Pirate Party UK

Pirate Party UK
Pirate Party UK
Welsh: Plaid Môr-leidr DU
Leader Harley James Faggetter[1]
Chair of the Board Adrian Farrel[2]
Founded 30 July 2009 (2009-07-30)[3]
Headquarters Unit 6941, PO Box 4336, Manchester, M61 0BW
Membership (2017) Decrease 420
Ideology Pirate politics
Civil libertarianism
Colours             
Purple, black and white[4]
Website
www.pirateparty.org.uk

The Pirate Party UK (often abbreviated PPUK; in Welsh: Plaid Môr-leidr DU) is a political party in the United Kingdom. The Pirate Party's core policies are to bring about reform to copyright and patent laws, support privacy, reduce surveillance from government and businesses, and support freedom of speech and freedom of expression.[5][6]

The party was established in July 2009. The first leader of the party was Andrew Robinson, who stepped down in August 2010. Laurence "Loz" Kaye was elected to replace him in September 2010, and served until after the 2015 general election, when he stepped down.[7] Following Kaye's resignation, a leadership election was held, with Cris Chesha being elected leader and David A Elston being elected the party's first deputy leader.[8]

History

Following The Pirate Bay trial, a large surge in Pirate Party interest occurred around the world. After the success of the Swedish Pirate Party in the summer 2009 European elections, there was a sudden growth of Pirate Party organisations across Europe (notably in Germany and France) and beyond. Forum membership soared. The official formation of the Pirate Party in the UK followed shortly after the European elections[9] and the Pirate Party UK was officially registered on 30 July 2009.[10][11] In August 2009, it was claimed that Pirate Party UK was undergoing rapid growth similar to one the Swedish Pirate Party had enjoyed in early 2009. It was reported that it had been flooded with enquiries and at its peak around 100 people an hour were signing up to become party members. Donations had been coming in so fast that PayPal was concerned it was a fraudulent site.[12]

On 30 March 2010, the party declared its intent to stand ten candidates across England and Scotland. However, to do so, further party funding would be required.[13] On 27 April 2010, the party announced that it had nine official candidates on the ballot papers, as Mark Sims had missed the deadline because of the air travel disruption after the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption. Following the resignation of first party leader Andrew Robinson,[14] the composer and lecturer Laurence "Loz" Kaye was elected as the new leader on 26 September 2010.[15] In a message sent to members, Kaye stated his key aim as "building the political structure of the party".[16] Previously, Kaye had been the election agent for candidate Tim Dobson who stood for Pirate Party UK in Manchester Gorton.

In the run-up to the 2015 general election, the Pirate Party crowdsourced its manifesto using Reddit. The process ran until 21 March 2015.[17] Kaye stepped down as leader following the 2015 general election in May.[7] With the role of deputy leader also being vacant, George Walkden, the party's nominating officer, was approved by the board of governors to serve as an interim leader until the party elected a new leader.[18] Following the leadership election, Cris Chesha was elected leader of the party and David Elston was elected the first deputy leader. Six new governors were elected, with six governors being re-elected. Rebecca Rae was elected to the role of campaigns officer on the NEC.[8][19] On 18 June, Andrew Norton stepped down as chair of the board, and was replaced by the deputy chair of the board, Andrew Robinson, the leader of the party from 2009 to 2010. On 29 July 2015, Will Tovey was elected as the next deputy chair of the board to replace Robinson. Will Tovey subsequently became chair of the board, and Adrian Farrel replaced him on 14 December 2016.[20] The party's extended period without an elected NEC caught the attention of larger media outlets in October 2016 where Kaye and Elston gave comment.[21]

Organisation

Leadership

Pirate Party UK's former leader Loz Kaye
# Name Leadership began Leadership ended Notes
1 Andrew Robinson30 July 2009 23 August 2010
— Vacant 23 August 2010 27 September 2010
2 Loz Kaye27 September 2010 9 May 2015
3 George Walkden9 May 2015 4 July 2015 Interim leader
4 Cris Chesha4 July 2015 26 November 2015
— Vacant 26 November 2015 10 February 2016
5 David A Elston10 February 2016 19 February 2016 Acting leader
— Vacant 19 February 2016 3 February 2017
5 David A Elston3 February 2017 26 October 2017 Re-elected acting leader
6 Harley Faggetter24 November 2017

Deputy Leadership

# Name Leadership began Leadership ended Notes
1 David A Elston4 July 2015 19 February 2016
— Vacant 19 February 2016 3 February 2017
1 David A Elston3 February 2017[22] 26 October 2017 Re-elected
2 Mark Chapman24 November 2017[22]

Branches

The Pirate Party UK has branches in many places around the United Kingdom. These include London,[23] York,[24] Greater Manchester,[25] Sheffield[26] and Bury.[27]

Pirate Party Wales

Pirate Party Wales (Welsh: Plaid Môr-leidr Cymru) is a branch of the Pirate Party UK that covers the entirety of Wales and was founded in 2014 by David Anthony Elston. Pirate Party Wales supports increased recognition of the Welsh language, including reform of the Welsh Language Act 1993 and free Welsh courses for all Welsh nationals. It also supports further devolution to Wales and increased powers for the Welsh Assembly.[28] The only candidate to have stood in Wales so far is Elston who stood in Bridgend in the 2015 general election.[29]

