This article may rely excessively on sources too closely associated with the subject , potentially preventing the article from being verifiable and neutral.(April 2023) |
Social Democratic Party | |
---|---|
Abbreviation | SDP |
Leader | William Clouston |
Chairperson | Valerie Gray [1] |
Founder | Jack Holmes |
Founded | 1990 |
Split from | Social Democratic Party (1988) |
Headquarters | 272 Bath Street Glasgow G2 4JR |
Youth wing | Young Social Democrats (YSD) |
Membership (January 2021) | 2,000 [2] |
Ideology | |
Political position | Fiscal: Centre-left Social: Centre-right |
Colours | Red Blue |
Slogan | "Family, Community, Nation" |
Local government [3] | 3 / 19,187 |
Website | |
sdp | |
The Social Democratic Party (SDP) is a political party in the United Kingdom established in 1990. Ideologically, the SDP combines social conservatism with centre-left economic policy. [4] It supports a social market economy alongside Euroscepticism. [5] [ third-party source needed ] Founded by Jack Holmes, it has been led by William Clouston since 2018.
The current party traces its origin to the Social Democratic Party, which was formed in 1981 by a group of dissident Labour Party Members of Parliament (MPs) and former Cabinet members Roy Jenkins, David Owen, Bill Rodgers and Shirley Williams, who became known as the Gang of Four. The original SDP merged with the Liberal Party in 1988 to form the Liberal Democrats, but Owen, two other MPs and a minority of party activists formed a breakaway group also called the Social Democratic Party (1988–1990) immediately afterwards. That continuing party dissolved itself in 1990 after finishing behind the Official Monster Raving Loony Party in a by-election, but activists met and voted to continue the party in defiance of its National Executive, leading to the creation of the current Social Democratic Party under the leadership of the candidate who lost the by-election.
In November 2018, the SDP gained its first and only European parliamentarian when Patrick O'Flynn, Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for East of England, defected from the UK Independence Party. He served in the European Parliament until 1 July 2019. [6] Prominent members include journalists Rod Liddle and Giles Fraser. [7] [8]
At the 2022 local elections, the SDP gained a seat on Leeds City Council from Labour, the first non-parish council seat won since 2003.
In October 2022, the SDP announced a general election pact with the right-wing populist and Eurosceptic party Reform UK. [9] [10]
The party contested the 2024 London mayoral election with candidate Amy Gallagher. [4]
The second incarnation of the Social Democratic Party, often referred to as "the continuing SDP", decided to dissolve itself after a disastrous result in the May 1990 Bootle by-election. However, a number of SDP activists met and voted to continue the party in defiance of the National Executive. The continuing group was led by Jack Holmes, who by polling fewer votes than the Official Monster Raving Loony Party at the Bootle by-election had caused the party's end. The much-reduced SDP decided to fight the 1991 Neath by-election. With Holmes serving as the party's election agent, the SDP candidate received 5.3% of the vote—only 174 votes behind the fourth-placed Liberal Democrats, although the SDP candidate joined the Lib Dems shortly after. [11] The party subsequently won just three seats on the Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council during the next eight years.
In 1992, the SDP had concentrated on campaigning at local level, holding a few council seats in Yorkshire and South Wales. Bridlington Central and Old Town ward on East Riding of Yorkshire Council remained a hotspot of SDP activity, with Ray Allerston holding a council seat there from 1987. From 2003 to 2007, he was joined by his wife Christine Allerston. [12] Meanwhile, Tony Pelton and Brian Smith were elected in 1999 in Tunstall Ward in Richmondshire. A third hotspot consisted of SDP councillors Jeff Dinham, John Sullivan and Anthony Taylor in Aberavon Ward, Neath Port Talbot.
In the 2003 elections, Tony Pelton was re-elected, but Brian Smith was not. In 2005, Christine Allerston became Mayor of Bridlington for a year; however, she stood down before the 2007 local elections in which her husband Ray Allerston was re-elected and made Mayor and David Metcalf picked up the vacant seat. All three Aberavon councillors remained in place, with Anthony Taylor becoming local mayor. However, Tony Pelton in Tunstall stood down before the 2007 locals, ending SDP representation there. Jackie Foster was elected to Bridlington town council in 2008.
In 2012, Councillors Dinham and Sullivan lost their seats in Aberavon, leaving only Anthony Taylor in position. David Metcalf stepped down in early 2014, owing to ill-health. He died soon afterward. This left just Allerston, Foster and Taylor in post. Ray Allerston died on 16 September 2014. [13] [14] A by-election was held in his ward on 27 November which was won by the UK Independence Party (UKIP). [15]
The SDP fielded two candidates in the 2015 general election. Jackie Foster remained an SDP councillor on Bridlington Town Council after the 2015 local elections, [16] but as of 2016 was listed as a Labour councillor. [16] Until May 2017, Anthony Taylor sat on Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council as an independent democrat, [17] but remained listed on the party website as an SDP councillor. [18]
Solihull's Green Party councillor Mike Sheriden defected to the SDP in August 2015. [19] However, when he stood for re-election as an SDP candidate in May 2016, he lost, receiving only 17 votes.
