Philip Proudfoot

Philip Proudfoot (born 28 November 1987) is an English anthropologist. Born and raised in County Durham, he is the founder and, until 2022, was the leader of the Northern Independence Party (NIP), which campaigns against what it sees as political and economic centralisation in the UK. It advocates that Northern England becomes an independent country under its historic name, "Northumbria".[3] He also lectures at the University of Sussex.[4]

Philip Proudfoot
Leader of the Northern Independence Party
In office
21 October 2020 – 22 July 2022
Personal details
Born (1987-11-28) 28 November 1987[1]
County Durham, England
Political partyNorthern Independence Party
Other political
affiliations		Labour Party (until 2020)
Residence(s)Brighton, East Sussex, England
Alma materLondon School of Economics (PhD)[2]
OccupationUniversity lecturer
ProfessionAcademic

A former member of Labour Party, Proudfoot formed the NIP in response to Keir Starmer's leadership and what he sees as the treatment of the North during the COVID-19 pandemic.[5] He told Big Issue North that the centralisation of power in London had played a part as well, highlighting the North–South divide in healthcare, transport, education, and general standard of living as motivating factors.[6] He has said that, at the next general election, he hopes to stand for the NIP in Sedgefield, the former constituency of Tony Blair, should party members select him.[7]

Proudfoot lives in Brighton and Hove, having moved there due to a lack of job opportunities in his field in County Durham.[8] In response to critics wondering why someone living in the South of England would support Northern independence, he said that this is an issue which epitomises the North–South divide: younger people from the North of England having to leave their hometowns to find work in cities, predominantly in the South.[4]

On 25 April 2022, the actress Tracy-Ann Oberman announced that she had agreed to pay Proudfoot substantial damages after falsely accusing him of antisemitism.[9]

On 22 July 2022, Proudfoot announced his resignation as leader of the NIP "due to professional commitments".[10]

Books
  • Rebel Populism: Revolution and Loss Among Syrian Labourers in Beirut. Manchester University Press. 2022. ISBN 978-1-5261-5810-9. OCLC 1276933129.

References
  1. Proudfoot, Philip [@PhilipProudfoot] (28 November 2021). "Why am I spending my birthday trying to get my legally registered political party @FreeNorthNow unlocked by Twitter … #FreeTheNorth" (Tweet). Retrieved 14 January 2022 – via Twitter.
  2. Proudfoot, Philip (2016). "The living dead: revolutionary subjectivity and Syrian rebel-workers in Beirut". LSE Theses Online. London School of Economics and Political Science.
  3. Lockwood, Tasmin (16 November 2020). "County Durham man leads new party making the case for Northern Independence". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
    Park, Victoria (2 April 2021). "Seven thoughts about the Northern Independence Party". New Statesman. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  4. Shone, Ethan (12 April 2021). "Northern Independence Party: what is NIP, who is Philip Proudfoot - and will it run in Hartlepool by-election?". National World. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  5. Sweet, Michael (28 March 2021). "Yes Northumbria? The independence bug is catching on - in England's north". The National. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  6. Moss, Chris (23 November 2021). "Devolution's sunny uplands". Big Issue North. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  7. Proudfoot, Philip [@PhilipProudfoot] (26 March 2021). "Just it's out there. In 2023/4 I hope members of NIP select me to stand in Sedgefield.
    For family, strategic, and, of course, symbolic reasons"     (Tweet). Retrieved 17 April 2022 – via Twitter.
  8. Bright, Sam (5 May 2021). "The Party Chasing Labour in the North of England". Byline Times. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  9. Chilton, Louis (25 April 2022). "EastEnders star Tracy-Ann Oberman pays damages after falsely accusing academic of antisemitism". The Independent. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 26 April 2022.
  10. Philip Proudfoot. "A short statement from..." Twitter. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
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