Northern Party
{{short description|Defunct regionalist political party in England}}
{{For|the 1912 Antarctic expedition|Terra Nova Expedition#Northern Party}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox political party
| country = England
| colorcode = #EF7706
| name = Northern Party
| name_native =
| logo = Northern Party (England) logo 2015.png
| leader1_title = Founders
| leader1_name = Michael Dawson
Harold Elletson
| leader2_title = Chairman
| leader2_name = Ron Bell{{cite news|url=http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/news/former-mp-to-fight-seat-1-7191500|title=Former MP to fight seat|work=Blackpool Gazette|date=April 2015|accessdate=April 25, 2017}}
| foundation = {{start date|2015}}
| dissolution = {{end date|2016}}
| headquarters =
| newspaper =
| ideology = Regionalism in Northern England
| colours = {{Color box|#EF7706|border=darkgray}} Orange
{{Color box|FFFFFF|border=darkgray}} White
| website =
}}The Northern Party was a regionalist political party in Northern England, founded by leader Michael Dawson and former Blackpool MP; Harold Elletson, in March 2015 to contest five marginal seats in Lancashire at the 2015 general election.{{cite news|url=http://www.thebay.co.uk/news/local-news/northern-party-to-contest-marginal-seats/|title=Northern Party To Contest Marginal Seats|work=The Bay|date=March 2015|accessdate=April 25, 2017}} The party was one of three regionalist parties contesting the general election in the north of England.{{cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/34ca4da8-e8c3-11e4-87fe-00144feab7de|title=General election: English regional parties press for power
|work=Financial Times|first1=Andrew |last1=Bounds|first2=Chris|last2=Tighe |first3=John Murray|last3=Brown|date=April 23, 2015|accessdate=April 25, 2017}} Members included former activists from the Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green parties.
Founding
Michael Dawson, a former Executive Committee member of the Labour Campaign for Human Rights, is the nephew of former MP for Lancaster Hilton Dawson who now runs the North East Party. At the launch of the party he said "We've been planning this for months. This is a Northern rebellion against a system that has failed the North."{{cite news|title=The Northern Party: New party targets Lancashire seats|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2015-england-32167718|accessdate=3 April 2015|publisher=BBC News|date=2 April 2015}} The party argued for Northern England devolution of power to an autonomous Northern region, and for business investment and environmental protection.{{cite news|url=http://www.thewestmorlandgazette.co.uk/news/12910378.A_coastal_battle_at_Morecambe_and_Lunesdale/|title=A coastal battle at Morecambe and Lunesdale|work=Westmoreland Gazette|date=April 23, 2015|accessdate=April 25, 2017}}
The party described its symbol as "a Norse raven, closely associated with the ancient kingdom of Northumbria (today's North of England) and the struggle for autonomy".{{cite web|title=Why the Raven? |url=http://www.northern.party/index.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20150426220038/http://www.northern.party/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=26 April 2015 |publisher=Northern Party |accessdate=26 April 2015 }}
Electoral history
The party stood candidates in five seats in Lancashire:{{cite news|title=Ex Tory MP forms the Northern Party|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/the-northerner/2015/apr/02/ex-tory-mp-forms-the-northern-party|accessdate=3 April 2015|work=The Guardian|date=2 April 2015}}
- Morecambe and Lunesdale: Michael Dawson (85 votes). Dawson appeared on the ballot as an independent.{{cite web|url=https://www.lancaster.gov.uk/GetAsset.aspx?id%3DfAAxADEANQAzADQAfAB8AFQAcgB1AGUAfAB8ADAAfAA1 |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2015-10-27 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150419000417/http://www.lancaster.gov.uk/GetAsset.aspx?id=fAAxADEANQAzADQAfAB8AFQAcgB1AGUAfAB8ADAAfAA1 |archivedate=2015-04-19 }}
- Lancaster and Fleetwood: Harold Elletson (174 votes). Elletson was the Conservative MP for Blackpool North 1992-1997.
- Blackpool North and Cleveleys: James Walsh (57 votes). Walsh is an ecologist, former Green Party member, and part of Frack Free Lancashire.
- Fylde: Elizabeth Clarkson (230 votes). Clarkson had been a Conservative councillor in Preston.{{cite news|url=http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/news/ex-tory-explains-switch-decision-1-7207670|title=Ex-Tory explains switch decision|work=Blackpool Gazette|date=April 14, 2015|accessdate=April 25, 2017}}
- Rossendale & Darwen: Shaun Hargreaves (45 votes). Hargreaves was previously in the Green Party.
Paul Salveson noted the smaller vote share than the North East Party and Yorkshire First at the same General Election and a lack of parish councillors versus those other parties, and suggested this was because the Northern Party, though they stood in Lancashire, had a Northern identity rather than a Lancashire identity.{{cite book|title=The Politics of the North: Governance, territory and identity in Northern England|url=http://speri.dept.shef.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Politics-of-the-North-Hayton-Giovannini-Berry.pdf|editor1=Richard Hayton |editor2=Arianna Giovannini |editor3=Craig Berry|last=Salveson|first=Paul|chapter=Will the North rise again?|publisher=White Rose Consortium for the North of England / University of Leeds|date=January 2016|accessdate=April 25, 2017}}
Organisation
The party was registered with the Electoral Commission on 1 April 2015, with Michael Dawson as Leader and Treasurer and Stephen Gilpin as Nominating Officer and an address in Liverpool.{{cite web|title=The Northern Party|website= Registrations | url=http://search.electoralcommission.org.uk/English/Registrations/PP2664|publisher=Electoral Commission|accessdate=26 April 2015}} Chairman Ron Bell was a former Conservative councillor and prospective parliamentary candidate in Blackpool South. The Northern Party voluntarily deregistered as a party on 8 April 2016.
See also
- North East Party, a regional party calling for a North East Assembly
- Yorkshire Party, a regional party calling for a Yorkshire Parliament
- Northern Independence Party, a regional party calling for Northern England independence
- North–South divide in England
References
{{reflist|30em}}
Category:Defunct political parties in England
Category:Regionalist parties in the United Kingdom
Category:2015 establishments in England
Category:2016 disestablishments in England
Category:Political parties established in 2015
Category:Political parties disestablished in 2016