The One Love Party was a minor political party in the United Kingdom that identified itself as
techno-progressive.
The party campaigned for clean air and a federal union of the world. It was founded in 2015
and its first contest was in the
2016 London mayoral election.
The party was led and founded by Ankit Love, a musician and film maker. It was statutorily deregistered on 19 December 2017.
History
The One Love Party was founded in
Hackney, London by Ankit Love and his friend from
Cambridge University
The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...
, Finn Grant.
The party was set up in a dormitory room at a youth hostel.
The One Love Party was registered with the
Electoral Commission
An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...
on 12 October 2015.
In 2016, Pax Brown became the party's general-secretary.
In May 2016, Love stood in the
London mayoral election and was the youngest candidate to do so.
His campaign focussed on London's housing crisis and air pollution in the capital.
Love, who was technically homeless during the campaign,
claimed not to have spent more than "a couple of thousand" pounds on the campaign.
Nevertheless, Love had almost twice as many
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...
followers as the campaign's frontrunners,
Sadiq Khan
Sadiq Aman Khan (; born 8 October 1970) is a British politician serving as Mayor of London since 2016. He was previously Member of Parliament (MP) for Tooting from 2005 until 2016. A member of the Labour Party, Khan is on the party's sof ...
(
Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
) and
Zac Goldsmith
Frank Zacharias Robin Goldsmith, Baron Goldsmith of Richmond Park, (born 20 January 1975) is a British politician, life peer and journalist serving as Minister of State for Overseas Territories, Commonwealth, Energy, Climate and Environment s ...
(
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
).
Love came last with 4,941 first preference votes (0.2%).
Love subsequently stood for the party in the
Tooting by-election, which was called after Khan, the constituency's
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
(MP), was elected as
Mayor of London
The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom.
The current m ...
. During the election campaign, Love released a rap video depicting a map in which the Indian state of
Jammu and Kashmir is an independent country; such representations are illegal under Indian law.
Love obtained 32 votes (0.1%), coming 10th out of 14 candidates.
On 15 September 2016, the party achieved its best electoral result by vote share: French artist Dawa Ma won 494 first-preference votes (1.5%) in the
Hackney mayoral by-election, campaigning for a
second referendum on the UK's membership in the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...
.
Love stood in the
Batley and Spen by-election on 20 October 2016. Love wanted to unite Britain on the air pollution issue, claiming that it would kill 200,000 people in the UK over the next five years. He came last with 34 votes (0.2%).
Emilia Rose Arnò stood for the One Love Party in the
Witney by-election, which took place on the same day as the Batley and Spen by-election. Arnò's campaign called for emergency action on air pollution and better youth enfranchisement. She came second to last with 44 votes (0.1%).
Love stood in the
Richmond Park by-election on 1 December, using the title of
Maharaja Jammu and Kashmir, with plans to reunite
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
and
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
,
and end the potential for a
nuclear war between the two countries, embroiled in 69 years of armed
conflict in Kashmir.
His vote total of 67 represented 0.1% of those voting. He came seventh out of eight candidates.
The One Love Party was statutorily deregistered with the Electoral Commission on 19 December 2017.
Policies
The party described itself as "techno-progressive".
The party proposed legalising, licensing and taxing drugs such as
cannabis
''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: '' Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternative ...
in the hope of ending the
war on drugs
The war on drugs is a global campaign, led by the United States federal government, of drug prohibition, military aid, and military intervention, with the aim of reducing the illegal drug trade in the United States.Cockburn and St. Clair, 1 ...
and reducing violent crime.
Love claimed that the prohibition of drugs "was originally based on racism, and it funds all the criminal activity in our society."
During the London mayoral campaign, it proposed to do this through municipality-owned licensed dispensaries.
The party called for a
vote on the final Brexit deal, which would have enfranchised citizens of the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...
resident in the United Kingdom and 16- and 17-year-olds. Because EU citizens could not vote in it, the party claimed that the
Brexit referendum was illegal, violating the
Lisbon Treaty
The Treaty of Lisbon (initially known as the Reform Treaty) is an international agreement that amends the two treaties which form the constitutional basis of the European Union (EU). The Treaty of Lisbon, which was signed by the EU member sta ...
and the
European Convention on Human Rights
The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR; formally the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms) is an international convention to protect human rights and political freedoms in Europe. Drafted in 1950 by ...
.
During the London mayoral election campaign, the party endorsed
Terry Farrell's proposal to build six new bridges across the
River Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...
in order to boost the regeneration of East London and provide 47,000 homes.
The party also pledged to introduce "discount travel cards for Londoners"
and make higher education free for London residents up to PhD level.
During the Tooting by-election campaign, Love favoured bringing the
Crossrail 2 line through
Tooting Broadway and voiced his opposition to
HS2
High Speed 2 (HS2) is a planned high-speed railway line in England, the first phase of which is under construction in stages and due for completion between 2029 and 2033, depending on approval for later stages. The new line will run from its m ...
