The Democratic Party, initially known as ''Our Party'', was formed in May 1969 by

Desmond Donnelly Desmond Louis Donnelly (16 October 1920 – 3 April 1974) was a British politician, author and journalist who was a member of four political parties during the course of his career, and moved between parties on five occasions. Origins Donn ...

, who had been a

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 ...

MP for

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; cy, Sir Benfro ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and the rest by sea. The count ...

, but had resigned the whip in January 1968 and been expelled by the party two months later. His

Constituency Labour Party __NOTOC__ A constituency Labour Party (CLP) is an organisation of members of the British Labour Party who live in a particular parliamentary constituency. In England and Wales, CLP boundaries coincide with those for UK parliamentary constituenc ...

supported him and was disaffiliated from the party along with Donnelly's expulsion. The party had an anti-

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

agenda and supported UK intervention in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. In some respects, the party was to the right of the

Conservatives 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 ...

, advocating the abolition of the

welfare state A welfare state is a form of government in which the state (or a well-established network of social institutions) protects and promotes the economic and social well-being of its citizens, based upon the principles of equal opportunity, equitabl ...

, sweeping changes to the taxation system, and the return of national service. It fought two

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

s and five seats in the 1970 general election, but only Donnelly polled a significant number of votes. The party wound up in April 1971 when Donnelly joined the Conservative Party, without even informing the Democratic Party's membership.

Election Results

{{DEFAULTSORT:Democratic Party (Uk, 1969) Defunct political parties in the United Kingdom Political parties established in 1969 1969 establishments in the United Kingdom Political parties disestablished in 1971 1971 disestablishments in the United Kingdom