Jury Team

Last updated

Jury Team
Leader Sir Paul Judge
Founded13 March 2009
Dissolved9 May 2011
Headquarters152 Grosvenor Road, London, SW1 3JL, United Kingdom [1]
Ideology
Political position Big tent
National affiliation Alliance for Democracy
Website
http://www.juryteam.org/

The Jury Team was a British political campaign established in 2009 to back independent candidates in United Kingdom domestic and European elections. Although it was a registered UK political party, it was described as an umbrella organisation giving financial and marketing backing to independent candidates, who were free to set their own political agenda outside of the traditional model of standing as the candidate of a particular party. Jury Team employed a novel selection process for its independent candidates, allowing any member of the public to apply to be promoted for backing, and leaving final candidate selection to the public, by text message voting. After contesting the European Parliament elections in June 2009, the Jury Team's first Independent United Kingdom parliamentary candidate was John Smeaton, who stood in the 2009 Glasgow North East by-election.

Contents

The organisation was dissolved in 2011. None of its candidates were ever elected.

Foundation

The Jury Team campaign for more independent politicians was launched on 8 March 2009 by Sir Paul Judge, a businessman and former director-general of the Conservative Party. [2] [3] Jury Team was registered with the UK's Electoral Commission's Register of Political Parties on 13 March 2009, eligible to field candidates in England, Scotland and Wales. [1] Judge was the registered Jury Team Leader and Treasurer, while Alan Wallace was the Jury Team Nominating Officer. [1]

Politics

The name Jury Team reflected the idea behind the jury, that "regular people can make decisions about complex problems with integrity and without any vested interests". [4]

Jury Team was described as an umbrella organisation, with the purpose of giving Independent non-party candidates the platform to compete against the established UK political parties, free of party allegiance and a party whip. [5] [6] The Jury Team aimed to "break the traditional party leaderships' control over the political process". [2] A YouGov poll commissioned by Jury Team as part of its launch suggested that 55% of electors would vote for an Independent candidate if they thought they had a realistic chance of being elected. [2]

Jury Team had no manifesto or specific policies; any member of the public who was considered to be "committed to the principles of good governance, including selflessness, integrity, openness and honesty" could be publicised by the organisation as a potential Jury Team candidate, and candidates were selected by a system of public voting by text message. [7] The Jury Team candidates that stood in the 2009 European elections represented both sides of the political spectrum as well as those representing several single issue platforms. [8]

As well as Jury Team, Jury Team Party and Jury Team Independents, the organisation also registered the following as official Party Descriptions: Democracy 2.0, Democracy, Accountability, Transparency, Politics for the People, Politics Isn't Working, Politics with Principles and Politics without Parties. [1]

While Jury Team had no party policies, they did declare 12 basic principles on issues of governance and representation, covering areas such as term limits and pay transparency for elected representatives, changes to the operation of select committees and government departments, independence of statistical reporting and complaints functions, and changes to the rules regarding referendums and calling of general elections. [9] They opposed the alternative vote and said that the AV referendum was a "political stitch-up". [10]

Candidate selection

According to its founder and leader Sir Paul Judge, Jury Team Independent candidates "legally committed themselves to our three guiding principles of democracy, accountability and transparency and to abiding by the seven Nolan Principles of Public Life", and "had all "pledged to vote on conscience for the good of their constituents and the country and will not be required to obey a party whip". [8]

Jury Team Independent candidates for the 2009 European Parliament elections could stand for selection in every British European Parliament constituency region except Northern Ireland. Candidates individual political positions were promoted through the Jury Team website between 16 March to 24 April 2009, during which time the public could vote for their preferred candidates. [11] The successful candidates in each region were then ranked by the number of text votes cast, in order to produce a 'party list' for each region according to their allocated number of seats. [11] (European Parliament seats from in England, Scotland and Wales are allocated using a system of proportional representation using the d'Hondt formula.)

On 25 September 2009 it was announced that John Smeaton, an airport worker who came to national attention for intervening in the 2007 Glasgow International Airport attack, would be the first candidate selected by Jury Team to stand for a seat in the Westminster Parliament, and would contest the 2009 Glasgow North East by-election for the vacant seat formerly held by the Speaker of the House Michael Martin. [12]

Elections

European Parliament election 2009

Jury Team backed 59 Independent candidates in the 2009 European Parliament elections. [8] No Jury Team candidate gained a seat; the candidates collectively registered 0.5% of the total votes cast in Great Britain, ranking Jury Team candidates as a whole 13th among other parties in Great Britain. [5]

Glasgow North East by-election, 2009

John Smeaton stood as the Jury Team backed Independent candidate in the 2009 Glasgow North East by-election, he came eighth out of 13 candidates with 258 votes. [12]

2010 general election

Jury Team fielded independent candidates in the 2010 general election, on 6 May 2010. [2] The group hoped to increase on the number of 5 independent MPs elected in 2005 out of a total of 646 currently sitting in the House of Commons. [2] No Jury Team candidates were elected MPs.

