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Independent Liberal is a description which candidates and politicians have used to describe themselves, designating them as liberals, yet independent of the official Liberal Party of their country. To avoid confusion with the Liberal Party of Canada, the Liberal Party of the United Kingdom, and the New Zealand Liberal Party, the description can no longer be used for election purposes, but is still available in Australia.
In Australia, an Independent Liberal is a member of the Liberal Party of Australia (the major centre-right, liberal conservative party in Australia) who is either running in an election as an independent or who sits in a legislature as an independent.
Independent Liberal Members of Parliament (or of the Canadian Senate or a provincial legislative assembly) are typically former Liberal caucus members who were either expelled from the Liberal Party caucus or resigned the whip due to a political disagreement. More recent examples, include Don Johnston who sat as an Independent Liberal from January 18, 1988 until the adjournment of parliament due to his resignation from the Liberal caucus as a result of his support of the Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement which the party opposed, Jag Bhaduria who sat as an Independent Liberal from 1994 to 1996 following his expulsion from the Liberal caucus and Dennis Mills who briefly left the Liberal caucus in 1996 to sit as an "Independent Liberal" to protest the Liberal government's failure to abolish the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
Independent Liberal candidates for parliament or the legislature have been those who generally subscribe to Liberal Party principles but either have not been selected as an official Liberal Party candidate or decline to seek the party's nomination due to a disagreement with the party on certain issues. Under the current Elections Act a candidate who is not affiliated with a political party can only describe themselves on the ballot as Independent or "No Affiliation" and cannot describe themselves in terms of an existing political party. Accordingly, no candidate for the House of Commons of Canada has officially designated themselves an "Independent Liberal" since the 1968 federal election and no Independent Liberal candidate has been elected to the House of Commons since the 1957 federal election.
A number of Quebec Liberal MPs left the party and sat as Independent Liberals as a result of the Conscription Crisis of 1944 as they opposed the Liberal government's decision to implement conscription. The most prominent of these was Charles Gavan Power who resigned from Cabinet over the issue. Several ran for re-election in the 1945 federal election as Independent Liberals. William Lyon Mackenzie King's government was returned with only a minority of Liberal MPs in parliament but was able to govern as a majority government with the support of Independent Liberal MPs, most of whom rejoined the party in the course of the parliament.
Independent Liberal was a definition in New Zealand politics in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries for Independents that aligned themselves with the New Zealand Liberal Party. It is often difficult to determine whether candidates were official Liberal or Independent Liberal and many electorates had more Liberal candidates standing than seats available. From 1893 to 1908 the New Zealand Liberal Party was the only formalised political party to win any seats in parliament.
In the Philippines, independent Liberal, or denoted as "Liberal (independent)" on candidate lists, refers to politicians who had aligned themselves with the Liberal Party, but did not win its nomination or ran under its label. A candidate using this designation won 1 seat in the 1965 House elections. This was used during the Third Philippine Republic, which had a two-party system. In the current Fifth Republic and under the multi-party system, candidates are no longer identified by this manner.
Independent Liberal is a description once used in British politics to denote a form of non-party affiliation. It was used to designate a politician as a Liberal who was independent of any political party, particularly of the Liberal Party before its transformation in the 1980s into the Liberal Democrats.
Since the Registration of Political Parties Act 1998 came into force, a candidate for election can no longer be described as an "Independent Liberal" on a ballot paper, as the 1998 Act prohibits any description which could cause confusion with a registered political party. In practice, the description used is either the name of a registered party or the word "Independent".
A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, and a bye-election or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections.
A caucus is a meeting or grouping of supporters or members of a specific political party or movement. The exact definition varies between different countries and political cultures.
The Progressive Party of Canada, formally the National Progressive Party, was a federal-level political party in Canada in the 1920s until 1930. It was linked with the provincial United Farmers parties in several provinces, and it spawned the Progressive Party of Saskatchewan, and the Progressive Party of Manitoba, which formed the government of that province. The Progressive Party was part of the farmers' political movement that included federal and provincial Progressive and United Farmers' parties.
