Libertarian Party (UK)

Libertarian Party
Leader Adam Brown[1]
Founded 21 November 2007[2]
Headquarters BM LPUK, London, WC1N 3XX
Youth wing Young Libertarians[3]
Ideology Libertarianism[4]
Euroscepticism[4]
International affiliation International Alliance of Libertarian Parties,[5]
Interlibertarians[6]
European Parliament group Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy
Colours      Blue      Gold
European Parliament
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Website
http://www.libertarianpartyuk.com

The Libertarian Party, also known as the Libertarian Party UK (or LPUK), is a libertarian political party in the United Kingdom.[4][2] Adam Brown has been the party's leader since August 2015.[1][7]

History

The party was founded in January 2008 under the leadership of Patrick Vessey, having registered the party with the Electoral Commission in November 2007.[2] In May 2008, Daily Telegraph leader writer Alex Singleton claimed the founders should have set up a pressure group rather than a party. Singleton believed the new party would reduce the influence of libertarianism.[8]

On 17 September 2008, Vessey resigned as party leader and was replaced by Ian Parker-Joseph. The party claimed a membership of 1,000 and hoped, in the wake of the MP expenses scandal, "to establish themselves in the media landscape with a couple of robust performances".[9] He said the party wanted much smaller government and would initially cut taxation to 10% before removing it altogether.[10]

On 28 November 2010, Andrew Withers was elected as party leader.[11]

Following an internal ballot on 15 August 2015, party members elected Adam Brown as the party leader.[1]

During the 2018 local elections, the party was described as on "the fringes of mainstream British politics".[12]

In October 2018, MEP Bill Etheridge, a former member of UKIP, joined the party.[13] Etheridge has said he will continue to be a member of the EFDD parliamentary group in the European Parliament.[14]

Electoral performance

General elections

2010 General Election
Constituency Candidate Votes %
Devizes Nic Coome 141 0.3[15]
Sutton & Cheam Martin Cullip 41 0.1[16]

The party did not field Parliamentary candidates at the 2015 general election, describing it as a "waste of time and funds".[11]

2017 General Election
Constituency Candidate Votes %
Basingstoke Scott Neville 213 0.4[17]
Blaydon Michael Marchetti 114 0.2[18]
Hull West & Hessle Will Taylor 67 0.2[19]
Portsmouth North Joe Jenkins 130 0.3[20]

By-elections

54th Parliament

Election Candidate Votes % of votes Position
Norwich North by-election, 2009 Thomas Burridge 36 0.1 11th

57th Parliament

Election Candidate Votes % of votes Position
Lewisham East by-election, 2018 Sean Finch 38 0.2 11th

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Adam Brown is Elected New Party Leader for Libertarians UK", Press release, Libertarian Party UK, 6 October 2015
  2. 1 2 3 Electoral Commission registration (Online search of registration database at http://search.electoralcommission.org.uk/English/Registrations/PP684)
  3. ↑ "Young Libertarians". www.facebook.com.
  4. 1 2 3 "Home Page". Libertarian Party UK. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  5. ↑ "Under Construction". Retrieved 16 June 2015.
  6. ↑ "INTERLIBERTARIANS Together in freedom". Retrieved 16 June 2015.
  7. ↑ "THA Talks - Adam Brown - The Libertarian Party UK". thatalks.com. Retrieved 2018-05-22.
  8. ↑ Alex Singleton (30 May 2008). "How Libertarians undermine liberty". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  9. ↑ "Interview: The Libertarian party". Politics.co.uk. 1 June 2009. Retrieved 14 November 2012.
  10. ↑ "Libertarian Party plans to clear national debt". BBC News. Retrieved 2018-05-23.
  11. 1 2 Croucher, Shane (2015-04-29). "Election 2015: Meet the Libertarian Party UK, which wants to turn Britain into Switzerland". International Business Times UK. Retrieved 2018-05-23.
  12. ↑ "Elections 2018: Warndon Parish North ward". Worcester News.
  13. ↑ Madeley, Pete. "UKIP exodus in Dudley continues as two more quit". www.expressandstar.com. Retrieved 2018-10-06.
  14. ↑ https://twitter.com/billethmep/status/1048553350768316416
  15. ↑ UK General Election results May 2010 at politicsresources.net
  16. ↑ UK General Election results May 2010 at politicsresources.net
  17. ↑ "Election 2017: Basingstoke", BBC News. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  18. ↑ "Election 2017: Blaydon", BBC News. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  19. ↑ "Election 2017: Hull West & Hessle", BBC News. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  20. ↑ "Election 2017: Portsmouth North", BBC News. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
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