:Northern Independence Party

The NIP was formed on 22 October 2020 by Philip Proudfoot,{{cite web|last=Maxwell|first=Kieran|date=21 January 2021|title=NIP it in the bud: the case against Northern independence|url=https://www.thesocialreview.co.uk/2021/01/21/nip-it-in-the-bud-the-case-against-northern-independence/|access-date=26 March 2021|website=The Social Review}} an international development studies lecturer at the University of Sussex and former Labour Party activist from County Durham,{{cite news|url=https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/devolution/2021/03/can-northern-independence-party-succeed|title=Can the Northern Independence Party succeed?|first=Freddie|last=Hayward|work=New Statesman|date=26 March 2021|access-date=26 March 2021}}{{cite news|last=Drury|first=Colin|date=3 November 2020|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/independent-north-england-devolution-yorkshire-manchester-north-east-b1481784.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220621/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/independent-north-england-devolution-yorkshire-manchester-north-east-b1481784.html |archive-date=21 June 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=An independent north? What an England severed in two might look like|work=The Independent|access-date=23 March 2021}} along with his colleague Evie McGovern and other former Labour activists who were alienated by what they saw as Keir Starmer's move towards the centre as leader of the party.{{cite news |last=Batchelor-Hunt |first=Nadine |date=27 March 2021 |title=Meet the Northern Independence Party: We're planning on taking all of Labour's seats in the North |url=https://www.joe.co.uk/news/the-northern-independence-party-were-planning-on-taking-all-of-labours-seats-in-the-north-268170 |work=Joe |access-date=30 March 2021}} Proudfoot was inspired to found the party after watching Andy Burnham's critical response to the Westminster government's support package for Greater Manchester during the COVID-19 pandemic. He told Big Issue North that the centralisation of power in London had played a part as well, highlighting the North-South divide in healthcare, transport, education, and general standard of living as motivating factors.{{cite web|date=23 November 2021|title=Devolution's sunny uplands|url=https://www.bigissuenorth.com/magazine/2021/11/devolutions-sunny-uplands/|last=Moss|first=Chris|access-date=6 December 2021|website=Big Issue North}}

The NIP applied to the Electoral Commission for registration on 12 February 2021, but the application was rejected on the grounds of its initial application being incomplete.{{Cite web|title=Party registration decisions |url=https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/who-we-are-and-what-we-do/party-registration-applications/party-registration-decisions |access-date=30 March 2021 |website=The Electoral Commission}} On 24 March, the party reapplied for registration,{{cite web |title=View current applications {{!}} Northern Independence Party |url=https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/who-we-are-and-what-we-do/party-registration-applications/view-current-applications#paragraph-13576-title |date=24 March 2021 |publisher=The Electoral Commission |access-date=4 April 2021}} and announced on 30 June that it was registered with the Electoral Commission.

Following the NIP announcement that it had selected former Labour MP Thelma Walker as its candidate for the Hartlepool by-election in May 2021, it was reported by Huffington Post UK that the party's membership had increased from 300 members to 1,300.{{cite web|last=Waugh|first=Paul|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/northern-independence-party-abolish-the-queen-legalise-cannabis-hartlepool-by-election_uk_60631e4cc5b67593e05c439e|title=Northern Independence Party Manifesto Plan Includes Referendum On Ditching The Queen|date=30 March 2021|website=HuffPost}}

Initially, the party was led by Proudfoot. He stood down in July 2022 due to professional commitments{{Cite web |title=Northern Independence Party |url=https://twitter.com/FreeNorthNow/status/1550526091491786752/photo/1 |access-date=2023-04-19 |website=Twitter }} and was replaced by David Heaven. Proudfoot went on to join the Green Party on 19 November 2023.{{Cite web |url=https://twitter.com/PhilipProudfoot/status/1726366928887746722?t=cMTgNqSkIc2zrD5rJmVQng&s=192 |title=I've Done It, I've joined the Green Party |author=Philip Proudfoot |access-date=19 November 2023 |website=Twitter}}

