An independent or non-partisan politician is a politician not affiliated with any
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 ideological or p ...
or bureaucratic association. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent.
Some politicians have political views that do not align with the platforms of any political party, and therefore choose not to affiliate with them. Some independent politicians may be associated with a party, perhaps as former members of it, or else have views that align with it, but choose not to stand in its name, or are unable to do so because the party in question has selected another candidate. Others may belong to or support a political party at the national level but believe they should not formally represent it (and thus be subject to its policies) at another level.
In running for public office, independents sometimes choose to form a party or alliance with other independents, and may formally register their party or alliance. Even where the word "independent" is used, such alliances have much in common with a political party, especially if there is an organization which needs to approve the "independent" candidates.
Americas
Brazil
Independent politicians are not allowed to run for office in Brazil. The Constitution of 1988, in Article 14, §3rd, item V, says that "Are conditions for eligibility: V - party affiliation." However, the Proposal Amendment to the Constitution (PEC) no. 6/2015, authored by independent senator
José Reguffe, would allow the independent candidacy of individuals who have the support of at least 1% of the electors able to vote in the region (city, state or country, depending on the election) in which the candidate is running. Currently, members of the legislature can leave their respective parties after being elected, as in the case of senator Reguffe, who left the
Democratic Labour Party (PDT) in 2016.
Canada
Federal politics
In Canadian federal politics, members of both the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...
and the
Senate are permitted to hold office without being members of a political party. Candidates in federal elections who are not affiliated with a party have two options: independent or no affiliation. In the former case, they appear on the ballot with "Independent" following their name; in the second case, they appear with their name only. The two options are otherwise equivalent.
=House of Commons
=
During the earliest Canadian Parliaments, a lack of coherent political identity among both the
Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
and
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 ...
parties is known to have led to
Members 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 ...
(MPs) occasionally demonstrating independence from their party by voting in line with the opposition.
Commonly, the issues which caused these MPs to act independently were religious in nature.
These tensions began to disperse over the course of the first ten Canadian parliaments as the major political parties began to form consistent identities and MPs began affiliating themselves with the parties they knew more closely shared their core values. This in turn increased cohesion between parties and MPs, and minimized the causes and motivations for MPs to act independently.
Most observers of the Canadian House of Commons in the 21st century have noted its incredibly high party discipline. Few MPs choose to vote against their party's official stance on any given piece of legislation.
Between 2011 and 2013—the first two years of the
41st Canadian Parliament
The 41st Canadian Parliament was in session from June 2, 2011 to August 2, 2015, with the membership of its House of Commons having been determined by the results of the 2011 federal election held on May 2, 2011. Parliament convened on June 2, ...
, following the
2011 Canadian federal election
The 2011 Canadian federal election was held on May 2, 2011, to elect members to the House of Commons of Canada of the 41st Canadian Parliament.
The writs of election for the 2011 election were issued by Governor General David Johnston on Marc ...
—the elected members of the governing
Conservative Party
The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right.
Political parties called The Conservative P ...
voted as a unified group on 76% of all votes, while members of the Liberal Party did so on 90% of all votes, and members of the
New Democratic Party (NDP) did so on 100% of votes.
This unity further increased in subsequent years, as in the
42nd Parliament, following the
2015 election, the governing Liberal MPs voted identically on 99.6% of all votes, Conservative MPs on 99.5% of votes, and NDP MPs on 99.8% of votes.
Thanks to this strong party discipline, it is uncommon to see politicians who are otherwise affiliated with any of the main political parties act independently of their party.
Though it is acceptable and accepted for politicians to serve as independent MPs, those who attempt to run as such often struggle to be elected without access to the resources of the major parties. As a result, there are seldom more than one or two independent MPs within modern Canadian Parliaments, with many who do sit as such being initially elected as a part of a major party before either leaving voluntarily or being removed. In the first year of the
44th Canadian Parliament
The 44th Canadian Parliament is the session of the Parliament of Canada which began on 22 November 2021, with the membership of the House of Commons, having been determined by the results of the 2021 federal election held on 20 September. Parl ...
, the House of Commons featured one sitting independent member:
Kevin Vuong, from the
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
electoral district, or riding, of
Spadina—Fort York
Spadina—Fort York is a federal electoral district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Spadina—Fort York was created by the 2012 federal electoral boundaries redistribution and was legally defined in the 2013 representation order. It came into ...
. Vuong had originally campaigned as a member of the Liberal Party during the
2021 federal election but was ejected from the party two days prior to the end of the vote due to controversy surrounding past allegations of sexual assault.
Despite his removal from the Liberal Party, Vuong won the election for his riding and chose to hold on to his seat as an independent, though this decision was met with controversy because many voters had not known that the Liberals had expelled him before casting their votes.
In 2022,
Alain Rayes, MP for the
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
riding of
Richmond—Arthabaska
Richmond—Arthabaska is a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1997.
Geography
The riding, north of the city of Sherbrooke, straddles the Quebec regions of Centre-du-Q ...
, who had been elected as a Conservative MP in three successive general elections, resigned from its caucus to sit as an independent, becoming the second independent MP of the 44th Parliament.
Independent politicians have on occasion held considerable sway in the House of Commons of Canada in recent years, as Canada has been governed by successive
minority governments (five of the seven that have been formed since the
2004 federal election) with independent MPs sometimes sharing in the
balance of power.
* In 2004,
Chuck Cadman
Charles Cadman (February 21, 1948July 9, 2005) was a Canadian politician and Member of Parliament (MP) from 1997 to 2005, representing the riding of Surrey North in Surrey, British Columbia.
Originally a Canadian Alliance MP, Cadman won re- ...
was elected to the House as an independent MP representing the
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
riding of
Surrey North
Surrey North was a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1988 to 2015. It covered the northern part of Surrey.
It was home to 106,904 residents in 2001, more than 46 pe ...
. Cadman was first elected to represent the riding as a
Reform
Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement ...
member in the
1997 federal election and re-elected as a member of the
Canadian Alliance
The Canadian Alliance (french: Alliance canadienne), formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance (french: Alliance réformiste-conservatrice canadienne), was a centre-right to right-wing federal political party in Canada that existed ...
, Reform's successor party, in the
2000 federal election. He sought the nomination for the Conservative Party (re-created in 2003 when the Alliance and
Progressive Conservatives merged) for the 2004 election but was unsuccessful. He died in office in 2005.
* Independent
André Arthur
André Arthur (December 21, 1943 – May 8, 2022) was a Canadian radio host and politician. He was the independent Member of Parliament for the riding of Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier from 2006 to 2011. He is known for his outspoken style and anti-s ...
was elected in the Quebec riding of
Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier
Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier (formerly known as Portneuf) is a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1867. Its population in 2001 was 87,141.
Demographics
Ethnic groups: ...
in the
2006 federal election. He was the only independent to win a seat in that election; he was re-elected in the
2008 federal election. Arthur lost his seat in 2011.
*
Bill Casey
William D. Casey (born February 19, 1945) is a Canadian politician from Nova Scotia who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons of Canada. First elected as a Progressive Conservative in 1988, he later sat as Conservative ...