.
Environment
The One Love Party's priority issue was
air pollution
Air pollution is the contamination of air due to the presence of substances in the atmosphere that are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings, or cause damage to the climate or to materials. There are many different typ ...
.
It campaigned for immediate emergency action to bring fossil fuel emissions to zero by the
Civil Contingencies Act 2004
The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 (c. 36) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that makes provision about civil contingencies. It also replaces former Civil Defence and Emergency Powers legislation of the 20th century.
Background to ...
and
Royal Prerogative
The royal prerogative is a body of customary authority, privilege and immunity, recognized in common law and, sometimes, in civil law jurisdictions possessing a monarchy, as belonging to the sovereign and which have become widely vested in th ...
to force all power production, shipping, aviation and automobile companies to convert to only clean energy sources.
The party pledged to ban all cars except electric and hydrogen vehicles.
Love had previously called for the
army
An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
to organise a military coup d'état and overthrow
David Cameron, then the
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
, on the issue of air pollution.
During the London mayoral election campaign, the party called for a ban on all fossil fuel emissions vehicles from the capital.
Love called for the city's
cycle superhighways
Cycle routes in London that have been waymarked with formal route signage include "Cycleways" (including "Cycle Superhighways" and "Quietways") and the older London Cycle Network, all designated by the local government body Transport for Londo ...
to be suspended from the railway network.
The party would have converted all
water vessel
Any vehicle used in or on water as well as underwater, including boats, ships, hovercraft and submarines, is a watercraft, also known as a water vessel or waterborne vessel. A watercraft usually has a propulsive capability (whether by sail, ...
s from
bunker fuel
Fuel oil is any of various fractions obtained from the distillation of petroleum (crude oil). Such oils include distillates (the lighter fractions) and residues (the heavier fractions). Fuel oils include heavy fuel oil, marine fuel oil (MFO), ...
to
hydrogen fuel
Hydrogen fuel refers to hydrogen which is burned as fuel with oxygen. It is zero-carbon, provided that it is created in a process that does not involve carbon. It can be used in fuel cells or internal combustion engines (see HICEV). Regarding hydr ...
, solar or
SkySails
SkySails Group GmbH is a Hamburg-based company that sells kite rigs to propel cargo ships, large yachts and fishing vessels by wind energy as well as airborne wind energy systems for electricity production from high-altitude winds.
Busines ...
.
The party also pledged to increase the use of driverless electric vehicles,
reduce the cost of installing solar panels in residential homes,
adopt electric and hydrogen-powered buses,
scrap the
Garden Bridge
The Garden Bridge project was an unsuccessful private proposal for a pedestrian bridge over the River Thames in London, England. Originally an idea of Joanna Lumley, and strongly supported by then-Mayor of London Boris Johnson, the designer Tho ...
project,
cancel the
Silvertown tunnel
The Silvertown Tunnel is a road tunnel under construction beneath the River Thames between the Greenwich Peninsula and west Silvertown.
It is being promoted by Transport for London and will be delivered through a design, build, finance and mai ...
project, revive the Thames' eel population and investigate the potential of new moorings.
Love also called for adverts for cars to be banned in the same way as adverts for cigarettes.
During the Hackney mayoral by-election campaign, the party called for a monument to remember the victims of air pollution akin to a war memorial.
Technology
In agreement with its techno-progressive philosophy, the party supported the expansion of drones, driverless cars, robotic technology and artificial intelligence, stating that these would make more efficient use of scarce resources even if they increased unemployment.
The One Love Party believed in an accelerated program of space exploration, including the
colonisation of Mars
Colonization or settlement of Mars is the theoretical human migration and long-term human establishment of Mars. The prospect has garnered interest from public space agencies and private corporations and has been extensively explored in scien ...
and
Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never f ...
and the
mining of asteroids to mitigate economic scarcity.
They had pledged to establish a London municipal space program to detect unknown asteroids on a collision course with Earth.
By applying robotic technology and
artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech r ...
, the party wished to abolish personal income taxes and introduce a
universal basic income
Universal basic income (UBI) is a social welfare proposal in which all citizens of a given population regularly receive an unconditional transfer payment, that is, without a means test or need to work. It would be received independently of a ...
for all citizens.
During the London mayoral election campaign, the party pledged to introduce
Li-Fi
Li-Fi (also written as LiFi) is a wireless communication technology which utilizes light to transmit data and position between devices. The term was first introduced by Harald Haas during a 2011 TEDGlobal talk in Edinburgh.
Li-Fi is a light comm ...
networks
and use maintenance drones to oversee roadworks and street and building repairs.
Love said that he wanted London to be the first major city "to have driverless cars on an everyday basis."
Electoral performance
Notes and references
Notes
References
{{reflist, 30em
Defunct political parties in the United Kingdom
Political parties established in 2015
Civil liberties advocacy groups
Political parties disestablished in 2017
Progressive parties