
0 / 791
European Parliament
0 / 73
Scottish Parliament
0 / 129
Welsh Assembly
0 / 60
London Assembly
0 / 25
Local government
0 / 20,690
Police & Crime Commissioners
0 / 40
Directly-elected Mayors
0 / 17
Website
www.commonsenseparty.org.uk (old) www.trustjo.org (new)

The Common Sense Party is a minor political party in the United Kingdom.[2] It was founded in Reading in 2003 by Howard Thomas, who left the party in 2014. The party was re-registered by Graham Cartmell in 2015.[1]

History and elections

The party was formed in 2003 by metalworker Howard Thomas, with the idea of using public opinion to formulate policy, with the view of true representation of the people of the UK.[3][4][5]

Thomas was a candidate in the United Kingdom general election, 2010 in Reading West,[6] and gained 852 votes, beating the Green Party. A second candidate, David James, contested Wirral West for the Common Sense Party after his original choice, the Jury Team, decided it would not enter candidates. James came last with 321 votes.[7]

Thomas campaigned in a car and boat dressed up to look like a yellow submarine.[8]

Thomas contested the borough council election in Kentwood ward in Reading for the first time in 2008, campaigning on traffic problems.[9]

In a letter to the Reading Chronicle published on 27 February 2014, Thomas announced he was leaving Common Sense to join UKIP.[10][11] The party was deregistered in November 2013 and the website closed.[4] The party was re-registered by Graham Cartmell in 2015.[1]

Cartmell stood in South West Hertfordshire at the United Kingdom general election, 2015, pledging to halve the number of MPs and remove politics from health and schools by devolving those powers to a new elected assembly.[12] He came last with 256 votes (0.4%).[13]

Policies

The party argued that immigration should be balanced to match emigration, that council tax should be replaced with income tax, and campaigned for proportional representation,[4][8] more council housing, and the legalisation of euthanasia.[6]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "View registration". The Electoral Commission. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  2. ↑ "Common Sense Party - Party Finance". The Electoral Commission. 5 Apr 2010. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 28 April 2010.
  3. ↑ "View registration - The Electoral Commission". registers.electoralcommission.org.uk. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  4. 1 2 3 "Common Sense Party Org U.K." www.commonsenseparty.org.uk. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 5 Apr 2010.
  5. ↑ Fort, Linda (25 March 2010). "Introducing 'Common Sense' into politics". Get Reading. Retrieved 28 April 2010.
  6. 1 2 Hewitt, Adam (17 March 2010). "The yellow peril of politics". Reading Chronicle. Retrieved 28 April 2010.
  7. ↑ Jury Team (14 April 2010). "Jury Team & GE 2010". Facebook. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
  8. 1 2 Fort, Linda (27 April 2010). "Common Sense Party "more wonderful than weird"". Get Reading. Retrieved 28 April 2010.
  9. ↑ Gray, Fiona (3 April 2008). "'We are growing and could do it'". Get Reading. Retrieved 28 April 2010.
  10. ↑ Reading Chronicle, 27 February 2014, pp 14-15
  11. ↑ Fort, Linda (February 28, 2014). "CommonSense party founder makes the leap to UKIP". Reading Chronicle.
  12. ↑ "General Election 2015: Candidates for south west Hertfordshire constituency tell voters what they have been doing over the last week". Watford Observer. April 16, 2015. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
  13. ↑ "Hertfordshire South West". BBC News. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
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