, the MP for the
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
Most of the population are native Eng ...
riding of
Cumberland—Colchester—Musquoduboit Valley, was expelled from the Conservative Party for voting against the
2007 budget. He also ran as an independent in 2008 and retained his seat with 69% of the vote. Casey resigned from the Commons in 2009, before the end of his mandate, but was elected in the same riding, renamed Cumberland—Colchester, as a Liberal in 2015. He sat in the House for the 42nd Parliament and did not seek re-election in
2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
.
* In 2019, MP
Jody Wilson-Raybould ran as an independent candidate in the riding of
Vancouver Granville
Vancouver Granville is a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 2015. The district includes all or significant portions of the Kerrisdale, Marpole, Oakridge, ...
after being expelled from cabinet and the Liberal Party over the
SNC-Lavalin affair. She was returned to Parliament with 32% of the vote. After sitting as an independent for the
43rd Parliament, Wilson-Raybould did not seek re-election in 2021.
=Senate
=
While traditionally framed as an "independent body of sober second thought", appointments to the Senate of Canada prior to 2016 were commonly seen as highly partisan, with the majority of Canadian senators identifying themselves as members of either the Liberal or Conservative parties and serving within their party's caucus.
As these have been the only two parties to ever form government in Canada, only the Liberal and Conservative parties had been able to appoint new senators. Because Canadian senators are appointed by the
Governor General of Canada
The governor general of Canada (french: gouverneure générale du Canada) is the federal viceregal representative of the . The is head of state of Canada and the 14 other Commonwealth realms, but resides in oldest and most populous realm, ...
on the advice of 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 ...
rather than being elected, senators were often accused of being appointed as a "reward" for service to the party in power,
and once appointed, of simply repeating the points and positions of their counterparts in the House of Commons rather than acting as a means of truly independent policy review.
In 2014, as a response to growing public disapproval of the Senate and the perceived problems brought about by senator partisanship, Liberal Party leader
Justin Trudeau
Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since 2 ...
made the decision to expel all Liberal senators from the Liberal Party caucus. Trudeau would go on to call for an overall elimination of partisanship in the Senate and pledged to end the practice of partisan appointments for senators and transition to a new system of merit-based appointments if elected Prime Minister.
Following the election of a Liberal
majority government in 2015, the
Independent Advisory Board for Senate Appointments was established with the goal of filling Senate vacancies through a selection process based on political knowledge, merit, and perceived ability to act independently of partisan affiliation.
This push to remove partisan ties from the Senate resulted in the creation of the
Independent Senators Group, a coalition of both newly appointed independent senators and formally partisan senators who had relinquished their formal party ties, alongside the also independent
Canadian Senators Group
The Canadian Senators Group (french: Groupe des sénateurs canadiens) is a parliamentary group of senators in the Senate of Canada founded on November 4, 2019, by eight senators from the Independent Senators Group, two from the Conservative Pa ...
and
Progressive Senate Group.
By 2018, the majority of Canadian Senators were officially independent,
though some Liberal senators continued to remain affiliated with the political party despite no longer being permitted within the party caucus.
Additionally, the Conservative Party elected not to remove its senators from the party caucus, and many Conservative Party senators kept their official partisan affiliations in public.
During the 2019 federal election campaign, in response to reporters' questions, Conservative Party leader
Andrew Scheer
Andrew James Scheer (born May 20, 1979) is a Canadian politician who has served as the member of Parliament (MP) for Regina—Qu'Appelle since 2004. Scheer served as the 35th speaker of the House of Commons from 2011 to 2015, and was the lead ...
said that if his party were elected to form government and he became prime minister, he would reinstate the practice of partisan appointments to the Senate.
The efforts to increase senatorial independence have led some to argue the Senate has developed an increase of importance and power in the legislative process. As of 2021, it was found that Canadian senators were facing increasing pressure from
lobbying
In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying, which ...
groups on a variety of issues, suggesting the more independent Senate has a greater perceived influence over legislative issues.
Additionally, following the appointment of senators through the Independent Advisory Board for Senate Appointments, there has been a noted increase in the number of amendments the Senate has proposed for legislation from the House of Commons.
During the 42nd Parliament (2015–2019), the Senate attempted to amend 13 government bills, whereas during the 41st Parliament (2011–2015), it had attempted to amend only one government bill.
The reformed Senate is noted as having proposed amendments on at least 20% of all legislation.
Criticism
Several observers and those involved with the Senate itself have criticized the Trudeau government for its attempted reforms, with most accusations centering around the belief that the new appointment process is biased towards those who are ideologically supportive of the Liberal Party's objectives. Remaining Conservative senators have accused the Independent Senators Group in particular as being "too quick to endorse bills from the Liberal government".
Supporting this claim, a 2021 study found that members of the Independent Senators Group voted in favor of legislation proposed by the incumbent Liberal government more consistently than any other group within the Senate, including those still formally aligned to the Liberal Party.
This was, however, among an overall trend in which all senators demonstrated lower levels of party loyalty, and as such its full implications are still unknown. The report also concluded that partisanship in Senate appointments was undeniably down when compared to the Senate prior to the reforms.
It is generally thought that it will only be possible to judge the success of the attempted reforms accurately when a non-Liberal governments is elected to the House of Commons, at which point it can be observed if the noted trend in voting represents simple loyalty to the government, or loyalty to the Liberal Party.
Provincial and territorial politics
The territorial legislatures of the
Northwest Territories and
Nunavut are
consensus governments with no political parties. All members sit as independents. There are a few independent members of the other provincial and territorial legislatures, which are similar in principle to the federal House of Commons; for example, in the
2009 British Columbia general election
The 2009 British Columbia general election was held on May 12, 2009, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The British Columbia Liberal Party (BC Liberals) formed the government of the province ...
, independent candidate
Vicki Huntington
Victoria "Vicki" Huntington is a Canadian politician who served in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 2009 until 2017 as an independent for Delta South.
Education and early career
Huntington is a native of Vancouver, British Co ...
narrowly defeated incumbent
Attorney General Wally Oppal
Wallace Taroo "Wally" Oppal, (born 1940) is a Canadian lawyer, former judge and provincial politician. Between 2005 and 2009, he served as British Columbia's Attorney General and Minister responsible for Multiculturalism, as well as Member of ...
in
Delta South
Delta South is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada.
Member of Legislative Assembly
The current MLA for this riding is Ian Paton. The previous member was Vicki Huntington, the only In ...
. In the
2019 Newfoundland and Labrador general election
The 2019 Newfoundland and Labrador general election was held on May 16, 2019, to elect members of the 49th General Assembly of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Despite consistent Progressive Conservative Party of Newfoundland and Labrador, Progressive C ...
, two independent candidates were elected.
Costa Rica
Current laws in
Costa Rica do not permit a citizen to run directly for any elected position as an independent without the representation of a political party.
Any nomination must be made through a political party, due to the framework of the current legal system, in which the political parties have a monopoly on the nomination of candidates for elected positions according to the Electoral Code.
However, becoming an independent politician after being elected is protected by virtue of Article 25 of the
Constitution of Costa Rica
The Constitution of Costa Rica is the supreme law of Costa Rica. At the end of the 1948 Costa Rican Civil War, José Figueres Ferrer oversaw the Costa Rican Constitutional Assembly, which drafted the document. It was approved on 1949 Novembe ...
