New Political Parties on the Block Led by Women

A lot of people have been calling for the formation of a new political party to replace the now corrupted Corbyn led Labour Party. At the moment it is just wishful thinking even if there are probably thousands of potential new members, most of them ex or current Labour Party members or those like me who do not belong to anything.

However such a project is fraught with difficulties. It would have to be predicated on the mass defection of the majority of Labour MP's. I know there are potential donors out there some who have already made offers of sponsorship should this ever happen.

Politically it would be difficult. With the first past the post electoral system the new party would have difficulty in establishing itself, Further until Brexit is finally pushed through one way or another it would also have difficulties arising from the toxicity of that issue as most of the core MP's and members would be remainers of one sort or another.

However others are not so daunted and I was bemused to see an invitation appear as a "sponsored post" inviting us to a meeting of the Federalist Party. Never heard of them either. But there are a couple of quite serious contenders on the block, well they take their projects seriously.



There is already the Women's Equality Party which has had some publicity and is led by amongst others Sandi Toksvig. It is not making much headway and men can join by the way:

Equality for women isn’t a women’s issue. When women fulfil their potential, everyone benefits. Equality means better politics, a more vibrant economy, a workforce that draws on the talents of the whole population and a society at ease with itself.

The Women’s Equality Party is working towards such a society. WE are pushing for equal representation in politics, business, industry and throughout working life. WE expect equal pay for equal work and will look for ways to tackle the existing imbalances that leave many women, such as those who are unpaid caregivers or in low paid jobs, especially vulnerable. WE are pressing for equal parenting and caregiving enabling everyone to share opportunity and responsibility in the workplace and at home. WE urge an education system that creates opportunities for all children and an understanding of why this matters. WE aim to address the ways in which the portrayal of women in the media impedes progress towards equality. WE seek an end to violence against women and recognise physical and sexual violence as a public health problem.

WE are proud to focus on equality for women and also understand that there are many forms of inequality. WE will ensure our party and policies are informed by the views and experiences of those doubly or trebly disadvantaged, by their gender and by other factors such as ethnicity, age or disability.

The Women's Equality Party is contesting elections.

The WEP can be found here: www.womensequality.org.uk





There are a couple of others that caught my attention. First up is the Renew Party which is having it's founding conference in Westminster Hall this weekend. Led by an ex-Liberal Democrat, Annabele Mullin (who made a previous effort with a small group called Advance.

Renew state that:

Renew was launched in February 2018 after 7 months of preparation by a core team which includes two people who stood as Independent candidates in the 2017 Election. We are now led by an advisory board of 12, to include a leader, a deputy leader, Chairman and Chief Executive.

We all share a vision of British politics as open, trustworthy and inclusive as opposed to how it is now, closed, untrustworthy and divisive; we are a fully registered political party of the centre, recruiting candidates and supporters from all backgrounds,regions, ethnicities, religions, we are against prejudice of any kind and wish to represent the decent and fair minded majority of the British people.

I'm not entirely sure how that separates them from the Liberal Democrats but they say they are anti-Brexit (again...), are keen on green energy and believe:

We believe that any person with the right determination, the right coaching and chance can achieve anything.

They claim to have 1,000 "candidates" and 4000 supporters who will presumably become members when the party is formally established this weekend.

The Renew Party website can be found here: www.renewparty.org.uk

I've signed up for their e-mail newsletter and will see what they get up to. However I'd rather those bloody Labour moderates would pull their fingers out.

Lastly is a controversial group, the For Britain Party led by Anne Marie Waters. I recently reviewed her book which had to be published in the USA because British companies would't touch it because it's anti-Islam as a theology. (see here) I've corresponded with Anne Marie Enough to know she is not a racist and an ex-Muslim did speak at their recent conference.

This group gets picketed and harassed by the anti-fascist brigade usually made of up of communists and anarchists who are extremists themselves. I do not consider Anne Marie herself as "extremist" and agree with her critiques of Islam. Like her I do not discriminate against Muslims but have a secular agenda. 

The For Britain main statement of intent:

The For Britain Movement is a positive, pro-British, pro-democracy party, which believes in preserving the culture and values of the decent British majority, and passing these on to future generations.

We believe in the democratic mandate of the people, and therefore demand the UK’s complete withdrawal from the European Union without further delay.

We believe in truth, justice, and freedom. We seek to create a Britain where the rule of law is upheld, and justice prevails over political convenience.

We will restore freedom of speech as the backbone of the democratic system.

We sit neither on the Left nor the Right, we are the decent, fair, common sense majority whose voice has been ignored for too long.

Where their politics becomes problematic for some is Anne Marie's association with people like Tommy Robinson and the controversy over the Democratic Football Lads Alliance. Whilst no fan of Robinson I think it is a mistake to label white working class groups as automatically being "racist". Yes the DFLA will inevitably attract infiltrators from the far right. Dialogue needs to take place including actually listening to what of their ordinary supporters have to say.

As a result despite For Britain and Anne Marie's protestations most observers place them on the far right. They are a breakaway from UKIP which was certainly right-wing.  I backed Anne Marie when she was in the Labour Party and thought she was treated unfairly by the Islamophile left.

For Britain's website can be found here: www.forbritain.uk