Inspired by the Scottish National Party's campaign for an independent Scotland,{{cite web|last=Marlborough|first=Conor|date=28 February 2021|title='Naturally, you look to Scotland': How the SNP's successes are bolstering new independence movements around the UK|url=https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/naturally-you-look-to-scotland-how-the-snps-successes-are-bolstering-new-independence-movements-around-the-uk-3148833|access-date=30 March 2021|website=The Scotsman}}{{cite news|date=21 April 2021|last=O'Toole|first=Emer|title=Northern Independence Party seeks to 'have a voice like the SNP'|url=https://www.thenational.scot/news/19246895.scottish-yes-majority-massive-help-north-england-indy-party/|access-date=12 October 2021|website=The National|url-access=subscription}} the NIP seeks to make the North of England an independent state under the name Northumbria, which previously existed as an Anglo-Saxon medieval kingdom from the 7th century until the 10th century.{{cite news|url=https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/18873256.county-durham-man-leads-new-party-making-case-northern-independence/ |title=County Durham man leads new party making the case for Northern Independence|last=Lockwood|first=Tasmin|date=16 November 2020|work=The Northern Echo|access-date=21 November 2020}} Proudfoot has said that the geography of Northumbria would consist of Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cumbria, Merseyside, Tyne and Wear, Greater Manchester, County Durham, Northumberland and Cheshire, and, since 2022, has generally included the borough of High Peak in northern Derbyshire within it.{{cite news|url=https://nation.cymru/opinion/why-the-north-of-england-needs-to-declare-independence-from-westminster/|title=Why the North of England needs to declare independence from Westminster|last=Proudfoot|first=Philip|date=12 November 2020|work=Nation.Cymru|access-date=9 February 2022}} The party has proposed York as a possible capital city,{{cite web|last=Shone|first=Ethan|date=29 October 2020|title=Northern Independence Party: the new campaign for an independent North of England explained|url=https://www.sunderlandecho.com/news/politics/northern-independence-party-new-campaign-independent-north-england-explained-3019241|access-date=17 March 2021|work=Sunderland Echo}}{{cite web|url=https://www.thenational.wales/news/20071397.welsh-devolution-shows-england-needs-real-northern-powerhouse/|title='Welsh devolution shows England needs a real northern powerhouse'|last=Burgess|first=Tom|date=15 April 2022|work=The National Wales|accessdate=20 April 2022}} though has also proposed having multiple capitals.

The NIP describes itself as a democratic socialist party, advocating for a "green industrial rebirth" and "socialism with a northern accent",{{cite news|last=Langford|first=Eleanor|date=30 April 2021|title='We Are the Left Vote': Northern Independence Party Deny Splitting The Labour Vote In May Elections|url=https://www.politicshome.com/news/article/we-are-the-left-vote-northern-independence-party-deny-splitting-the-labour-vote-in-may-elections|access-date=20 July 2021|website=Politics Home}} proposing a market socialist economy, with a more decentralised system and an emphasis on co-operatives, locally-owned businesses and social enterprises. The party also endorses the principles of community wealth building, known as the Preston Model.{{Cite web|title=Our Local Policies|url=https://www.freethenorth.co.uk/local-policies|access-date=2021-06-30|website=Northern Independence Party}} It has also said that in an independent North, it would nationalise some industries where feasible, including utilities, public transport and the National Health Service. It supports the nationalisation of broadband to make it free at the point of delivery.{{Cite web|title=Our National Policies|url=https://www.freethenorth.co.uk/national-policies|access-date=2021-06-30|website=Northern Independence Party}}

Identifying itself as a post-Brexit party, the NIP's draft manifesto stated that an independent North could make a decision to join the European Union via a referendum "in the distant future". It would also leave the question of whether an independent North would retain the monarchy to the electorate, in a referendum that would be held on the issue if it arose. The NIP also opposes First Past the Post as an electoral system, believing that its replacement should be determined by a constitutional assembly.

It was reported that much of the party's initial support has been drawn from disillusionment with Starmer's leadership of the Labour Party, particularly on the party's left flank.{{Cite web |last=Holland |first=Daniel |date=2022-04-27 |title=Northern Independence Party makes first foray into Newcastle elections |url=https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/northern-independence-party-bids-tap-23805461 |access-date=2022-05-26 |website=Chronicle Live}}