, which guarantees
freedom of association
Freedom of association encompasses both an individual's right to join or leave groups voluntarily, the right of the group to take collective action to pursue the interests of its members, and the right of an association to accept or decline mem ...
and therefore any citizen cannot be forced to remain in a specific political party and can join any other political group. It is common in each legislative period for some
deputies
A legislator (also known as a deputy or lawmaker) is a person who writes and passes laws, especially someone who is a member of a legislature. Legislators are often elected by the people of the state. Legislatures may be supra-national (for ex ...
(, term used for legislators) of the
Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica
The Legislative Assembly ( es, Asamblea Legislativa) forms the unicameral legislative branch of the Costa Rican government. The national congress building is located in the capital city, San José, specifically in Carmen district of the San J ...
to become independents, and this has also happened with the
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...
s () of the municipalities of
cantons
A canton is a type of administrative division of a country. In general, cantons are relatively small in terms of area and population when compared with other administrative divisions such as counties, departments, or provinces. Internationally, t ...
.
Mexico
Jaime Heliodoro Rodríguez Calderón (born in 1957), sometimes referred to by his nickname "Bronco", is a Mexican politician and former governor for the northern state of
Nuevo León and holds no political party affiliation. , he was elected Governor of Nuevo León, making history as the first independent candidate to win in the country.
United States
President
George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...
is the only
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
elected as an independent to date. President Washington opposed the development of
political parties, which had begun to solidify as the
Federalist faction centered around
Vice President
A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...
John Adams
John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before his presidency, he was a leader of t ...
and
Secretary of the Treasury
The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...
Alexander Hamilton and the
Democratic-Republican
The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early ...
faction centered around
Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was previously the natio ...
and
James Madison
James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for h ...
. Washington feared that
partisanship
A partisan is a committed member of a political party or army. In multi-party systems, the term is used for persons who strongly support their party's policies and are reluctant to compromise with political opponents. A political partisan is no ...
would eventually destroy the country, and famously warned against "the baneful effects of the spirit of party" in his 1796
Farewell Address.
John Tyler
John Tyler (March 29, 1790 – January 18, 1862) was the tenth president of the United States, serving from 1841 to 1845, after briefly holding office as the tenth vice president in 1841. He was elected vice president on the 1840 Whig tick ...
was expelled from the
Whig Party in September 1841, and effectively remained an independent for the remainder of his presidency. He later returned to the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
and briefly sought re-election in
1844 as a
Tyler Democrat, but withdrew over fear he would split the Democratic vote and give the election to Whig candidate
Henry Clay.
Since 1900, notable candidates running as independents for U.S. president have included congressman
John Anderson in
1980, billionaire entrepreneur
Ross Perot in
1992 and
1996 (in 1996 under the newly founded
Reform Party), former
Green Party
A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence.
Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...
candidate
Ralph Nader
Ralph Nader (; born February 27, 1934) is an American political activist, author, lecturer, and attorney noted for his involvement in consumer protection, environmentalism, and government reform causes.
The son of Lebanese immigrants to the U ...
in the
1996 and
2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...
elections, and
"Never Trump" conservative candidate
Evan McMullin
David Evan McMullin (born April 2, 1976) is an American politician and former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer. McMullin ran as an independent in the 2016 United States presidential election and in the 2022 United States Senate electio ...
in
2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...
. Out of all independent candidates since Washington, Perot received the best performance, gaining no votes in the
Electoral College but receiving 19 percent of the popular vote and at earlier points in the election season leading in polls against his opponents
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
and
George H. W. Bush. Additionally, McMullin received 21 percent of the popular vote in his home state of
Utah
Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...
but received little support from the remainder of the country. Independent senator
Bernie Sanders ran in the
2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...
and
2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries, but ultimately did not appear on the ballot in the 2016 presidential election, though he did receive more than 5% of the vote as a
write-in candidate
A write-in candidate is a candidate whose name does not appear on the ballot but seeks election by asking voters to cast a vote for the candidate by physically writing in the person's name on the ballot. Depending on electoral law it may be poss ...
in his home state of
Vermont
Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...
.
In 2008, Nader formed Independent Parties in
New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...
,
Delaware
Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...
, and elsewhere to gain ballot access in several states. Several other candidates for federal races, including
Joe Lieberman
Joseph Isadore Lieberman (; born February 24, 1942) is an American politician, lobbyist, and attorney who served as a United States senator from Connecticut from 1989 to 2013. A former member of the Democratic Party, he was its nominee for ...
(
Connecticut for Lieberman), have pursued a similar strategy.
Governor
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...
,
Maine
Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...
,
Oregon
Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...
,
Rhode Island
Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...
,
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
, and
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...
have elected formally independent candidates as governor: Illinois's first two governors,
Shadrach Bond
Shadrach Bond (November 24, 1773 – April 12, 1832) was a representative from the Illinois Territory to the United States Congress. In 1818, he was elected Governor of Illinois, becoming the new state's first chief executive. In an example of A ...
and
Edward Coles
Edward Coles (December 15, 1786 – July 7, 1868) was an American planter and politician, elected as the second Governor of Illinois (1822 to 1826). From an old Virginia family, Coles as a young man was a neighbor and associate of presidents ...
;
James B. Longley
James Bernard Longley Sr. (April 22, 1924 – August 16, 1980) was an American politician. He served as the 69th Governor of Maine from 1975 to 1979, and was the first Independent to hold the office. In 1949, he married the former Helen Angela W ...
in 1974 as well as
Angus King in 1994 and 1998 from Maine;
Lincoln Chafee
Lincoln Davenport Chafee ( ; born March 26, 1953) is an American politician. He was mayor of Warwick, Rhode Island from 1993 to 1999, a United States Senator from 1999 to 2007, and the 74th Governor of Rhode Island from 2011 to 2015. He was a m ...
in 2010 from Rhode Island;
Julius Meier
Julius L. Meier (December 31, 1874 – July 14, 1937) was an American businessman, civic leader, and politician in the state of Oregon. The son of the Meier & Frank department store founder, he would become a lawyer before entering the family b ...
in 1930 from Oregon;
Sam Houston in 1859 from Texas; and
Bill Walker Bill Walker may refer to:
Australian rules football
* Bill A. Walker (1886–1934), Australian rules footballer for Essendon
* Bill Walker (Australian footballer, born 1883) (1883–1971), Australian rules footballer for Fitzroy
* Bill J. V. Wal ...
in 2014 from Alaska.
Lowell P. Weicker Jr. of
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...
is sometimes mentioned as an independent governor, though this is not technically correct; he ran as an
A Connecticut Party candidate (which gave him better ballot placement than an unaffiliated candidate would receive), defeating the Democratic and Republican nominees. Another former governor who is sometimes mentioned as an independent is
Jesse Ventura
Jesse Ventura (born James George Janos; July 15, 1951) is an American politician, actor, and retired professional wrestler. After achieving fame in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), he served as the 38th governor of Minnesota from 1999 to 2 ...
, who actually ran as a member of the
Reform Party's Minnesota
Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...
affiliate, which later disaffiliated from the party and reverted to its original name the
Independence Party of Minnesota
The Independence Party of Minnesota (often abbreviated IPM, MNIP or IP), formerly the Reform Party of Minnesota, is a political party in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It was the party of former Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura (1999–2003).
...
.
