Heritage Party (UK)

Not to be confused with Heritage (Armenia).

Heritage Party
Leader	David Kurten
Founder	David Kurten
Founded	21 October 2020;4 years ago (2020-10-21)
Split from	UK Independence Party
Ideology	Euroscepticism British nationalism British unionism Right-wing populism Social conservatism
Political position	Right-wing
Slogan	"Freedom, Family, Nation"
Website
heritageparty.org
Politics of the United Kingdom Political parties Elections

The Heritage Party is a socially conservative political party in the United Kingdom, founded in October 2020 when then-London Assembly Member David Kurten left the UK Independence Party (UKIP) to form the party. ^[1] Kurten was also a member of the Brexit Alliance, a Eurosceptic technical group he formed in 2018 with fellow former UKIP member Peter Whittle.

History

David Kurten, founder and leader of the Heritage Party

In January 2020, Kurten announced he would be running as an independent candidate in the upcoming London mayoral and London Assembly elections (then scheduled for May 2020, but both elections were postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic). ^[2] Kurten founded the Heritage Party, and it was registered with the Electoral Commission that October. ^{[3] [4]}

In December 2020, Kurten rejected a COVID-19 vaccine, for which he was denounced by Conservative mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey, who saw this as irresponsible for an elected politician. ^[5] Lockdowns in response to the coronavirus pandemic in the United Kingdom were condemned by Kurten. ^[6]

In March 2025, the party gained representation in local government, when Becki Bruneau, a Kent County Councillor for Tunbridge Wells, defected from the Conservatives. ^{[7] [8] [9]}

Elections

Parliamentary by-elections

The party has stood in eight by-elections so far:

By-election	Candidate	Votes	Out of	Percentage	Place	Out of	Notes	References
2021 Hartlepool by-election	Claire Martin	468	29,933	1.6	4th	16
2021 Batley and Spen by-election	Susan Laird	33	37,786	0.1	16th	16
2021 Old Bexley and Sidcup by-election	David Kurten	116	21,733	0.5	9th	11
2021 North Shropshire by-election	James Elliot	79	38,093	0.2	10th	14
2022 Southend West by-election	Ben Downton	236	15,942	1.6	6th	9	Held due to the murder of previous MP David Amess on 15 October 2021. The major parties thus did not stand.	[10]
2022 Tiverton and Honiton by-election	Jordan Donoghue-Morgan	167	42,707	0.4	7th	8		[11]
2023 Selby and Ainsty by-election	Guy Phoenix	162	35,886	0.5	10th	13		[12]
2023 Mid Bedfordshire by-election	Alberto Thomas	63	40,720	0.5	11th	13

2021 elections

May 2021 London elections

Kurten came 15th in the 2021 London mayoral election with 0.4% of the vote. Heritage came 13th in the Assembly election with 0.5% of the vote. In addition to his Mayoral loss, Kurten lost his seat in the Assembly (to which he had been elected second on the UKIP list at the 2016 election).

London Assembly

Election	Votes	Share of votes	Seats	Note(s)
2021	13,534	0.52%	0 / 25	#13

2022 Northern Ireland Assembly

Election	First Preference Vote	Share of votes	Seats	Note(s)
2022	128	0.0%	0 / 90	#16

2023 UK local elections

Council	Candidates	Elected	Votes	Percentage
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole [13]	1 / 76	0 / 76	181	0.1
Tonbridge and Malling [14]	1 / 44	0 / 44	77	0.1
South Staffordshire [15]	1 / 42	0 / 42	86	0.4

2024 elections

UK local elections

Council	Candidates	Elected	Votes	Percentage
West Oxfordshire [16]	1 / 17	0 / 17	99	0.1

London Assembly

Election	Votes	Share of votes	Seats	Note(s)
2024	4,431	0.18%	0 / 25	#14

General election

The party's candidates stood in 41 constituencies in the 2024 United Kingdom general election on 4 July 2024: 34 in England, 1 in Scotland, 6 in Wales. ^[17] These candidates received a total of 6,597 votes, and none of them were elected. ^[18]

Election year	Leader	# of total votes	% of overall vote	Candidates	# of seats won	Outcome
2024	David Kurten	6,597	0.0%	41 / 650	0 / 650	No seats

References

1. "View registration". The Electoral Commission. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
2. Mathewson, Jessie (28 January 2020). "David Kurten announces run for Mayor of London" . Retrieved 28 January 2020.
3. "HERITAGE PARTY - Overview (free company information from Companies House)". Gov.uk.
4. "View current applications". Electoral Commission. 18 July 2020. Archived from the original on 18 July 2020.
5. Sleigh, Sophia; Dunne, John (28 December 2020). "London Assembly member David Kurten slammed for 'anti-vax' comments". Evening Standard. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
6. Prosser, Ryan (29 January 2021). "London Mayor Heritage Party candidate David Kurten criticises COVID chaos". SWLondoner. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
7. "Conservative County Councillor quits to join Heritage Party". Heritage Party. Retrieved 10 September 2025.
8. "Conservative county councillor Becki Bruneau launches attack on party as she defects to Heritage Party". Kent Online. 14 March 2025. Retrieved 10 September 2025.
9. "Kent Conservative councillor says she is defecting to the 'only party that cares about British people'". Yahoo News. 16 March 2025. Retrieved 10 September 2025.
10. "Election results Southend West by-election 2022". Southend Council. 4 February 2022. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
11. "STATEMENT OF PERSONS NOMINATED AND NOTICE OF POL L". Mid Devon District Council. 25 May 2022. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
12. Council, North Yorkshire. "Notice of Results" (PDF). www.northyorks.gov.uk. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
13. "Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council - Election results for Talbot and Branksome Woods, 4 May 2023". BCP Council. 4 May 2023. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
14. "Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council - Election results for Snodland West and Holborough Lakes, 4 May 2023". Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council. 4 May 2023. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
15. "Election results for Wombourne North, 4 May 2023" (PDF). sstaffs.gov.uk. 4 May 2023. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
16. "WEST OXFORDSHIRE DISTRICT COUNCIL ELECTION RESULTS SUMMARY - THURSDAY 2 MAY 2024" (PDF). West Oxfordshire District Council . Retrieved 10 June 2024.
17. "Westminster Elections". Heritage Party. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
18. "UK election results 2024: Parliament results". BBC News. Retrieved 6 July 2024.