The Campaign for a More Prosperous Britain was a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. It was founded prior to the February 1974 general election by Tom Keen and Harold Smith, both business owners in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. Keen was the party's leader. He had become a millionaire through property development, and before forming the campaign. The party called for voters not to vote for its candidates, but for

tactical voting Strategic voting, also called tactical voting, sophisticated voting or insincere voting, occurs in voting systems when a voter votes for another candidate or party than their ''sincere preference'' to prevent an undesirable outcome. For example, ...

to defeat the Labour Party; it distributed anti-Labour literature. Despite this, some of its candidacies received hundreds of votes, with Keen's candidacy in

Portsmouth North Portsmouth North is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Penny Mordaunt, the current Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council. She is a Conservative MP. Boundaries 191 ...

at the October 1974 general election attracting 1.0% of all the votes cast.David Boothroyd, ''Politico's guide to the history of British political parties'', p. 28. The party first came to public attention when members plastered the headquarters of the

Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union centre A national trade union center (or national center or central) is a federation or confederation of trade unions in a country. Nearly every country in the world has a national tra ...

with anti-union posters. It was also strongly opposed to the

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPG ...

F. W. S. Craig Frederick Walter Scott Craig (10 December 1929 – 23 March 1989) was a Scottish psephologist and compiler of the standard reference books covering United Kingdom Parliamentary election results. He originally worked in public relations, compilin ...

, ''Minor Parties at British Parliamentary Elections 1885–1974'', p. 128. Smith stood against Labour Party leader

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...

at the February 1974 general election, taking 234 votes. At the October general election, Keen and Smith set a new record by standing simultaneously in eleven and twelve constituencies, respectively. With two associates who stood in a single constituency each, the campaign stood in a total of 25 seats, receiving 4,301 votes. Each constituency was a

marginal seat A marginal seat or swing seat is a constituency held with a small majority in a legislative election, generally one conducted under a single-winner voting system. In Canada, they may be known as target ridings. The opposite is a safe seat. The ...

held by the Labour Party, but Labour held each seat at the election. Labour Party, ''Conference'' (vol. 74), p. 27. Keen stood for the party again in the 1979 general election and several by-elections. However, the party was apparently dissolved in the early 1980s, Keen standing in five Labour seats at the 1983 general election as an independent.

Results

February 1974 general election

October 1974 general election

By-elections, 1974–1979

1979 general election

By-elections, 1979–1983

{, class="wikitable sortable" ! Election !! Candidate !! Votes !! Percentage !! Position !colspan=2, Result , - , 1981 Warrington, , , , 10, , 0.0, , 11 , hold , - , 1982 Beaconsfield, , , , 51, , 0.1, , 6 , {{Party name with colour, Conservative Party (UK) hold At Beaconsfield, Keen stood under the description "

Benn Benn is a surname and given name. It may refer to: Surname * A. W. Benn (1843–1915), British rationalist/humanist writer * Aluf Benn (born 1965), Israeli journalist, author and editor-in-chief of the Israeli national daily newspaper ''Haaretz'' ...

in 10 unless

Proportional Representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

References

Political parties established in 1974 Defunct political parties in England 1974 establishments in the United Kingdom 1980s disestablishments in the United Kingdom