In 1971, State Senator
Henry Howell
Henry Evans Howell, Jr. (September 5, 1920 – July 7, 1997), nicknamed "Howlin' Henry" Howell, was an American lawyer and politician from the Commonwealth of Virginia. A progressive populist and a member of the Democratic Party, he served in ...
of
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
, a former Democrat, was elected
lieutenant governor as an independent. Two years later, he campaigned for
governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
as an independent, but lost by 15,000 votes.
There were several unsuccessful independent gubernatorial candidates in 2006 who impacted their electoral races. In Maine, state legislator
Barbara Merrill (formerly a Democrat) received 21% of the vote. In Texas,
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
singer and
mystery novelist Kinky Friedman
Richard Samet "Kinky" Friedman (born November 1, 1944) is an American singer, songwriter, novelist, humorist, politician, and former columnist for ''Texas Monthly'' who styles himself in the mold of popular American satirists Will Rogers and Mar ...
received 12.43% of the vote, and State
Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn
Carole Stewart Keeton (born September 13, 1939), formerly known as Carole Keeton McClellan, Carole Keeton Rylander and Carole Keeton Strayhorn, is an American politician and the former Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts.
Elected to the comptro ...
received 18.13%. Strayhorn and Friedman's presence in the race resulted in a splitting of the ballot four ways between themselves and the two major parties.
In 2010,
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
Charlie Crist left the Republican party and became Independent. (He later became a Democrat.) He left the Republicans because he did not want to run against former
state house Speaker
Speaker may refer to:
Society and politics
* Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly
* Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture
* A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially:
** I ...
Marco Rubio in the Republican primary for the
U.S. Senate election (Rubio won, though Crist came in ahead of Democratic nominee
Kendrick Meek
Kendrick Brett Meek (born September 6, 1966) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2003 to 2011. After serving in both houses of the Florida Legislature, Meek was elected to Congress in the 2002 election to s ...
).
In 2014, former
Honolulu
Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...
mayor
Mufi Hannemann
Muliufi Francis Hannemann (born July 16, 1954) is an American politician, businessman, and non-profit executive. He was elected twice as Mayor of Honolulu in 2004 and 2008. Hannemann has served as a special assistant in Washington, D.C., with t ...
ran as an independent candidate for the
governorship
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
of the State of
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...
after previously campaigning in the state's Democratic primary. As a result, Democratic candidate
David Ige
David Yutaka Ige (; born January 15, 1957) is an American politician and engineer who served as the eighth governor of Hawaii from 2014 to 2022. A Democrat, he served in the Hawaii State Senate from 1995 to 2014 and the Hawaii House of Repres ...
was elected as governor with a plurality of 49%.
Congress
= Senate
=
There have been several independents elected to the
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and pow ...
throughout history. Notable examples include
David Davis of Illinois (a former
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
) in the 19th century, and
Harry F. Byrd Jr.
Harry Flood Byrd Jr. (December 20, 1914 – July 30, 2013) was an American orchardist, newspaper publisher and politician. He served in the Senate of Virginia and then represented Virginia in the United States Senate, succeeding his father, Harr ...
of Virginia (who had been elected to his first term as a Democrat) in the 20th century. Some officials have been elected as members of a party but became independent while in office (without being elected as such), such as
Wayne Morse
Wayne Lyman Morse (October 20, 1900 – July 22, 1974) was an American attorney and United States Senator from Oregon. Morse is well known for opposing his party's leadership and for his opposition to the Vietnam War on constitutional grounds.
...
of Oregon.
Nebraska
Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...
senator
George W. Norris
George William Norris (July 11, 1861September 2, 1944) was an American politician from the state of Nebraska in the Midwestern United States. He served five terms in the United States House of Representatives as a Republican, from 1903 until 1913 ...
was elected for four terms as a Republican before changing to an independent after the Republicans lost their majority in Congress in 1930. Norris won re-election as an independent in 1936, but later lost his final re-election attempt to Republican
Kenneth S. Wherry in 1942. Vermont senator
Jim Jeffords left the Republican Party to become an independent in 2001. Jeffords's
change of party status was especially significant because it shifted the Senate composition from 50 to 50 between the Republicans and Democrats (with a Republican Vice President,
Dick Cheney, who would presumably break all ties in favor of the Republicans), to 49 Republicans, 50 Democrats, and one Independent. Jeffords agreed to vote for Democratic control of the Senate in exchange for being appointed chairman of the
Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, and the Democrats held control of the Senate until the
Congressional elections in 2002, when the Republicans regained their majority. Jeffords retired at the end of his term in 2007. Wayne Morse after two years as an independent became a Democrat.
Dean Barkley
Dean Malcolm Barkley (born August 31, 1950) is an American attorney and politician who briefly served as a United States Senator from Minnesota from 2002 to 2003 as a member of the Independence Party of Minnesota. The founder and chair of the ...
of the
Independence Party of Minnesota
The Independence Party of Minnesota (often abbreviated IPM, MNIP or IP), formerly the Reform Party of Minnesota, is a political party in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It was the party of former Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura (1999–2003).
...
was appointed a day before the 2002 elections to fill the senate seat of
Paul Wellstone
Paul David Wellstone (July 21, 1944 – October 25, 2002) was an American academic, author, and politician who represented Minnesota in the United States Senate from 1991 until he was killed in a plane crash near Eveleth, Minnesota, in 2002. A ...
who, while running for re-election, died weeks prior. Barkley refused to caucus with either party.
= House of Representatives
=
The
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
has also seen a handful of
independent members. Examples include Bernie Sanders of Vermont,
Virgil Goode
Virgil Hamlin Goode Jr. (born October 17, 1946) is an American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 5th congressional district of Virginia between 1997 and 2009. He was initially a Democrat, but b ...
of Virginia,
Frazier Reams
Henry Frazier Reams Sr. (January 15, 1897 – September 15, 1971) was an American politician of the United States Democratic Party from Toledo, Ohio. Reams served as a U.S. Congressman from Ohio from 1951 to 1955.
Life and career
Reams was bo ...
of
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
,
Victor Berger of
Wisconsin
Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
, and
Justin Amash
Justin Amash ( ; born April 18, 1980) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2011 to 2021. Originally a Republican, Amash joined the Libertarian Party in April 2020, becoming the party's first (an ...
and
Paul Mitchell of
Michigan
Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...
.
= Longest Running
=
Senator
Bernie Sanders is the longest-serving independent member of Congress in American history. He was an independent member of the
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
for
Vermont-at-large from 1991 to 2007. In
2006, Sanders won the Senate seat being vacated by the retiring
Jim Jeffords as an independent.
Joe Lieberman
Joseph Isadore Lieberman (; born February 24, 1942) is an American politician, lobbyist, and attorney who served as a United States senator from Connecticut from 1989 to 2013. A former member of the Democratic Party, he was its nominee for ...
is a former
Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
who, like
Lowell P. Weicker Jr., ran under a third party (
Connecticut for Lieberman Party) in the
2006 election. Though both representatives are technically independent politicians, they often caucus with the Democrats. In 2006, Sanders and Lieberman were the only two victorious independent candidates for Congress, both caucusing with the Democrats. In 2012,
Angus King was elected to the U.S. Senate as an Independent from Maine. , he has typically caucused with the Democrats.
Asia
Azerbaijan
In
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of t ...