Funding

The Jury Team campaign was funded by Sir Paul Judge from his estimated £30m personal wealth, together with three other financial backers. [7] The organisation's financial rules precluded individual donations of more than £50,000, in line with the 2006 Sir Hayden Phillips inquiry. [7]

Reception

Jury Team's candidate public vote by text message selection method was likened to the reality TV shows The X-Factor and American Idol . [7] TIME magazine called the movement similar to the reality show American Idol [4] Jury Team's lack of manifesto attracted the moniker the "anti-party party". [4] Anthony King stated of Jury Team that "The idea that a non-party party could get very far is farfetched." [7]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Politics of Malta</span>

The politics of Malta takes place within a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the president of Malta is the constitutional head of state. Executive authority is vested in the president of Malta, with the general direction and control of the Government of Malta remaining with the prime minister of Malta, who is the head of government and the cabinet. Legislative power is vested in the Parliament of Malta, which consists of the president of Malta and the unicameral House of Representatives of Malta with the speaker as the presiding officer of the legislative body. Judicial power remains with the chief justice and the judiciary of Malta. Since independence, the party electoral system has been dominated by the Christian democratic Nationalist Party and the social democratic Labour Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Politics of the United Kingdom</span>

The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy which, by legislation and convention, operates as a unitary parliamentary democracy. A hereditary monarch, currently King Charles III, serves as head of state while the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, currently Sir Keir Starmer since 2024, serves as the elected head of government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lindsay Hoyle</span> Speaker of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom since 2019

Sir Lindsay Harvey Hoyle is a British politician who has served as Speaker of the House of Commons since 2019 and as Member of Parliament (MP) for Chorley since 1997. Before his election as speaker, he was a member of the Labour Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liberal Party (UK, 1989)</span> British political party

The Liberal Party is a liberal political party in the United Kingdom that was founded in 1989 as a continuation of the original Liberal Party by members who opposed its merger with the Social Democratic Party (SDP) to form the Liberal Democrats. The party holds six local council seats. The party promotes a hybrid of both classical and social liberal tendencies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diana Wallis</span> British politician

Diana Paulette Wallis, is a British former Liberal Democrat Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Yorkshire and the Humber. Wallis was first elected in 1999 and re-elected in 2004 and in 2009. She resigned her seat in January 2012 and went on to pursue academic, legal and mediation-related activities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Civic Party</span> Belarusian political party

The United Civic Party is a banned liberal-conservative and liberal political party in Belarus. The party opposes the government of Alexander Lukashenko and has participated in the country's elections on a few occasions, but it did not have a single member in the Belarusian parliament until one member was elected during the 2016 elections. It claims that its lack of seats is due to the unfairness of the election process.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The New Party (UK, 2003)</span> Defunct neoliberal political party in the United Kingdom

The New Party was a neoliberal political party in the United Kingdom active between 2003 and 2010. The party described itself as "a party of economic liberalism, political reform and internationalism". It supported a smaller role for the state, a significant reduction in bureaucracy, renegotiation with the European Union and a strengthening of the special relationship with the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2010 United Kingdom general election</span>

The 2010 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 6 May 2010, to elect Members of Parliament to the House of Commons. The election took place in 650 constituencies across the United Kingdom under the first-past-the-post system. The election resulted in a large swing to the opposition Conservative Party led by David Cameron similar to that seen in 1979, the last time a Conservative opposition had ousted a Labour government. The governing Labour Party led by the prime minister Gordon Brown lost the 66-seat majority it had previously enjoyed, but no party achieved the 326 seats needed for a majority. The Conservatives won the most votes and seats, but still fell 20 seats short. This resulted in a hung parliament where no party was able to command a majority in the House of Commons. This was only the second general election since the Second World War to return a hung parliament, the first being the February 1974 election. This election marked the start of Conservative government for the next 14 years.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Assembly of Botswana</span> Botswanas national unicameral legislature

The National Assembly is the sole legislative body of Botswana's unicameral Parliament, of which consists of the President and the National Assembly. The House passes laws, provides ministers to form Cabinet, and supervises the work of government. It is also responsible for adopting the country's budgets. It is advised by the Ntlo ya Dikgosi, a council of tribal chiefs which is not a house of Parliament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)</span> Representative in the House of Commons

In the United Kingdom, a member of Parliament (MP) is an individual elected to serve in the House of Commons, the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

The Ulster Conservatives and Unionists, officially registered as the Ulster Conservatives and Unionists – New Force (UCUNF), was an electoral alliance in Northern Ireland between the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) and the Conservative Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2009 Glasgow North East by-election</span> 2009 UK Parliamentary by-election