International affiliation

On 25 February 2015, the Pirate Party UK announced its withdrawal from its international affiliation, Pirate Party International. This announcement, consolidated by a vote of the board, followed Pirate Party Australia's decision to leave earlier in the same month.[30]

Membership

Pirate Party UK's membership trend
YearMembership
2009590
2010457
2011224
2012748
2013557
2014689[31]
2015766[31]
2016500[32]
2017 420[33]

Election results

It has previously been noted by Robinson, the first Pirate Party UK leader, that the Pirate Party UK's chances of getting a candidate elected to the UK parliament are "pretty much close to zero", because of the first past the post system for electing MPs to Parliament. Instead, its immediate aim is to raise awareness among voters and politicians in the other political parties.[34]

The Pirate Party UK contested its first election in 2010, standing nine candidates in the 2010 general election. The party also stood candidates in the 2011 Oldham East and Saddleworth and 2012 Manchester Central by-elections. The party also contested several local government elections and the 2011 Scottish Parliament election. The party stood six candidates in the 2015 general election, and ten in the 2017 snap general election. In general elections, none of its candidates has ever received more than one percent of the vote.

Year Candidates Votes Seats
2010 9 1,340
0 / 650
2015 6 1,130
0 / 650
2017 10 2,321
0 / 650

References

  1. ↑ "View registration - The Electoral Commission". search.electoralcommission.org.uk.
  2. ↑ "Leaders Office - The Pirate Party". www.pirateparty.org.uk.
  3. ↑ Barnett, Emma (11 August 2009). "Pirate Party UK now registered by the Electoral Commission". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 12 August 2009.
  4. ↑ "Design". The Pirate Party. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
  5. ↑ "Pirate Party UK". Retrieved 4 June 2012.
    - Turton, Stuart (12 August 2009). "Q&A: Why the UK needs the Pirate Party". PC Pro. Retrieved 12 August 2009.
  6. ↑ OUR OPEN MANIFESTO FOR THE SNAP GENERAL ELECTION (Pirate Party UK, 2017 general election manifesto). Accessed via the Pirate Party UK's official website. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
  7. 1 2 Kaye, Loz (9 May 2015). "Moving On". Pirate Party UK. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  8. 1 2 "Pirate Party UK announces appointments to the NEC, and Board of Governors". Pirate Party UK. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  9. ↑ Scott, Katie (8 June 2009). "Pirate Party wins European Parliament seat". Wired UK. Retrieved 17 August 2009.
    - McCormick, Andrew (8 June 2009). "Pirate Bay fans get voice on copyright issues". Revolution. Brand Republic. Retrieved 17 August 2009.
  10. ↑ "Register of political parties, Pirate Party UK". The Electoral Commission. Retrieved 3 February 2010.
  11. ↑ "Pirate Party launches UK poll bid". BBC News. 13 August 2009. Retrieved 17 August 2009.
    - Harris, Mark (11 August 2009). "Pirate Party UK sets sail". TechRadar. Future plc. Retrieved 17 August 2009.
  12. ↑ Barnett, Emma (13 August 2009). "'Hundred people an hour' joining Pirate Party UK". Telegraph.co.uk. London. Retrieved 13 August 2009.
  13. ↑ "PPUK Announces Parliamentary Candidates". Pirate Party UK.
  14. ↑ "The Pirate Party UK, One Year On". Pirate Party UK.
  15. ↑ "Loz Kaye elected leader of UK Pirate Party". Wired News.
    - "Pirate Party Elects New Leader'". Pirate Party UK.
  16. ↑ "A Message From the New Leader". Pirate Party UK.
  17. ↑ Gorton, Thomas. "Pirate Party is crowdsourcing its manifesto on Reddit". Dazed. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  18. ↑ "Be a part of the new Pirate crew!". The Pirate Party. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
  19. ↑ "Internal election results July 2015". Pirate Party UK. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  20. ↑ "The Board". Pirate Party UK. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  21. ↑ "Pirate Party growing pains: Murder-suicide, a fetish model, and Alþingi". Ars Technica. David Meyeer. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
  22. 1 2 Chapman, Mark. "NEC Election Results 2017".
  23. ↑ "London — Pirate Party UK blog". pirateparty.org.uk. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  24. ↑ "York — Pirate Party UK blog". pirateparty.org.uk. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  25. ↑ "Manchester — Pirate Party UK blog". pirateparty.org.uk. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  26. ↑ "Know us, Like us, Vote for us". The Pirate Party. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
  27. ↑ "The Pirate Party in Bury". Bury.pirateparty.org.uk. 16 January 2014. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
  28. ↑ "Pirate Party Wales: We need to become a digital dragon". The Daily Wales. 7 January 2015. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  29. ↑ "Bridgend Constituency". Pirate Party Wales. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  30. ↑ "PPUK leaves PPI". Pirate Party UK. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
    - Halsall, Andy (26 February 2015). "PPUK Bids Farewell to PPI". Pirate Times. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  31. 1 2 "Pirate Party UK Statement of Accounts 2015". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  32. ↑ "Pirate Party UK Statement of Accounts 2016". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  33. ↑ "Pirate Party UK Statement of Accounts for year ending 31 December 2017". Electoral Commission. 29 April 2018. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
  34. ↑ Turton, Stuart (12 August 2009). "Q&A: Why the UK needs the Pirate Party". PC Pro. Retrieved 17 August 2009.

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