, there are many independent members of the
National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...
, such as
Aytən Mustafayeva
Aytən Inglab gizi Mustafayeva (born 23 May 1968) is an Azerbaijani Independent politician who was a member of the National Assembly. She was elected at the 2015 Azerbaijani parliamentary election.
Early life
Mustafayeva graduated in 1990 wit ...
.
China
Hong Kong
More than half of
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
's
Legislative Council is made up of independents, or members whose political groups are represented by one sole member in the legislature. They are common in
functional constituencies, and are not rare among
geographical constituencies
In Hong Kong, geographical constituencies, as opposed to functional constituencies, are elected by all eligible voters according to geographically demarcated constituencies. There are currently 5 geographical constituencies in Hong Kong, returni ...
.
India
Independent candidates can contest elections on the basis of their personal appeal or to promote an ideology different from any party. Independents currently hold 6 seats in the Indian Parliament.
Israel
The only Israeli politician elected to the
Knesset
The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (with ...
by his own was
Shmuel Flatto-Sharon.
Malaysia
Independents have rarely been elected to the
Dewan Rakyat and state legislative assemblies. In Malaysian elections, many independent candidates lose their election deposit because they had failed to secure at least 12.5% or one-eighth of the total votes cast. Independent
Senators are quite rare.
In 2010, a group of independent MPs who were sacked from the
People's Justice Party
The People's Justice Party ( ms, Parti Keadilan Rakyat , often known simply as KEADILAN or PKR) is a reformist political party in Malaysia, formed in 2003 by a merger of the National Justice Party and the older Malaysian People's Party. The ...
formed a political block called ''
Konsensus Bebas''. The members were
Zahrain Mohamed Hashim
Dato' Seri Zahrain bin Mohamed Hashim (born 12 November 1955) is a Malaysian politician previously from the People's Justice Party (PKR), a component party of then Pakatan Rakyat (PR) opposition coalition who served as the 16th Ambassador o ...
(Bayan Baru),
Wee Choo Keong
Wee Choo Keong (; born 26 June 1953) is a Malaysian politician. He was the Member of Parliament for Bukit Bintang from 1990 to 1995 and for Wangsa Maju from 2008 to 2013. Wee had been a member of the Democratic Action Party (DAP) before be ...
(Wangsa Maju),
Zulkifli Noordin (Kulim-Bandar Bharu),
Tan Tee Beng
Tan Tee Beng (; born 21 February 1972) is a Malaysian independent politician. From 2008 to 2013 he was the Member of the Parliament of Malaysia for the Nibong Tebal constituency in Penang, Malaysia.
Tan was elected to Parliament in the 200 ...
(Nibong Tebal) and
Mohsin Fadzli Samsuri
Mohsin Fadzli Samsuri (30 November 1945 – 10 March 2022) was the Member of the Parliament of Malaysia for the Bagan Serai constituency in Perak from 2008 to 2013.
Mohsin was elected to Parliament in the 2008 election, winning the seat of B ...
(Bagan Serai). It did not last beyond the 12th General Elections.
, three independent MPs were elected in
GE14, but later joining
Pakatan Harapan
The Alliance of Hope ( ms, Pakatan Harapan; abbrev: PH; stylized as HARAPAN) is a Malaysian political coalition consisting of centre-left political parties which was formed in 2015 to succeed the Pakatan Rakyat coalition. It has been the ...
(
PKR), thus causing no representation for independent MP for that time. However, as of June 2018 and December 2018, the number increased to 13 independent Members of Parliament that now currently sit in the
Dewan Rakyat as of December 2018.
At the same time in December 2018, almost all members from Sabah
UMNO
The United Malays National Organisation ( Malay: ; Jawi: ; abbreviated UMNO () or less commonly PEKEMBAR), is a nationalist right-wing political party in Malaysia. As the oldest continuous national political party within Malaysia (since its ...
quit the party and became independent politicians.
Maszlee Malik quit
Homeland Fighters' Party
The Homeland Fighters' Party ( ms, Parti Pejuang Tanah Air, Jawi: ڤرتي ڤجواڠ تانه اير, PEJUANG) is a Malay-based political party of Malaysia, formed in August 2020 by the former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mahathir Mo ...
and became an independent MP fighting for education activist.
Dewan Negara (Senate)
=Senators
=
Dewan Rakyat (House of Representatives)
=Members of Parliament of the 15th Malaysian Parliament
=
Malaysian State Assembly Representatives
Sabah State Legislative Assembly
The Sabah State Legislative Assembly ( ms, Dewan Undangan Negeri Sabah, Kadazandusun: ''Langga' Tinukuan Pogun Sabah'') is a part of the legislature of Sabah, Malaysia, the other being the governor of Sabah. The assembly meets at the Sabah Sta ...
Sarawak State Legislative Assembly
The Sarawak State Legislative Assembly is the legislative chamber of the unicameral legislature of the Malaysian state of Sarawak; the Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Sarawak forms the other part of the legislature. The Assembly is modelled after the ...
North Korea
Parliamentary independent candidates: The system in place whither the DPRK allows for independent politicians to launch their own campaigns to gain a seat in parliament. The candidates however must be approved by the Fatherland Front, being the primary party of the DPRK. To cast votes to independent candidates the voting population must do so at independent voting stations.
Nearly all electoral systems currently in practice in the DPRK that exist on a local level are made up of mostly independent Candidates, as the Fatherland Front and other major party's primarily operate in the urban heartland of the DPRK. On the local level of North Korean elections, alliances between independent candidates is banned.
Nepal
In Nepal, there are some independent politician specially in local government. Independent politician and Rapper
Balen Shah was elected as Mayor of
Kathmandu
, pushpin_map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#Asia
, coordinates =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name =
, subdivision_type1 = Province
, subdivision_name1 = Bagmati Prov ...
with heavy votes. Similarly, Harka Sampang and Gopi Hamal were also elected as Mayor of some of the major cities like
Dharan
Dharan ( ne, धरान) a sub-metropolitan city in Sunsari District of Province No. 1, Nepal, which was established as a fourth municipality in the Kingdom in 1958. It is the third most populous city in Eastern Nepal after Biratnagar and ...
&
Dhangadhi
Dhangadhi ( ne, धनगढी ) is a sub-metropolitan city and the district headquarters of Kailali District in Sudurpashchim Province of Nepal.Dhangadhi is also the temporary capital of Sudurpashchim Province. It shares a border with Uttar ...
, respectively.
Pakistan
Pakistan also has independent politicians standing in elections. Pakistan's Parliament has
General Elections, 2008 elected 30 Members. In the 2011 four candidates won seats in the National Assembly. In the 2013 General Election nine seats were won by independents.
Philippines
Ever since the first elections during the
1907 Philippine Assembly elections, independents have been allowed to participate and have won seats. On that first election, independents had the most members, behind the Nacionalista Party. When the
Senate was first created, its
first elections in 1916 also saw independents participating and winning one seat. In the Nacionalista landslide of
1941, the three independents were the only non-members of the Nacionalista Party to win in the House of Representatives; this was also the start of independents being shut out in the Senate. After independence was granted by the United States in 1946, the
two-party system
A two-party system is a political party system in which two major political parties consistently dominate the political landscape. At any point in time, one of the two parties typically holds a majority in the legislature and is usually refe ...
between the Nacionalistas and
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
was established, with certain candidates who failed to get the nomination of either parties appearing on the ballot as "Independent Nacionalista" or "Independent Liberal", as the case may be. Independents not associated with any party were still able to participate and sporadically win elections. In the
1961 Philippine vice presidential election, independent
Sergio Osmeña Jr. narrowly lost to
Emmanuel Pelaez
Emmanuel Neri Pelaez (November 30, 1915 – July 27, 2003) was a Filipino public servant and politician who served as the 6th Vice President of the Philippines from 1961 to 1965.
