The Kingston Independent Residents Group (KIRG) in Kingston, is a minor political party in the United Kingdom. Launched in 2017 by Mary Clark and James Giles,[1] it formed from a number of residents' groups in the area of Kingston upon Thames in southwest London.[2] At the time, the group claimed to be "proudly founded by those of all political persuasions and none". Sitting councillors Mary Clark and David Fraser defected from the Conservative Party prior to the 2018 election. The party promotes a local agenda that seeks to give residents, towns and parishes a greater say in the future of their town. They currently have four seats on Kingston upon Thames London Borough Council and form the main opposition group.
In the November 2022 Green Lane and St James by-election, Yvonne Tracey of the Kingston Independent Residents Group, Giles's grandmother[11][12] and a life-long resident of New Malden, won the party's second seat on the Kingston Borough Council, gaining it a second seat of the Green Lane and St James Ward from the Liberal Democrats. Following a campaign pledge, she gave her first year's councillor allowance of over £8,800 to charity.[13][14][15]
In October 2021, Giles led a fundraising effort by the New Malden residents against the council's failure to reject the proposed nine-storey building to replace a defunct department store in the town's high street. He also announced a petition to switch to direct mayoral elections in Kingston, following their implementation in Croydon.[18]
In September 2023, KIRG councillors Tracey and Giles launched a petition and a direct appeal for Marks & Spencer to replace Wilko in New Malden High Street.[19]
↑ Woodrow, Archie (9 September 2025). "Whose Party Is It Anyway?". Prometheus Journal. Archived from the original on 29 September 2025. Retrieved 29 September 2025.
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