Peace Party (UK)

The Peace Party is a minor political party in the United Kingdom, founded in Surrey in 1996, campaigning mainly for pacifist and environmentalist issues. Its leader John Morris had stood at every general election since 1997.

Peace Party
LeaderJohn Morris
ChairmanGeoff Pay
Founded1996 (1996)
HeadquartersGuildford
IdeologyPacifism
Environmentalism
Colours  Orange
Website
www.peaceparty.org.uk

History

The party was founded in 1996 as the Pacifist Campaign by a group of activists, including Quakers, in Guildford, Surrey. In 2001 it became the Pacifist Party and it was registered with the Electoral Commission in 2003 as "The Peace Party - Non-violence, Justice, Environment".[1][2] The leader, retired geography teacher John Morris, has as of 2019 stood for the party in every general election since the party was founded, and though he expects to lose he says "Standing at election time means the word peace and some of the other words we use get put in front of everybody who is of voting age. It's worth the lost deposit - it's £500 well spent."[3]

The party stood one candidate, John Morris, in the 1997 and 2001 general elections in the Guildford constituency, and two in the 2005 election with Caroline O'Reilly also standing in Brighton Kemptown. It fielded nine candidates in the South East England constituency during the 2004 European election,[4] gaining 12,572 votes. This was equivalent to 0.6% of the votes cast in the South East and more than three other parties.[5] The party has also stood in a number of local elections in Dartford, Kent, Horsham, West Sussex and Guildford.

The party fielded three candidates in the 2010 general election, who gained a total of 737 votes.

The Peace Party gained its first councillor in Bradford in November 2012 when Imdad Hussain joined after being suspended from the Labour Party for failing to declare a company directorship. He stood for the party in the 2012 Middlesbrough by-election[6] achieving the Peace Party's first saved deposit with 1,060 votes (6.3%), only three votes fewer than the Conservative candidate. However, Hussain lost his council seat in the 2014 local election, coming second to Labour.[7] They also stood in the South East region for the 2014 European Parliament elections.[8]

The party fielded four candidates in the 2015 general election, including Morris, Tommy Holgate, previously Comedy Editor for The Sun newspaper, Jim Duggan, and Tania Mahmood,[9][10] who together received a total of 957 votes. There were two Peace candidates in the 2017 general election who gained a total of 438 votes. The party stood in two constituencies at the 2019 general election and won 960 votes.[3][11]

Policies

The Peace Party seeks to promote a society that is compassionate and respectful, and that values cooperation over competition.

They support conflict resolution, demilitarisation, drug legalisation, felony disenfranchisement, and proportional representation.[12]

References
  1. Blick, Andrew (2005). How To Go To War. Democratic Audit of the United Kingdom. Politico's. p. 198. ISBN 9781842751312.
  2. Rankin, Aidan (April 1, 2004). "The Pacifist Party: a political experiment in commuterland". European Business Review. Emerald Group Publishing Limited. 16 (2). doi:10.1108/ebr.2004.05416bab.004.
  3. Evans, Alice (November 8, 2019). "General election 2019: The election losers who come back for more". BBC News.
  4. "European elections: The manifestos". BBC News. London: British Broadcasting Corporation. 2004-06-01. Retrieved 2008-06-19.
  5. "European Election: South East Result". BBC News. London: British Broadcasting Corporation. 2004-06-14. Retrieved 2008-06-19.
  6. "Bradford councillor resigns from Labour party", Bradford Telegraph and Argus, 6 November 2012
  7. "Local election results 2014". City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  8. Haworth, Jessica (May 22, 2014). "European Parliament Election: From pirates to peacemakers 6 little-known parties you can vote for". The Mirror.
  9. "Election 2015 smaller parties: Peace Party policies". Daily Politics. BBC News. April 7, 2015.
  10. Wilkinson, Michael (April 10, 2015). "Free tai chi and dance classes: meet the political party promoting world peace in General Election 2015". The Telegraph.
  11. Giles, Martin (November 21, 2019). "Dragon Interview: John Morris, Peace Party Parliamentary Candidate". Guildford Dragon.
  12. "General Election: What minor parties are standing this year?". Express and Star. December 8, 2019.
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