Early life and career
Pelaez was born in Medina, Misamis (now ...
. The first breakthrough was in the
1967 Philippine Senate election
A senatorial election was held on November 14, 1967, in the Philippines. The 1967 election for the members of the Philippine Senate were also known as the 1967 midterm election, as the date where the elected candidates take office falls halfway th ...
was
Magnolia Antonino widow of Gaudencio Antonino who died on election eve, won.
Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law in 1972, dissolved Congress, and promulgated a new constitution that led to the
1978 Philippine parliamentary election
Events January
* January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213.
* January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd government).
* January 6 ...
, where one independent won, independents also won in
1984
Events
January
* January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888.
* January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...
. Marcos was overthrown after the 1986
People Power Revolution
The People Power Revolution, also known as the EDSA Revolution or the February Revolution, was a series of popular demonstrations in the Philippines, mostly in Metro Manila, from February 22 to 25, 1986. There was a sustained campaign of c ...
after he allegedly cheated in the
1986 Philippine presidential election
The 1986 Philippine presidential and vice presidential elections were held on February 7, 1986. Popularly known as the 1986 snap election, it is among the landmark events that led up to the People Power Revolution, the downfall of the presidenc ...
.
Corazon Aquino succeeded Marcos, and promulgated a new constitution that ushered in a
multi-party system
In political science, a multi-party system is a political system in which multiple political parties across the political spectrum run for national elections, and all have the capacity to gain control of government offices, separately or in ...
. Here, parties are not able to present full 12-person slates in Senate elections, thus necessitating inter-party cooperation, that included independents. The
1995 Philippine Senate election
The 1995 election of members to the Senate of the Philippines was the 25th election to the Senate of the Philippines. It was held on Monday, May 8, 1995, to elect 12 of the 24 seats in the Senate. Filipinos protected the ballot boxes with their liv ...
saw two independents winning:
Juan Ponce Enrile (who later ran and lost the
1998 Philippine presidential election
The 1998 Philippine presidential and vice presidential elections were held on May 11, 1998. In the presidential election, Vice President Joseph Estrada won a six-year term as President by a landslide victory. In the vice-presidential race, Sena ...
as independent) and
Gregorio Honasan
Gregorio "Gringo" Ballesteros Honasan II (, born March 14, 1948), is a Filipino politician and a cashiered Philippine Army officer who led unsuccessful coups d'état against President Corazon Aquino. He played a key role in the 1986 EDSA Rev ...
, who both teamed up to stage coups during the Aquino presidency. The
2001 EDSA Revolution
The Second EDSA Revolution, also known as the Second People Power Revolution, EDSA 2001, or EDSA II (pronounced ''EDSA Two'' or ''EDSA Dos''), was a political protest from January 17–20, 2001, which peacefully overthrew the government of Jose ...
increased the number of major candidates running as independents, with broadcaster
Noli de Castro
Manuel Leuterio de Castro Jr. (; born July 6, 1949), professionally known as Noli de Castro, is a Filipino journalist, news anchor and politician who served as the 12th vice president of the Philippines from 2004 until 2010, under President ...
topping the Senate election. He was a guest candidate of the opposition
Pwersa ng Masa coalition but he never joined their campaign rallies. In 2004, he ran
as vice president as a guest candidate of the administration
K-4 coalition and won with just under majority of the vote.
In the local level, former priest
Eddie Panlilio was elected as governor of
Pampanga
Pampanga, officially the Province of Pampanga ( pam, Lalawigan ning Pampanga; tl, Lalawigan ng Pampanga ), is a province in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. Lying on the northern shore of Manila Bay, Pampanga is bordered by Tarlac ...
in 2007, defeating two administration candidates. When Panlilio eventually transferred to the Liberal Party in time for the 2010 election, it was ruled that he was beaten in the 2007 election; in 2010, he was defeated.
In the
2010 House of Representatives elections, seven independents were elected, although all but two joined a political party after the elections. Independents can only run in
district
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...
elections, and cannot participate in
party-list elections as independents.
In contesting elections, independent candidates, while can spend as much as those with parties can under the law, they aren't able to tap in spending from a political party that nominated them.
Independent candidates are different from
nonpartisan politicians; the former are elected in openly partisan elections, while the latter participate in nonpartisan elections such as
barangay elections. Local legislatures may find itself with independent and nonpartisan members.
Taiwan
After the
2018 Taiwanese local elections
Local elections were held on 24 November 2018 in Taiwan, to elect county magistrates (city mayors), county (city) councilors, township mayors, township councilors and chiefs of village (borough) in 6 municipalities and 16 counties (cities). Elec ...
, there is only one independent local head:
*
Ko Wen-je
Ko Wen-je (; born 6 August 1959), also known by his nickname, Ko P (), is a Taiwanese politician and physician. Ko was mayor of Taipei from 2014 to 2022, and Chairman of the Taiwan People's Party since 2019. Before becoming mayor, he was a docto ...
, Mayor of
Taipei
Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the ...
.
In 2019, Ko Wen-je founded the
Taiwan People's Party
The Taiwan People's Party is a political party in Taiwan, formally established on 6 August 2019 by Ko Wen-je, who serves as its first and current chairman.
Application process
The party was proposed in August 2019 by Mayor of Taipei Ko Wen-je ...
, so there is no independent local head at the moment.
Europe
Bulgaria
The
President of Bulgaria
The president of the Republic of Bulgaria is the head of state of Bulgaria and the commander-in-chief of the Bulgarian Army. The official residence of the president is at Boyana Residence, Sofia. After the completion of the second round of votin ...
Rumen Radev is an independent with support from the
Bulgarian Socialist Party. Radev was elected in the
2016 presidential election
This national electoral calendar for 2016 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2016 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included.
January
*7 January: Kiri ...
. An independent politician can enter into parliament only if they gather enough votes to pass the 4% threshold, thus behaving like political parties. However they can be part of a civic quota of a given party. Civic quotas are lists of independents candidates, who are represented on a given party's electoral list, without directly joining the party. Every party has the capability to invite independent candidates into their lists, without forcing them to join the party itself.
Croatia
After an inconclusive election in
2015,
Tihomir Orešković was named the first non-partisan
Prime Minister of Croatia
, type = Head of Government
, member_of =
, reports_to = Croatian Parliament
, appointer = Croatian Parliament
, nominator = President of Croatia
, termlength = At the pleasure of the parliamentary majority. Parliamentary elections must be h ...
.
Estonia
All
Estonian presidents are forced to retire from any political party they may be in.
