Reclaim Party | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader | Laurence Fox |
| Founders | |
| Founded | 2020 |
| Preceded by | Brexit Express |
| Headquarters | Carlyle House 235 Vauxhall Bridge Road London SW1V 1EJ |
| Ideology | Right-wing populism |
| Political position | Right-wing |
| Website | |
| reclaimparty | |
The Reclaim Party is a right-wing populist [1] political party in the United Kingdom. It was launched in 2020 by British actor and political activist Laurence Fox, with 100% funding from a single donor (rather than membership fees) Jeremy Hosking. [2]
The party was first registered on 13 March 2019 by Jeremy Hosking as Brexit Express. [3] [4]
In September 2020, Fox attracted funding for a new political party, provisionally called Reclaim, [5] [6] and dubbed "UKIP for culture". [7] [5] In October 2020, the party changed its leader from Jeremy Hosking to Laurence Fox. [8] It emerged in the same month that the party name had yet to be successfully registered with the Electoral Commission as there was a naming conflict with the "Reclaim Project" of Manchester, an established charity giving opportunities to working-class children. [9] In February 2021, the party changed its registered name from Brexit Express to The Reclaim Party. [10] [11]
In December 2021, newspapers reported that Hosking would continue to fund The Reclaim Party. [12]
MP Andrew Bridgen was expelled from the Conservative Party in January 2023 for tweeting "As one consultant cardiologist said to me, [the COVID-19 vaccines are] the biggest crime against humanity since the Holocaust", [13] repeating COVID conspiracy claims and for breaching lobbying rules. [14] In May 2023, he joined Reclaim, becoming the party's first MP. [15] He resigned from the party in December 2023. [16]
On 12 June 2023, Reform UK and the Reclaim Party announced a mutual co-operation agreement for the upcoming by-elections, whereby Reform UK would stand in Mid Bedfordshire and Reclaim would stand in Uxbridge and South Ruislip. [17] Both parties lost all by-elections and lost their deposits, with Dave Kent (Reform) getting the highest support at 3.7% in Selby and Ainsty.
In March 2021, Fox announced he would stand in the London mayoral elections, in order to "fight against extreme political correctness" and to "end the Met's obsession with diversity and inclusivity". [18] [19] His candidacy was endorsed by Reform UK, who stood aside for him in the election, and by Nigel Farage. [20] The major source of Fox's campaign funds was Brexit backer Jeremy Hosking, [21] who, in the first quarter of 2021, gave The Reclaim Party more than £1,000,000 in cash and services. [22]
In the mayoral election, Fox finished in sixth place with 47,634 votes (1.9 per cent), losing his £10,000 election deposit. [23] [24]
The party stood one candidate, Leo Kearse, in Glasgow Pollok for the 2021 Scottish Parliament election; he received 114 votes (0.3 per cent). [25]
Martin Daubney, deputy leader of the party from 2021 until August 2022, [26] was the party's candidate in the 2021 North Shropshire by-election. [27] Daubney is a former Brexit Party Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 2019 to 2020, and a former journalist and editor. He finished seventh with 375 votes (0.98 per cent), losing his deposit. [28]
During the by-election campaign, a Market Drayton town councillor defected to Reclaim, becoming the party's first representative in UK local government, [29] [30] [31] but resigned as a councillor less than a year later. [32]
In June 2023, Reclaim Party leader Laurence Fox announced his intention to contest the 2023 Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election. [33] Fox received 2.3% of the vote, finishing fourth and losing his deposit. The winner was Conservative candidate Steve Tuckwell. [34]
Sir Roger James Gale is a British politician who has served as the member of Parliament (MP) for North Thanet since 1983. He had a career in journalism and broadcasting from 1964, around the same time as he joined the Conservative Party, until 1983. He was knighted in 2012. He was a prominent and vocal critic of Boris Johnson during his leadership of the Conservative Party.
North West Leicestershire is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Andrew Bridgen. Bridgen originally served as a Conservative and now serves as an Independent following his suspension in January 2023 and subsequent expulsion. He joined the Reclaim Party in May 2023, then left Reclaim and became an Independent again the following December.
Laurence Paul Fox is an English actor, broadcaster, musician, and political activist. A member of the British entertainment industry's Fox family, he graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and debuted in the film The Hole (2001). His best known role is James Hathaway in the TV drama series Lewis (2006–2015). He has also released a studio album titled Holding Patterns (2016).
Martin Edward Daubney is a British commentator, journalist and former politician who was the deputy leader of the Reclaim Party from 2021 until August 2022. Daubney was a Brexit Party Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the East Midlands from 2019 to 2020. He was the longest-serving editor of the men's lifestyle magazine Loaded.
Andrew James Bridgen is a British politician and businessman who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for North West Leicestershire since 2010. He was a member of the Conservative Party until his expulsion in April 2023, having had the whip suspended in January after criticising the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines and claiming that an Israeli cardiologist told him it constitutes "the biggest crime against humanity since the Holocaust". He joined the Reclaim Party in May 2023 but resigned from the party in December 2023.
Jeremy John Hosking is a British businessman and political donor. Ranked number 351 in the Sunday Times Rich List 2019, with a net worth of £375 million, he is a shareholder in Crystal Palace F.C. and a noted railway enthusiast. He has donated heavily to the Reclaim Party.
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Reform UK, formerly the Brexit Party, is a right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. It was founded with support from Nigel Farage in November 2018 as the Brexit Party, advocating hard Euroscepticism and a no-deal Brexit. It was a significant political force at the 2019 European Parliament election, but failed to win any seats at the 2019 general election. After the UK's withdrawal from the European Union (EU) on 31 January 2020, it was renamed to Reform UK, and it became primarily an anti-lockdown party during the COVID-19 pandemic. Subsequently, in December 2022, it began campaigning on broader right-wing populist themes during the British cost-of-living crisis.
Matthew Richard Patten is a former British politician, who represented the Brexit Party. He was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the East Midlands between 2019 and the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the EU on 31 January 2020. He had previously been a Conservative councillor for Bradfield, Wix and Wrabness in Tendring District, Essex.
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Stuart Paul Anderson is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the member of parliament (MP) for Wolverhampton South West since the 2019 general election. He has been a government whip since July 2022.
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This article lists the election results of the Brexit Party, known since 2021 as Reform UK, in UK parliamentary elections and in elections to the European Parliament.
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