The 2009 Glasgow North East by-election was a by-election for the Parliament of the United Kingdom's House of Commons constituency of Glasgow North East. The by-election was held on 12 November 2009 following the resignation of Michael Martin as an MP and as Speaker of the House of Commons following the MPs' expenses scandal. Martin was the first Speaker since Sir John Trevor in 1695 to be forced from office. Willie Bain, the Scottish Labour Party candidate, won with 59% of the vote. Just 33% of the electorate voted, which is the lowest ever percentage turnout in a Scottish by-election to the House of Commons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alliance for Democracy (UK)</span> Organization

The Alliance for Democracy was an electoral coalition of two British political parties, the English Democrats and the Jury Team. The Christian Party, and Veritas were associates.

Pirate Party is a label adopted by certain political parties around the world. These parties typically espouse a set of values and policies related to civil rights, digital rights, internet freedom, direct democracy, and participatory democracy. Additionally, they often advocate for reforms of copyright and patent laws to make them more flexible and open, with the aim of encouraging innovation and creativity. This often involves opposition to patent-based monopolies. Furthermore, Pirate Party members tend to support the use of free and open-source software, free sharing of knowledge, information privacy, transparency, freedom of information, free speech, anti-corruption, net neutrality, importance of cybersecurity and protecting digital infrastructure from threats, decentralized technologies and platforms, self-governance in online spaces, strong encryption and anonymity to protect personal data and individual privacy both online and offline from mass surveillance, censorship and Big Tech's misuse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Representative democracy in Singapore</span> Democratic system used in Singapore national elections

Singapore has a multi-party parliamentary system of representative democracy in which the President of Singapore is the head of state and the Prime Minister of Singapore is the head of government. Executive power is vested in the President and the Cabinet. Cabinet has the general direction and control of the government and is collectively responsible to the Parliament. There are three separate branches of government: the legislature, executive and judiciary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Social Democratic Party (UK)</span> Political party in the United Kingdom (1981–88)

The Social Democratic Party (SDP) was a centrist to centre-left political party in the United Kingdom. The party supported a mixed economy, electoral reform, European integration and a decentralised state while rejecting the possibility of trade unions being overly influential within industrial relations. The SDP officially advocated social democracy, and unofficially for social liberalism as well.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Stephens</span> Scottish politician

Christopher Charles Stephens is a Scottish National Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Glasgow South West from 2015 until 2024. He was SNP Spokesperson for Justice and Immigration between September 2023 to July 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019 United Kingdom general election</span>

The 2019 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 12 December 2019, with 47,567,752 registered voters entitled to vote to elect 650 Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons. The governing Conservative Party led by the prime minister, Boris Johnson, won a landslide victory with a majority of 80 seats, a net gain of 48, on 43.6 per cent of the popular vote, the highest percentage for any party since the 1979 general election, though with a narrower popular vote margin than that achieved by the Labour Party over the Conservatives at the 1997 general election. This was the second national election to be held in 2019 in the United Kingdom, the first being the 2019 European Parliament election.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Register of political parties – Jury Team". Official website. Party finance > Registers database > Register of political parties. The Electoral Commission. n.d. Archived from the original on 27 March 2010. Retrieved 25 September 2009.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Kirkup, James (8 March 2009). "Sir Paul Judge starts 'Jury Team' campaign for more independent MPs". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 March 2009. Retrieved 10 May 2009.
  3. White, Michael (9 March 2009). "Oh no – not another new party". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 May 2009.
  4. 1 2 3 Lee Adams, William (17 March 2009). "Britain's New American Idol Political Party". Time. London. Archived from the original on 19 March 2009. Retrieved 10 May 2009.
  5. 1 2 "Jury Team wins 0.5% of EU votes". BBC News. 8 June 2009. Retrieved 10 June 2009.
  6. "MPs' expenses: Jury Team founded as anti-sleaze group". The Daily Telegraph. 21 May 2009. Retrieved 21 May 2009.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Gourlay, Chris (8 March 2009). "Tycoon finances 'X Factor' party to clean up politics". The Sunday Times. London. Archived from the original on 16 March 2009. Retrieved 10 May 2009.
  8. 1 2 3 "Rantzen backs Jury Team project". BBC News. 20 May 2009. Retrieved 25 September 2009.
  9. "About the Jury Team". Juryteam.org. Archived from the original on 29 September 2009. Retrieved 4 October 2009.
  10. "AV referendum: Where parties stand". BBC News. 13 January 2011. Retrieved 3 February 2011.
  11. 1 2 "Euro Elections 2009". Jury Team. n.d. Archived from the original on 20 March 2009. Retrieved 25 September 2009.
  12. 1 2 "Smeaton pledges to 'badger' MPs". BBC News. 25 September 2009. Retrieved 25 September 2009.