Finland
Marshal C. G. E. Mannerheim, who served as the
President of Finland from 1944 to 1946, did not want to be affiliated with any party. As the state regent/caretaker from December 1918 to July 1919, Mannerheim also stood as an independent in the
July 1919 presidential election against the
National Progressive's candidate
Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg, who won. Also, after serving six years on his first term as the 12th President of Finland in the
National Coalition Party
sv, Samlingspartiet
, leader1_title = Chairman
, leader1_name = Petteri Orpo
, leader2_title = Deputy chairs
, leader2_name = Antti HäkkänenElina ValtonenAnna-Kaisa Ikonen
, merger = Finnish Party, Young Finn ...
from 2012 to 2018,
Sauli Niinistö was elected for his second term in 2018 after running as an independent candidate. Sauli Niinistö's status as an independent/non-partisan president has been attributed to his historical approval ratings and popularity, which stood at 90% favorable in July 2021 of which 52% said that Niinistö had handled the presidency "Very favorably".
France
In France, independent politicians are frequently categorised as ''sans étiquette'' ("without label") in municipal or district elections.
In the nineteenth-century and first half of the twentieth century, most French national politicians were independents. The first modern French political parties date from the early 1900s (foundation of
Action Libérale and the
Radical Party). The first legislation on political parties dates from 1911, though it was not until 1928 that parliamentarians were required to select a political party for the parliamentary register (either by formally joining a group, or by loosely working with one as an ''apparenté'', or associate), and not until after 1945 that structured political parties came to dominate parliamentary work.
Once elected, independents tended to attach themselves to a parliamentary party. In some cases independent deputies banded together to form a technical group of their own. In 1932, for instance, there were four technical groups created: the left-of-centre
Independent Left, with 12 deputies; the centre-right liberal
Independents of the Left, with 26 deputies; the right-wing
agrarian Independents for Economic, Social and Peasant Action, with six deputies; and the far-right
monarchist
Monarchism is the advocacy of the system of monarchy or monarchical rule. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government independently of any specific monarch, whereas one who supports a particular monarch is a royalist. ...
Independent Group, with 12 deputies—these four technical groups thus accounted for one-tenth of deputies. In addition, the larger parliamentary parties, including the socialist SFIO, centre-left PRRRS, centre-right ARD and conservative FR all included a greater or lesser number of independents who sat with their group for parliamentary work (''apparentés'').
In 1920,
Alexandre Millerand
Alexandre Millerand (; – ) was a French politician. He was Prime Minister of France from 20 January to 23 September 1920 and President of France from 23 September 1920 to 11 June 1924. His participation in Waldeck-Rousseau's cabinet at the s ...
was elected
president of the Republic under the banner "without label".
However, it is nowadays rare to have independent politicians at national level, if only because independents usually affiliate themselves to an existing political grouping. Noteworthy independents include
José Bové
Joseph "José" Bové (born 11 June 1953) is a French farmer, politician and syndicalist, member of the alter-globalization movement, and spokesman for Via Campesina. He was one of the twelve official candidates in the 2007 French presidential elec ...
in the 2007 French presidential election, 2007 presidential election. Emmanuel Macron was an independent politician as Minister, but formed his own party to stand in the 2017 French presidential election, 2017 presidential election.
From 2001 to 2008, "without label" was no longer used in the nomenclature of the Minister of the Interior (France), Ministry of the Interior. Candidates and lists presenting themselves as "without label" are classified in DVG (various left), DVD (various right), DVC (various center) or AUT (other) according to their political sensitivity. Therefore, from 2008 onwards, the DIV (miscellaneous) or the LDIV code for the "miscellaneous" list has been created to group unclassifiable or categorical interests and, by default, mayors without a declared label claiming no political sensitivity, be it left, center or right. The AUT (other) grade replaces the DIV grade without changing its definition.
Georgia
Salome Zourabichvili won the 2018 Georgian presidential election as an independent candidate, becoming the first-ever female President of Georgia.
Germany
Joachim Gauck, President of Germany from March 2012 to March 2017 and the first Federal President without party affiliation, was to date the most prominent independent politician. In the 2010 German presidential election, German presidential election of 2010 he was the candidate of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, Social Democrats and Alliance '90/The Greens, Greens, in 2012 German presidential election, 2012 the candidate of all major parties except The Left (Germany), The Left. His presidency—though his powers are limited—constitutes an exception, as Independent politicians have rarely held high office in German history, at least not since World War II. It has nevertheless happened that a presidential candidate without any chances of election by the Federal Convention (Germany), Federal Convention was not a party member: for example, in 1984 the Greens came up with the writer Luise Rinser.
In the Bundestag parliament nearly all deputies belong to a political party. The voting system of mixed-member proportional representation, personalized proportional representation (since 1949) allows any individual holding the suffrage, passive right to vote to stand for a direct Mandate (politics), mandate in the electoral districts—299 of the seats in parliament are distributed by districts according to a plurality voting system. Such a candidate has to present 200 signatures in favor of their candidacy, the same as a candidate of a party that had no parliamentary presentation previously. The first 1949 West German federal election, Bundestag election in 1949 saw three independents elected; since then, no party-independent candidate has won a seat. At States of Germany, state level, the situation is more or less the same: only party members have a real chance to be elected to a Landtag legislature, and state ministers without party membership are just as rare as at the federal level. However, in local elections it may occur that an independent politician is elected deputy to Districts of Germany, districts', cities' and municipalities' assemblies, as well as member of a city council or even
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...
, especially in Northern Germany. In recent years, independents have formed Free Voters associations which have had success in local governments. Two such associations have managed to enter state parliaments: the Free Voters of Bavaria in 2008 and the Brandenburg United Civic Movements/Free Voters in 2019.
An independent member of parliament, who also is not a member of a voters' association, holds the status of ''fraktionsloser Abgeordneter'', i.e., not affiliated to any parliamentary group. A representative who either leaves their party (and their parliamentary group) or is expelled from it and does not join another becomes ''fraktionslos''. In 1989 the Bundestag MP Thomas Wüppesahl, who had left the Green Party in 1987 and was excluded from the Green parliamentary group the next year, obtained more rights as a ''fraktionsloser Abgeordneter'', for example more talking time and representation in a subcommittee, when the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany, Federal Constitutional Court decided partially in their favor.
After the Unification of Germany, German unification of 1871, the first Chancellor of Germany, Reich Chancellors (head of government, heads of government) ''de jure'' served as executive officers of the German Empire, German Imperial states as non-partisans, usually recruited from the traditional bureaucratic, aristocratic and/or military elites. In the fierce political conflicts during the Weimar Republic, Weimar period after World War I, several chancellors and Reich Ministers also had no party affiliation: these chancellors were Wilhelm Cuno (1922–1923), Hans Luther (1925–1926), the former Centre Party (Germany), Centre politician Franz von Papen (1932), and Kurt von Schleicher (1932–1933). The last two Cabinet of Germany, cabinets appointed by Reich President Paul von Hindenburg, a non-partisan (though strongly Conservatism in Germany, Conservative) himself, were regarded as apolitical cabinets of experts with regard to the rise of the Nazi Party; many of the ministers were not party members.