Six SDP candidates stood in the 2017 general election: one in Glasgow East and five in Sheffield constituencies. [20] The SDP candidates received a total of 469 votes and came last in every constituency. [21] According to accounts filed with the Electoral Commission, in 2017 the party—before its present financial growth—had a total income of £2,095. [22]
In January 2018, Kevin Hickson, former leader of Crewe Town Council, joined the SDP. [23] In an article published in the Crewe Chronicle ,[ citation needed ] Hickson, who represented Crewe East on the town council, stated that he left Labour because of growing unease with that party's "almost daily changes" on Brexit policy. He went on to say that the SDP "combines centre left policies on the economy and the welfare state with a firm commitment to implement the will of the people on Brexit, reclaiming sovereignty over money, laws, borders and trade". Hickson is a senior lecturer in Politics at the University of Liverpool [24] and a former Labour parliamentary candidate. [25] [ circular reference ] He became the party chairman, until being replaced by Paula Watson in January 2020.
William Clouston became leader of the SDP in 2018, and was re-elected by 89% of ballots returned by members in March 2020. [26] He was a member of the original party in the 1980s and remained with the "continuing" SDP after the merger with the Liberal Party. He was a Conservative councillor on Tynedale District Council from 1999 to 2003 [27] and is chairman of Corbridge Parish Council. [28]
In October 2018, the party published a New Declaration of aims and values, whose name recalls the original Limehouse Declaration of 1981 and which the party describes as putting the principles of social democracy in a modern setting. The declaration calls for a "communitarian, social democratic nation-state".
Patrick O'Flynn, Member of the European Parliament for East of England, defected from the UK Independence Party (UKIP) to join the SDP in November 2018. [6] He cited UKIP leader Gerard Batten's appointment of Tommy Robinson as an adviser as a key reason for his departure from the party. [21] In April 2019, O'Flynn stated that the SDP would not be standing in the 2019 European Parliament election. [29]
In March 2019, prominent political journalists Rod Liddle and Giles Fraser announced that they had joined the party. [7] [8]
The SDP won a non-parish council seat at election for the first time since 2003 when Wayne Dixon was elected in the 2022 Leeds City Council election. [30] [31] Dixon was elected to Leeds City Council for Middleton Park and has a majority of 14%. [32] The party gained a second non-parish council seat later that year in October 2022, when Richard Bright, a Conservative Party councillor for Derbyshire Dales District Council, defected to the party. [33]
On 22 October 2022, the Social Democratic Party announced a general election pact with the right-wing Reform UK. The deal includes both parties standing aside for each other in certain constituencies and both parties standing under a joint branding of "Reform UK & The Social Democratic Party (SDP)" in over a dozen seats in South Yorkshire for the next United Kingdom general election. [10]
At the 2023 local elections, SDP councillor Richard Bright lost his seat to the Conservative Party candidate at the Derbyshire Dales Elections, placing third with 19% of the vote in Hulland. [34] The SDP won a second council seat on Leeds City Council at the Leeds Elections, with Emma Pogson-Golden gaining Middleton Park with 1,985 votes. [35]
The party contested the 2024 London mayoral election with candidate Amy Gallagher, an NHS nurse who took legal action against the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust. [36] Policies the party campaigned on included opposition to "woke ideology" by pledging to "defund woke projects" in order to increase spending on policing and transport, abolishing ULEZ, and tackling violent crime. [37] Gallagher won 34,449 votes, 1.4% share of the total. [38]
The SDP won a third seat on Leeds City Council, with Rob Chesterfield gaining 1,882 votes in Middleton Park ward and defeating sitting Labour Councillor Sharon Burke. [39]
SDP candidate David Bettney gained 20,835 votes in the South Yorkshire mayoral election, 7.64% share of the total. [40] A former soldier who served in Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan, Bettney campaigned on tackling homelessness, boosting manufacturing in the region, reopening Doncaster airport and working with disadvantaged teenagers to reduce crime. [41]
The SDP is a syncretic political party which combines centre-left economics with centre-right stances on social and cultural values. [4] Its leader William Clouston has described it as a party of the 'conservative left'. [42] [4] The party formally declared its principles in its "New Declaration" of October 2018. [43] [ third-party source needed ]
The SDP's orientation is Eurosceptic, supporting Brexit. [44] While the founders of the original SDP in 1981 were pro-EEC, the continuing SDP voted against the concept of a United States of Europe at its conference at Scarborough in 1989 and the 1990 party's Eurosceptic position developed from there. In March 2019, the party advocated the UK leaving the European Union on WTO terms in the absence of a better deal on offer. [45] As of November 2019, the party supported the latest iteration of the withdrawal agreement. [46]
The SDP's stance on the economy is centre-left, advocating a social market economy. It balances a commitment to enterprise and the market with support for greater progressivity in the tax code, substantial increases in the council housing stock, protection of legal aid, changes to the roll out of Universal Credit and renationalising utilities and the railways. [5] [ third-party source needed ]
On housing, the SDP wants to build 100,000 social homes per year under a "British Housing Corporation", with subsidiary "County Housing Corporations". [47] [ third-party source needed ] These "CHCs" would have substantial powers, being able to issue Compulsory Purchase Orders and having the ability to grant themselves planning permission. They would also take on all existing social housing from their respective local authorities. [47] [ third-party source needed ]
The party would also introduce "a moratorium on buy-to-let mortgages" in order to re-balance the housing market in favour of young first-time buyers. [47] [ third-party source needed ] To combat negligence in the rented sector, the SDP would introduce a "Conditions Certificate", likened to a "housing MOT", without which rent collection on the uncertified property would be illegal.