Stewart Arnold of The Yorkshire Post argued that the party's presence would be "good for democracy as it will challenge the two main parties to present suitable plans that allow Yorkshire and the rest of the North to take control of its own destiny and unleash its potential",{{cite web |last=Arnold |first=Stewart |url=https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/opinion/columnists/independence-for-north-can-be-a-by-election-winner-stewart-arnold-3182369 |title=Independence for North can be a by-election winner |website=Yorkshire Post |date=30 March 2021 |access-date=30 March 2021}} while in The Guardian, Alex Niven was sceptical of the party's chances, noting that the "archaic first-past-the-post system makes it extremely difficult for smaller parties to establish a foothold in Westminster". He compared the NIP's prospects to UKIP but with "none of UKIP's advantages and most of its limitations", although he suggested that the party "might just be the start of a more general realignment in British politics", noting "If even a minority of disaffected Corbynite northerners get behind NIP, [...] Labour's downslide will accelerate."{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/apr/03/northern-independence-party-electoral-british-politics|title=Is the Northern Independence party more serious than it looks? |last=Niven|first=Alex |website=The Guardian |date=3 April 2021 |access-date=4 April 2021}}

In an opinion piece for The Times, former Labour staff member James Matthewson called the NIP "a glorified joke" and accused it of being a "fetishisation of Northern working-class culture by privileged, middle class hard-left ideologues".{{cite web |last=Matthewson |first=James |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/northern-independence-party-is-a-glorified-joke-i-hope-it-goes-south-t3n3tvzjp |title=Northern Independence Party is a glorified joke, I hope it goes south |website=The Times |date=30 March 2021 |access-date=30 March 2021 |url-access=subscription}} Labour MP for Liverpool Riverside, Kim Johnson, dismissed the party's slogan, 'It's About Bloody Time', and use of a logo featuring a whippet as "patronising in the extreme".{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/apr/02/past-and-present-labour-mps-square-off-in-hartlepool|title=Past and present Labour MPs square off in Hartlepool |last=Wolfe-Robinson |first=Maya |website=The Guardian |date=2 April 2021 |access-date=2 April 2021}}

In the New Statesman, Freddie Hayward, while dismissing favourable comparisons to the Scottish independence movement, concluded that the party "may be quixotic, or it may be the germination of a political force that gives the north 'national consequence{{'"}} and that it may be "needed to hold the major parties accountable for failing to address the north–south divide". In the same outlet, contributor Jonn Elledge criticised the party's decision not to contest northern mayoralties, writing that while anything to "make everyone pay more attention to the north has to be a good thing", he viewed the party's targeting of Labour voters as potentially "handing another red-wall seat to the governing party" which would be unlikely to "wake up ministers to the need to give more money and attention to anywhere north of Stevenage".{{cite web |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2021/04/seven-thoughts-about-northern-independence-party|title=Seven thoughts about the Northern Independence Party |last=Elledge|first=Jonn|website=New Statesman |date=2 April 2021 |access-date=7 April 2021}}

Writing for Novara Media, psephology blogger Ell Folan, though dismissive of Thelma Walker's chances to win Hartlepool, believed the NIP "could easily cost Labour key seats in the future (especially with the Tories so far ahead in the polls)", concluding that "with leftism still popular in the north, regionalism on the rise and Labour's red wall no longer solid, Starmer needs to take the NIP seriously – or it won't seem like a joke much longer".{{cite web |title=The Northern Independence Party Is a Triple Threat to Labour|url=https://novaramedia.com/2021/04/15/the-northern-independence-party-is-a-triple-threat-to-labour/|date=15 April 2021|last=Folan|first=Ell|access-date=28 April 2021|website=Novara Media}}

On 28 March 2021, the NIP selected Thelma Walker, formerly the Labour MP for Colne Valley from 2017 to 2019, as its candidate at the Hartlepool by-election.{{cite news |last=Shone |first=Ethan |url=https://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/news/politics/exclusive-northern-independence-party-to-stand-first-parliamentary-candidate-in-hartlepool-by-election-3168052 |title=Northern Independence Party to stand first parliamentary candidate in Hartlepool by-election |work=The Northern Echo |date=16 March 2021 |access-date=16 March 2021}}
- {{cite news |title=Ex-MP to stand for Northern Independence party in by-election|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-56564940|date=29 March 2021|work=BBC News|access-date=29 March 2021}} However, as the party was not registered with the Electoral Commission before the candidate nomination deadline, she appeared on the ballot as an Independent.{{cite news|date=11 April 2021|last=Parsons|first=Rob|title=Thelma Walker of the Northern Independence Party wants to send message that North 'has had enough'|url=https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/politics/thelma-walker-of-the-northern-independence-party-wants-to-send-message-that-north-has-had-enough-as-she-stands-in-hartlepool-by-election-3195025|access-date=28 April 2021|work=The Yorkshire Post}} She received 250 votes, coming eighth with 0.84% of the vote and losing her deposit.{{cite news|date=7 May 2021|last=Sparrow|first=Andrew|title=Hartlepool byelection results in full - Tories win with 16-point swing|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2021/may/07/elections-2021-latest-results-scotland-england-wales-hartlepool-labour-conservatives-snp-live|access-date=7 May 2021|work=The Guardian}}

