British National Party
Leader: Adam Walker
Ideology: Has been described by many political commentators as Fascist or Neo-Fascist, though the party itself denies this. It is opposed to multiculturalism, immigration and what it perceives to be the ‘islamification’ of the United Kingdom.
Key Policy: ‘Voluntary resettlement’ – offering those of ethnic origins other than ‘White British’ the chance to return to their country of ethnic origin. The party also supports the reintroduction of Capital Punishment and is opposed to membership of the EU.
Respect Party
Leader: George Galloway, current MP for Bradford West
Ideology: Socialist, the party aims to create a ‘socially just and ecologically sustainable society’. It also aims to make sure that government is open and democratically accountable.
Key Policy: End the austerity measures that are supported by many parties in order to re balance the economy and reform the economy so it is no longer dependent on the financial services sector. Advocate the idea of progressive taxation – the more people earn the more they should pay. The party also calls for a fundamental reduction in the size of parliament and changing the electoral system so it is based on proportional representation. The party is Pro-EU but believes an in / out referendum on membership should be held.
English Democrats
Leader: Robin Tilbrook
Ideology: Nationalism, have also been described as Eurosceptic. The party describes itself as ‘not left, not right, just English’.
Key Policy: Advocates ‘independence for England’ through the conversion of the House of Commons into a separate ‘English Parliament’ and executive which would discuss, legislate and vote on issues which exclusively pertain to England and do not affect other parts of the UK with devolved power such as Scotland. This has been suggested as way of tackling the issue of the West Lothian Question and the fact that Scottish MPs are able to vote on issues only pertaining to England which are controlled by devolved assemblies in other parts of the UK.
Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition
Leader: Dave Nellist
Ideology: Socialist, the party is a coalition formed by a number of trade unions including the Public and Commercial Services Union, the Prison Officers Association, the National Union of Teachers and the Fire Brigades Union. It is also supported by a number of socialist groups including the Socialist Party and Socialist Worker’s Party. As a coalition it allows candidates who belief in socialism to stand under the banner of the coalition and to portray themselves as ‘something different’ even if they do not belong to a particular socialist or affiliated group.
Key Policy: Disagrees with austerity as a means of recovering from the economic crisis, arguing that the Public should not pay for a crisis they did not cause – as a result would end cuts to public spending and invest massively in capital projects to encourage growth. Would also work to end all government privatisation and collaboration with private enterprise such as PFI programmes, and to take organisations such as rail services and Royal Mail back into public control. Use public ownership as a means of controlling banks and the financial services sector.
Of course, there are dozens of minority parities that you can read into and vote for, unfortunately we can only include a few in this small magazine. If you’re interested in finding out which politicians are running in your constituency, visit www.yournextmp.com.