The SDP supports marginal reductions in aid spending, in its view made possible by more effective use of the aid budget. It proposes that the Department for International Development be absorbed into a new Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade which would ensure a greater alignment of aid and UK foreign policy interests. The SDP has criticised past UK efforts to "impose liberal democracy on complex societies in the Middle East". [5] [ third-party source needed ]
The SDP supports NATO and maintaining a minimum of 2% of GDP on defence. It would maintain and update Britain's nuclear deterrent and increase the size of the UK armed forces. It would complete the aircraft carrier programme and related air and naval investment to make and keep HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales fully operational. It supports increased spending on Intelligence to combat terrorism and cyber-warfare as a proportion of the overall defence budget. For veterans, it would increase their housing priority and create tax incentives for business to employ veterans. [5] [ third-party source needed ]
The SDP believes the tax and benefits system should offer "greater protection and support for family life". Couples raising children together (comprising a basic rate tax payer and a non tax payer) would benefit from full sharing of tax allowances under the party's proposals. Moreover, government policy in all domains would be subject to a basic test as to "whether it is supportive of the family as the fundamental foundation of society". [5] [ third-party source needed ]
The party has a strong stance on reducing immigration, stating that "A return to moderate, controlled migration for a sustained period [...] would be beneficial. It would result in a less divided, more socially harmonious and more prosperous Britain." [48] [ third-party source needed ]
The party advocates a points-based immigration system which is "skills-based, needs-based, legal and subject to democratic control" and wants to contain net immigration to fewer than 50,000 per year. [48] [ third-party source needed ] They outline a zero-tolerance policy for illegal immigration, with asylum seekers who use illegal routes being repatriated immediately, or detained offshore for later repatriation. [48] On "genuine refugees", their policy is to allow 20,000 visas per year for "carefully vetted families with children in UN refugee camps or near major conflict zones". [48] [ third-party source needed ]
The SDP's policy on transgender rights allows for a person to change their legal sex, subject to "medical gatekeeping". They oppose changes of legal gender by self-identification alone. [44] [49] The party supports biological sex-based segregation in sport, women's refuges and prisons. [49] [ third-party source needed ]
The SDP supports healthcare spending for treatment of gender dysphoria, in both psychological and physiological forms, but stipulates that no physical treatments, including hormones, should be allowed for under-18s. [49] [ third-party source needed ]
The party supports gender-critical viewpoints, having offered their support for Kathleen Stock, and stating "Woman = adult human female". [50]
Election | Seats | ± | Candidates | Total votes | % | Votes per candidate | Government |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1992 | 0 / 651 | 8 | 6,649 | 0.1% | 831 | No seats | |
1997 | 0 / 659 | 2 | 1,246 | 0.0% | 623 | No seats | |
2010 [51] | 0 / 650 | 2 | 1,551 | 0.0% | 776 | No seats | |
2015 [52] | 0 / 650 | 2 | 125 | 0.0% | 63 | No seats | |
2017 [53] | 0 / 650 | 6 | 469 | 0.0% | 78 | No seats | |
2019 | 0 / 650 | 20 [54] | 3,295 [55] | 0.0% | 165 | No seats |
Year | Regional Vote | Constituency Vote | Overall Seats | Change | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2021 | 405 votes | 0.0% | 0 / 56 | – | – | 0 / 73 | 0 / 129 | New Party |
Year | Regional Vote | Constituency Vote | Overall Seats | Change | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2021 | 7,782 votes | 0.3% | 0 / 11 | – | – | 0 / 14 | 0 / 25 | New Party |
2024 | 23,021 votes | 0.9% | 0 / 11 | – | – | 0 / 14 | 0 / 25 |
The Green Party of England and Wales is a green, left-wing political party in England and Wales. Since October 2021, Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay have served as the party's co-leaders. The party currently has one representative in the House of Commons and two in the House of Lords, in addition to over 800 councillors at the local government level and three members of the London Assembly.