The 1921 Canadian federal election was held on December 6, 1921, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 14th Parliament of Canada. The Union government that had governed Canada through the First World War was defeated, and replaced by a Liberal government under the young leader William Lyon Mackenzie King. A new third party, the Progressive Party, won the second most seats in the election.
A crossbencher is a minor party member of some legislatures, such as the British House of Lords and the Parliament of Australia. They take their name from the crossbenches, between and perpendicular to the government and opposition benches, where crossbenchers sit in the chamber.
In some parliamentary systems, politicians are said to cross the floor if they formally change their political affiliation to a political party different from the one they were initially elected under. In Australia though, this term simply refers to Members of Parliament (MPs) who dissent from the party line and vote against the express instructions of the party whip while retaining membership in their political party.
Nonpartisan democracy is a system of representative government or organization such that universal and periodic elections take place without reference to political parties. Sometimes electioneering and even speaking about candidates may be discouraged, so as not to prejudice others' decisions or create a contentious atmosphere.
The Bloc populaire canadien, often shortened to the Bloc populaire or the Bloc, was a political party in the Canadian province of Quebec from 1942 to 1947. It was founded on September 8, 1942 by opponents of conscription during the Second World War. The party ran candidates at both federal and provincial levels.
The Unionist Party was a centre to centre-right political party in Canada, composed primarily of former members of the Conservative party with some individual Liberal Members of Parliament. It was formed in 1917 by MPs who supported the "Union government" formed by Sir Robert Borden during the First World War, who formed the government through the final years of the war, and was a proponent of conscription. It was opposed by the remaining Liberal MPs, who sat as the official opposition.
The 1945 Canadian federal election was held on June 11, 1945, to elect members of the House of Commons of the 20th Parliament of Canada. Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King's Liberals won a third term. The party fell five seats short of a majority but was able to rule as a majority government with the support of Independent Liberal MPs.
The 1917 Canadian federal election was held on December 17, 1917, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 13th Parliament of Canada. Described by historian Michael Bliss as the "most bitter election in Canadian history", it was fought mainly over the issue of conscription. The election resulted in Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden's Unionist government elected with a strong majority and the largest percentage of the popular vote for any party in Canadian history.
An independent, non-partisan politician or non-affiliated politician is a politician not affiliated with any political party or bureaucratic association. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent.
Alfred Humphrey Hindmarsh was a New Zealand politician, lawyer, and unionist. He died in the 1918 influenza epidemic. He served as the first leader of the modern New Zealand Labour Party.
Independent Conservative is a description which has been used in the United Kingdom, Canada, United States and elsewhere, to denote a political conservative who lacks a formal affiliation to the party of that name.
The Parti canadien was an anti-conscriptionist party formed by Member of Parliament Liguori Lacombe in 1942. Lacombe was the MP for Laval—Two Mountains. He was an isolationist, who opposed Canada's participation in World War II and the implementation of conscription. Lacombe, a Liberal MP since 1925, quit the Liberal caucus and won re-election in the 1940 federal election as an Independent Liberal before forming the Parti canadien.
Charles Eugène Parent was a Liberal party and Independent Liberal member of the House of Commons of Canada. He was born in Quebec City, Quebec and became a lawyer by career.
The 46th Parliament of Australia was a meeting of the legislative branch of the Australian federal government, composed of the Australian Senate and the Australian House of Representatives. The 2019 federal election gave the Coalition of the Liberal and National Parties control of the House, originally with a three-seat majority, allowing their leader Scott Morrison to stay in office as the 30th Prime Minister of Australia. The 46th Parliament was opened in Canberra on 2 July 2019 and was dissolved by the Governor General David Hurley on 11 April 2022.
Independent Labor is a description used in Australian politics, often to designate a politician who is an Australian Labor Party (ALP) member but not endorsed by the party at elections or if sitting in a parliament, not a member of the Labor party room caucus. The label has also been used to describe candidate who identify with the labour movement, but not the ALP.
Independent National is a description used in Australian politics, often to designate a politician who is a National Party of Australia member but not endorsed by the party at elections or if sitting in a parliament, not a member of the National party room caucus.