Idle Toad Explained

Country:the United Kingdom
The Idle Toad
Colorcode:
  1. EC143C
Leader:Tom Sharratt
Foundation:30 January 2003
Dissolution:1 November 2014
Headquarters:14 Coupe Green,
Hoghton,
Preston,
PR5 0JR
Ideology:Localism
Website:http://lob.org.uk/Idletoad/

The Idle Toad was a registered English political party which fought elections in the South Ribble district of Lancashire, England.

History

The party originated in 1997, when Labour Party councillor Tom Sharratt was deselected. He started printing a local newsletter, named the Idle Toad,[1] and stood thereafter under this party description, holding both his South Ribble Rural East on Lancashire County Council and Coupe Green and Gregson Lane seat on South Ribble District Council.[2]

Sharratt formed the Idle Toad party with fellow councillor Barrie Yates in 2002.[3] It was registered with the Electoral Commission on 30 January 2003. The party was community based and not linked to any specific political ideology.

The party had three councillors on South Ribble District Council by 2007.[4] Yates and Jim Marsh, another party councillor, resigned from the party that year, joining the Conservative Party soon after. Sharratt was brought before the standards committee of South Ribble council, due to a comment in the Idle Toad newsletter describing Marsh as a "defacator". Sharratt countered that this was a misprint, and should have described him as a "defector". He was censured and ordered to apologise to Marsh. He later won an appeal to this order.

Decline and dissolution

Following the 2013 county council elections for Lancashire, the Idle Toad Party was left with no remaining councillors.[5] It was statutorily deregistered by the UK electoral commission in November 2014.[6]

See also

References

  1. News: Idle Toad hails victory for 'free press' . 4 September 2022 . Lancashire Evening Post . 18 November 2009 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120404142746/http://www.lep.co.uk/news/idle_toad_hails_victory_for_free_press_1_132076 . 4 April 2012.
  2. News: Toad in a hole at 'spelling mistake' . 4 September 2022 . Lancashire Evening Post . 18 August 2009 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120404142754/https://www.lep.co.uk/news/toad_in_a_hole_at_spelling_mistake_1_97110 . 4 April 2012.
  3. "Lancashire County Council elections special", Leyland Guardian, 26 May 2009
  4. "Blue tide sweeps across South Ribble", The Citizen, 4 May 2007
  5. "Vote 2013 Results for Lancashire", BBC News, 3 May 2013
  6. Web site: Registration PP273. The Electoral Commission. 20 February 2018.

External links