Northern Party Explained

Country:England
Colorcode:
  1. EF7706
Northern Party
Leader1 Title:Founders
Leader1 Name:Michael Dawson
Harold Elletson
Leader2 Title:Chairman
Leader2 Name:Ron Bell[1]
Ideology:Regionalism in Northern England
Colours: Orange
White

The Northern Party was a regionalist political party in Northern England, founded by leader Michael Dawson and former Blackpool MP; Harold Elletson, in March 2015 to contest five marginal seats in Lancashire at the 2015 general election.[2] The party was one of three regionalist parties contesting the general election in the north of England.[3] Members included former activists from the Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green parties.

Founding

Michael Dawson, a former Executive Committee member of the Labour Campaign for Human Rights, is the nephew of former MP for Lancaster Hilton Dawson who now runs the North East Party. At the launch of the party he said "We've been planning this for months. This is a Northern rebellion against a system that has failed the North."[4] The party argued for Northern England devolution of power to an autonomous Northern region, and for business investment and environmental protection.[5]

The party described its symbol as "a Norse raven, closely associated with the ancient kingdom of Northumbria (today's North of England) and the struggle for autonomy".[6]

Electoral history

The party stood candidates in five seats in Lancashire:[7]

Paul Salveson noted the smaller vote share than the North East Party and Yorkshire First at the same General Election and a lack of parish councillors versus those other parties, and suggested this was because the Northern Party, though they stood in Lancashire, had a Northern identity rather than a Lancashire identity.[10]

Organisation

The party was registered with the Electoral Commission on 1 April 2015, with Michael Dawson as Leader and Treasurer and Stephen Gilpin as Nominating Officer and an address in Liverpool.[11] Chairman Ron Bell was a former Conservative councillor and prospective parliamentary candidate in Blackpool South.[1] The Northern Party voluntarily deregistered as a party on 8 April 2016.[11]

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: Former MP to fight seat. Blackpool Gazette. April 2015. April 25, 2017.
  2. News: Northern Party To Contest Marginal Seats. The Bay. March 2015. April 25, 2017.
  3. News: General election: English regional parties press for power. Financial Times. Andrew . Bounds. Chris. Tighe . John Murray. Brown. April 23, 2015. April 25, 2017.
  4. News: The Northern Party: New party targets Lancashire seats. 3 April 2015. BBC News. 2 April 2015.
  5. News: A coastal battle at Morecambe and Lunesdale. Westmoreland Gazette. April 23, 2015. April 25, 2017.
  6. Web site: Why the Raven? . https://archive.today/20150426220038/http://www.northern.party/index.html . dead . 26 April 2015 . Northern Party . 26 April 2015 .
  7. News: Ex Tory MP forms the Northern Party. 3 April 2015. The Guardian. 2 April 2015.
  8. Web site: Archived copy . 2015-10-27 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150419000417/http://www.lancaster.gov.uk/GetAsset.aspx?id=fAAxADEANQAzADQAfAB8AFQAcgB1AGUAfAB8ADAAfAA1 . 2015-04-19 .
  9. News: Ex-Tory explains switch decision. Blackpool Gazette. April 14, 2015. April 25, 2017.
  10. Book: Salveson, Paul. The Politics of the North: Governance, territory and identity in Northern England. Richard Hayton . Arianna Giovannini . Craig Berry. Will the North rise again?. White Rose Consortium for the North of England / University of Leeds. January 2016. April 25, 2017.
  11. Web site: The Northern Party. Registrations . Electoral Commission. 26 April 2015.