The Social Democratic Party is a political party in Japan that was established in 1996. Since its reformation and name change in 1996, it has advocated pacifism and defined itself as a social-democratic party. It was previously known as the Japan Socialist 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 five local council seats. The party promotes a hybrid of both classical and social liberal tendencies.
Beverley and Holderness is a county constituency in the East Riding of Yorkshire for the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) at least once every five years by the first-past-the-post electoral system. The constituency has been represented by Graham Stuart of the Conservative Party since the 2005 general election.
Stephen Roy Williams is a British Liberal Democrat politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Bristol West from the 2005 general election until his defeat by Labour Party candidate Thangam Debbonaire in 2015. As an MP, he served in the Cameron–Clegg coalition government as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department of Communities and Local Government from 2013 to 2015.
The East Riding of Yorkshire is a unitary authority in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was created on 1 April 1996 replacing East Yorkshire, East Yorkshire Borough of Beverley, Holderness, part of Boothferry and Humberside County Council.
The Liberal Democrats are a liberal political party in the United Kingdom, founded in 1988. They have been the third-largest UK political party by the number of votes cast since the 1992 general election, with the exception of the 2015 general election. They have 15 members of Parliament in the House of Commons, 84 members of the House of Lords, four Members of the Scottish Parliament and one member in the Welsh Senedd. The party has nearly 3,000 local council seats. The party holds a twice-per-year Liberal Democrat Conference, at which party policy is formulated. In contrast to its main opponents' conference rules, the Lib Dems grant all members attending its Conference the right to speak in debates and vote on party policy, under a one member, one vote system. The party also allows its members to vote online for its policies and in the election of a new leader. The party served as the junior party in a coalition government with the Conservative Party between 2010 and 2015; with Scottish Labour in the Scottish Executive from 1999 to 2007; and with Welsh Labour in the Welsh Government from 2000 to 2003 and from 2016 to 2021.
The Leeds City Council elections were held on Thursday, 5 May 1988, with one third of the council and a vacancy in Headingley to be elected.
Patrick James O'Flynn is an English journalist and Social Democratic Party (SDP) politician who served as Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the East of England from 2014 to 2019. He was elected for the UK Independence Party (UKIP) but defected to the Social Democratic Party in November 2018. Since 2019 he has written frequently for The Spectator.
The Yorkshire Party is a regionalist political party in Yorkshire, a historic county of England. The party, which was founded in 2014, campaigns for the establishment of a devolved Yorkshire Parliament within the United Kingdom, with powers over education, environment, transportation and housing.
Aspire is a political party in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, England, formed by Lutfur Rahman and councillors elected as members of his Tower Hamlets First party. After Tower Hamlets First was removed from the register of political parties following voting fraud and malpractice, its councillors formed the Tower Hamlets Independent Group (THIG). After some defections, the remaining Tower Hamlets Independent Group councillors registered formally as a political party in 2018. Most of its elected members were former Labour Party members, with a few exceptions.
The 2018 Leeds City Council election took place on Thursday 3 May 2018 to elect members of Leeds City Council in England. It was held on the same day as other UK local elections across England.
Reform UK is a right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. It was founded by Catherine Blaiklock 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. Since 2022, the party has campaigned on a broader platform, chiefly surrounding illegal migration and the government’s Net Zero energy policy.
The Morley Borough Independents (MBI) are a local political party in Leeds, West Yorkshire, founded in 2004.
The 2021 Leeds City Council election took place on Thursday 6 May 2021 to elect members of Leeds City Council in England. It was held on the same day as other local elections across England and the rest of the UK, including the inaugural West Yorkshire mayoral election.
The 2022 North Yorkshire Council election took place on 5 May 2022, alongside the other local elections. These were the last elections to North Yorkshire County Council, and the elected councillors would also serve as the first councillors on the North Yorkshire Council, which replaced the existing county council in April 2023.
The 2022 South Yorkshire mayoral election took place on 5 May 2022 to elect the Mayor of South Yorkshire, the leader of the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority. It took place alongside other local elections across the United Kingdom. The Labour Party candidate, Oliver Coppard, won the election in the second round with 71.4% of the vote.
The 2022 Richmond upon Thames London Borough Council election took place on 5 May 2022. All 54 members of Richmond upon Thames London Borough Council were elected. The elections took place alongside local elections in the other London boroughs and elections to local authorities across the United Kingdom.
The 2022 Tower Hamlets London Borough Council election took place on 5 May 2022. All 45 members of Tower Hamlets London Borough Council were elected. The elections took place alongside local elections in the other London boroughs and elections to local authorities across the United Kingdom.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)