Libertarian Party (UK)

The Libertarian Party, also known as the Libertarian Party UK (LPUK), is a libertarian political party in the United Kingdom.[2][4] Adam Brown has been the party's leader since August 2015.[1][7]

Libertarian Party
LeaderAdam Brown[1]
Founded21 November 2007 (2007-11-21)[2]
HeadquartersBM LPUK, London, WC1N 3XX
Youth wingYoung Libertarians[3]
IdeologyLibertarianism[4]
International affiliationInternational Alliance of Libertarian Parties[5]
Interlibertarians[6]
European Parliament groupEurope of Freedom and Direct Democracy
Colours  Blue   Gold
Website
libertarianparty.co.uk
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History

The party was founded in January 2008 under the leadership of Patrick Vessey, having registered the party with the Electoral Commission in November 2007.[2] In May 2008, The Daily Telegraph leader writer Alex Singleton claimed the founders should have set up a pressure group rather than a party. Singleton believed the new party would reduce the influence of libertarianism.[8]

On 17 September 2008, Vessey resigned as party leader and was replaced by Ian Parker-Joseph. The party claimed a membership of 1,000 and hoped in the wake of the parliamentary expenses scandal "to establish themselves in the media landscape with a couple of robust performances".[9] He said the party wanted much smaller government and would initially cut taxation to 10% before removing it altogether.[10]

On 28 November 2010, Andrew Withers was elected as party leader.[11]

Following an internal ballot on 15 August 2015, party members elected Adam Brown as the party leader.[1]

During the 2018 local elections, the party was described as on "the fringes of mainstream British politics".[12]

In October 2018, MEP Bill Etheridge, a former member of the UK Independence Party, joined the party[13] and became its deputy chairman.[14] Etheridge continued as a member of the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy parliamentary group in the European Parliament.[15] However, he then left to join the Brexit Party in February 2019.

Electoral performance

General elections
2010 general election
Constituency Candidate Votes %
Devizes Nic Coome 141 0.3[16]
Sutton and Cheam Martin Cullip 41 0.1[17]


The party did not field parliamentary candidates at the 2015 general election, describing it as a "waste of time and funds".[11]

2017 general election
Constituency Candidate Votes %
Basingstoke Scott Neville 213 0.4[18]
Blaydon Michael Marchetti 114 0.2[19]
Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle Will Taylor 67 0.2[20]
Portsmouth North Joe Jenkins 130 0.3[21]


2019 general election
Constituency Candidate Votes %
Chichester Adam Brown 224 0.4[22]
Sevenoaks Sean Finch 295 0.6[23]
Stroud Glenville Gogerly 567 0.9[24]
Crewe & Nantwich Andrew Kinsman 149 0.3[25]
Leicestershire North West Dan Liddicott 140 0.3[26]

By-elections
54th Parliament
Election Candidate Votes % of votes Position
Norwich North Thomas Burridge 36 0.1 11th
57th Parliament
Election Candidate Votes % of votes Position
Lewisham East Sean Finch 38 0.2 11th

See also

References
  1. "Adam Brown is Elected New Party Leader for Libertarians UK". Retrieved 6 October 2015.
  2. Electoral Commission registration (Online search of registration database at http://search.electoralcommission.org.uk/English/Registrations/PP684)
  3. "Young Libertarians". facebook.com.
  4. "About". Libertarian Party UK. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  5. "Under Construction". Retrieved 16 June 2015.
  6. "Libertarian movements and parties in the world that are members of Interlibertarians". Archived from the original on 12 June 2015. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
  7. "Edition 116". thatalks.com. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  8. Alex Singleton (30 May 2008). "How Libertarians undermine liberty". Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 25 June 2009. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  9. "Interview: The Libertarian party". Politics.co.uk. 1 June 2009. Retrieved 14 November 2012.
  10. "Libertarian Party plans to clear national debt". BBC News. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  11. Croucher, Shane (29 April 2015). "Election 2015: Meet the Libertarian Party UK, which wants to turn Britain into Switzerland". International Business Times UK. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  12. "Elections 2018: Warndon Parish North ward". Worcester News.
  13. Madeley, Pete. "UKIP exodus in Dudley continues as two more quit". Express and Star. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  14. Bagdi, Annabal (8 October 2018). "Bill Etheridge joins Libertarian Party days after UKIP exit". Express & Star. Wolverhampton. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  15. Etheridge, Bill (6 October 2018). "UKIP has changed from the policy mandate I was elected on I will continue to honour the original mandate with the EFDD group and use the same voting lists so I'd check your facts". Twitter.
  16. "UK General Election results May 2010". Politicsresources.net.
  17. "UK General Election results May 2010". Politicsresources.net.
  18. "Election 2017: Basingstoke". BBC News. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  19. "Election 2017: Blaydon". BBC News. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  20. "Election 2017: Hull West & Hessle". BBC News. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  21. "Election 2017: Portsmouth North". BBC News. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  22. "Chichester parliamentary constituency - Election 2019". BBC News. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
  23. "Sevenoaks parliamentary constituency - Election 2019". BBC News. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
  24. "Stroud parliamentary constituency - Election 2019". BBC News. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
  25. "Crewe & Nantwich parliamentary constituency - Election 2019". BBC News. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
  26. "Leicestershire North West parliamentary constituency - Election 2019". BBC News. Retrieved 22 May 2020.

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