Heritage Party (UK)

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Heritage Party
LeaderDavid Kurten
FounderDavid Kurten
Founded21 October 2020
Split fromUK Independence Party
IdeologyEuroscepticism
British nationalism
British unionism
Right-wing populism
Social conservatism
Anti-lockdown politics
Political positionRight-wing
Website
heritageparty.org
  • Politics of United Kingdom
  • Political parties
  • Elections

The Heritage Party is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist and conservative political party in the United Kingdom founded in October 2020 when then London Assembly Member David Kurten left the UK Independence Party (UKIP) to form the party.[1] Kurten was also a member of the Brexit Alliance, a Eurosceptic technical group he formed in 2018 with fellow former UKIP member Peter Whittle.

History[]

David Kurten, founder and leader of the Heritage Party

In January 2020, Kurten announced he would be running as an independent candidate in the upcoming London mayoral and London Assembly elections (then scheduled for May 2020, but both elections were postponed to 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic).[2] Kurten founded the Heritage Party, and it was registered with the Electoral Commission that October.[3][4]

In December 2020, Kurten rejected a COVID-19 vaccine, for which he was denounced by the Conservative mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey, who saw this as irresponsible for an elected politician.[5] Lockdowns in response to the coronavirus pandemic in the United Kingdom have been condemned by Kurten.[6]

Elections[]

May 2021 London elections[]

Kurten came 15th in the 2021 London mayoral election with 0.4% of the vote. Heritage came 13th in the Assembly election with 0.5% of the vote. Kurten thus lost his seat in the Assembly (to which he had been elected second on the UKIP list at the 2016 election).

Parliamentary by-elections[]

The party has stood in five by-elections so far:

By-election Candidate Votes Out of Percentage Place Out of Notes References
2021 Hartlepool by-election Claire Martin 468 29,933 1.6 4th 16 Beat Reform UK (fifth, 368 votes, 1.2%), the Green Party (sixth, 358 votes, 1.2%), and the Liberal Democrats (seventh, 349 votes, 1.2%).
2021 Batley and Spen by-election Susan Laird 33 37,786 0.1 16th 16
2021 Old Bexley and Sidcup by-election David Kurten 116 21,733 0.5 9th 11
2021 North Shropshire by-election James Elliot 79 38,093 0.2 10th 14
2022 Southend West by-election Ben Downton 236 15,942 1.6 6th 9 Held due to the killing of previous MP David Amess on 15 October 2021. The major parties thus did not stand. [7]

References[]

  1. ^ "View registration". The Electoral Commission. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  2. ^ Mathewson, Jessie. "David Kurten announces run for Mayor of London". Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  3. ^ "HERITAGE PARTY - Overview (free company information from Companies House)". Gov.uk.
  4. ^ "View current applications". Electoral Commission. 18 July 2020. Archived from the original on 18 July 2020.
  5. ^ Sleigh, Sophia; Dunne, John (28 December 2020). "London Assembly member David Kurten slammed for 'anti-vax' comments". www.standard.co.uk. Retrieved 28 December 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. ^ Prosser, Ryan (29 January 2021). "London Mayor Heritage Party candidate David Kurten criticises COVID chaos". SWLondoner. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
  7. ^ "Election results Southend West by-election 2022". Southend Council. 4 February 2022. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
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