The NIP stood in the 2022 Wakefield by-election with Christopher Jones receiving 84 votes, coming 14th out of 15 with 0.3% of the vote and losing his deposit.{{Cite web |url=https://www.wakefield.gov.uk/elections/elections-2022/by-election-results-2022 |title=By election results 2022 |date=24 June 2022|publisher=Wakefield Council|accessdate=24 June 2022}}

The party endorsed four independent candidates in the 2021 local elections in the Derby and Litherland wards of Sefton and the Pendleton & Charlestown ward of Salford.{{cite news |last=Timan |first=Joseph |title=What all the parties and independent candidates standing in Salford have to say ahead of the local elections 2021 |url=https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/what-parties-independent-candidates-standing-20532720 |access-date=8 May 2021 |work=Manchester Evening News |date=5 May 2021}}
- {{cite news |last=McKeon |first=Christopher |title=Local elections 2021: Gender 'just a detail' for Sefton's first non-binary council candidate |url=https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/gender-just-detail-seftons-first-20467084 |access-date=8 May 2021 |work=Liverpool Echo |date=26 April 2021}} None of these candidates were elected.{{cite web |title=Salford's local election results announced |url=https://www.salford.gov.uk/your-council/news/salford-s-local-election-results-announced/ |publisher=Salford City Council |access-date=11 May 2021}}
- {{cite web |title=Election results for Litherland, 6 May 2021 |date = May 2021|url=https://modgov.sefton.gov.uk/mgElectionAreaResults.aspx?ID=274&RPID=28946957 |publisher=Sefton Council |access-date=11 May 2021}}
- {{cite web |title=Election results for Derby, 6 May 2021 | date=6 May 2021 |url=https://modgov.sefton.gov.uk/mgElectionAreaResults.aspx?ID=268&RPID=28947298 |publisher=Sefton Council |access-date=11 May 2021}}

The NIP ran eight candidates in the 2022 local elections in the Kingstone ward of Barnsley, the Beeston and Holbeck ward of Leeds, West Fenham and Wingrove wards of Newcastle upon Tyne, the Litherland ward of Sefton, the City and Crookes and Crosspool wards of Sheffield, and West Kirby and Thurstaston ward of Wirral.{{cite tweet|user=FreeNorthNow|author=Northern Independence Party|number=1515395858602332162|title=We're standing in Newcastle, Leeds, Barnsley, Sheffield, Sefton and the Wirral in the council elections on the 5th of May.
These are our candidates}} None of these candidates were elected.

NIP ran two candidates in the 2023 local elections in the Headingley and Hyde Park ward of Leeds and the City Centre South ward of Liverpool. Neither of these candidates were elected.{{cite web |title=Results from the Leeds City Council Election held on Thursday 4 May 2023 |url=https://datamillnorth.org/dataset/20jwj/election-results-local |date=July 2023 |publisher=Leeds City Council |access-date=20 November 2023}}{{cite web |title=Election results for City Centre South, 4 May 2023 |url=https://councillors.liverpool.gov.uk/mgElectionAreaResults.aspx?XXR=0&ID=494&RPID=60372717 |date=2023 |publisher=Liverpool City Council |access-date=20 November 2023}}

• Devolution to the North of England
• North East Party, a regional party calling for a North East Assembly
• Northern Party, a defunct regional party that was based in Lancashire
• North–South divide in England
• Yorkshire Party, a regional party calling for a Yorkshire Parliament

{{reflist|25em}}

• [https://www.freethenorth.co.uk/ Official website]
• [https://novaramedia.com/2021/03/23/independence-for-the-north-of-england-interview-with-philip-proudfoot/ Philip Proudfoot interview] with Novara Media

{{Political parties in the United Kingdom}}

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Category:2020 establishments in England

Category:2020 in British politics

Category:Democratic socialist parties in Europe

Category:Northumbria

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Category:Socialist parties in the United Kingdom

Category:Independence movements