Since World War II, only two ministers of (West) German cabinets have not been party members, though "on the ticket" of the major party in the coalition, the Social Democrats: Education Minister Hans Leussink (1969–1972), and Minister of Economy Werner Müller (politician), Werner Müller (1998–2002). Minister of Justice Klaus Kinkel only shortly after his appointment joined the Free Democratic Party (Germany), Free Democrats in 1991. A special case is the former Federal Minister and Chancellor Ludwig Erhard, whose affiliation with the Christian Democratic Union (Germany), Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has not been conclusively established: although he served as Minister of Economics from 1949 to 1963 and as Federal Chancellor from 1963 to 1966, and was even elected CDU party chairman in 1966, it seems that he never signed a membership form or paid contributions. Researches by ''Der Stern'' magazine have revealed a record at the CDU party archives created only in 1968, with the faked date of entry of early March 1949.
Iceland
The President of Iceland (currently Guðni Th. Jóhannesson) is independent.
Ireland
In Ireland, proportional representation, the comparative looseness of formal parties, and strong local sentiment have meant that independents have formed a significant part of the parliamentary landscape since the Irish Free State, foundation of the state: in the early elections to Dáil Éireann (Irish Free State), Dáil Éireann (parliament), independents accounted for 1922 Irish general election, 7% of seats in 1922, 1923 Irish general election, 8.5% in 1923, June 1927 Irish general election, 10.5% in 1927, and 1932 Irish general election, 9% in 1932, though with the development of relatively more structured parties their numbers declined thereafter. These were similar proportions to the number of independents elected to other interwar European democracies such as France (see above).
It was not until the 2010s that independents would see a similar electoral success, with record scores for independents surpassing the previous interwar highs.
After the 2016 Irish general election, Irish general election in 2016, there were 19 independent Teachtaí Dála, TDs (parliamentary deputies) in the Dáil Éireann, Dáil (the lower house of the Irish parliament), representing 12% of the total. Two technical groups were formed by independent deputies to coordinate their activities: the Independents4Change, with four deputies, opposed the government, while the Independent Alliance (Ireland), Independent Alliance formed part of the minority government's working majority. A number of other individual independents similarly supported the government, and received cabinet positions.
There are fourteen independent senators in the Members of the 25th Seanad, 25th Seanad Éireann, Seanad (the upper house of the Irish parliament), representing 23% of the total. Three of these are elected by the graduates of the National University of Ireland and two from Trinity College Dublin, Dublin University. There are also five independent senators who were nominated by the Taoiseach and four elected by the technical panels.
Italy
The Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Ministers Carlo Azeglio Ciampi (1993–1994), Lamberto Dini (1995–1996), Giuliano Amato (2000–2001), Mario Monti (2011–2013), Giuseppe Conte (2018–2021) and Mario Draghi (2021–2022) were independent when they were in office. Ciampi was also the President of Italy between 1999 and 2006. President Sergio Mattarella, despite being a former member of the Christian Democracy (Italy), Christian Democracy and of the Democratic Party (Italy), Democratic Party, was elected president in 2015 as an independent (he was member of the Constitutional Court at the moment of his election).
Kosovo
Atifete Jahjaga was elected the first female and Independent President of Kosovo. She was also the first female and independent elected leader in the whole of the Balkans.
Poland
The Polish Sejm is elected by party-list ordination, which does not allow lone candidates to run, although since 2001 there has been a possibility to create non-partisan ''Voters' Electoral Committee'' (pol. ''KWW'', ''komitet wyborczy wyborców''); they are by almost any means party lists, but no officially registered party is behind them. They can be unregistered parties, e.g. Kukiz'15, or non-partisan movements, although the latter never reached the 5% threshold. National minorities candidates also form Voters' Electoral Committees (like German Minority Electoral Committee, represented in Sejm since 1991), but they do not have to reach the nationwide threshold. However, during a Sejm term many members switch parties or become independents.
Tickets such as Civic Platform during the 2001 Polish parliamentary election, 2001 election were formally non-partisan, Civic Platform was widely viewed as a de facto political party, as it is now.
The situation in the Senate of Poland, Senate is different, as the voting system allows independents to run as single candidates and some are elected in their own right. In the last parliamentary election (2015 Polish parliamentary election, 2015) four independents won seats in the Senate.
Three President of Poland, presidents since 1990 have technically been independents. Lech Wałęsa was not an endorsed candidate of any party, but the chairman of the Solidarity (Polish trade union), Solidarity and he was elected without full support of this union (Solidarity votes split between him and Prime Minister of Poland, Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki). Aleksander Kwaśniewski was a leader of the Social Democracy of the Republic of Poland, but formally resigned from the party after he was elected, as did Lech Kaczyński, who was the first leader of Law and Justice, Bronisław Komorowski (Civic Platform, PO) and Andrzej Duda (Law and Justice, PiS). The resignation is required because the Constitution says that the president shall hold no other offices nor discharge any public functions. The aforementioned presidents often participated in their party's campaigns (e.g. Andrzej Duda in the Law and Justice campaign three months after his resignation from the party).
Portugal
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, the current president of Portugal since 6 March 2016, was elected on 24 January 2016 while being a leading member of the Social Democratic Party (Portugal), Social Democratic Party, but suspended his political affiliation on the day of his Swearing in, swearing-in.
Russia
All of Russia's President of Russia, presidents have been independents. Former president Dmitry Medvedev declined an offer to join United Russia, saying that he believes the President should be an independent so that he serves the interests of the country rather than his political party.
Vladimir Putin, the current president of Russia, was the head of the United Russia party until 26 May 2012, but even then was not its member, thus formally was and still is independent.
Sweden
The Swedish election system is based on parties nominating candidate MPs for their party ballots, and each party has to receive 4% or more of the national vote (or 12% in one region, which has never happened independently of also reaching the different 4% threshold). This makes running as an independent MP impossible. Once elected, the seat is personal; MPs may resign their party membership, or be stripped of it, while retaining their Riksdag seats to become independent to become what is commonly referred to as a ''politisk vilde'' (''political savage'') symbol: (-).
In the Government of Sweden, Government (executive cabinet), there is no requirement for ministers to be MPs, or even have a political affiliation (though this has overwhelmingly been the case in modern times). This means that even the Prime Minister of Sweden, Prime Minister could technically be an independent if chosen by the Riksdag.
United Kingdom
The Registration of Political Parties Act 1998 laid down the first specific rules in the United Kingdom relating to the use of the term 'independent' by election candidates. That Act was repealed with most of its contents covered by Part II of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. Candidates standing for United Kingdom local elections and United Kingdom parliamentary elections, including the devolved parliaments and assemblies, can use the name of a registered political party, or the term 'Independent' (or its Welsh language equivalent ''annibynol'') or no ballot paper description at all (this latter choice was used, for example, by David Icke at the 2008 Haltemprice and Howden by-election).
Some groups in the United Kingdom who are not affiliated to any national or regional party have registered locality-based political parties. Some English examples are the Independent Kidderminster Hospital and Health Concern, the Epsom and Ewell Residents Association, the Devizes Guardians, the Derwentside Independents, and the East Yorkshire Independents.
House of Commons
Before the twentieth century it was fairly common for independents to be elected to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, but there have been very few since 1945. S. O. Davies, a veteran Labour Party (UK), Labour MP, held his Merthyr Tydfil seat in the 1970 United Kingdom general election, 1970 general election, standing as an independent, after the Labour Party had deselected him.
Journalist Martin Bell was elected at Tatton (UK Parliament constituency), Tatton in the 1997 United Kingdom general election, general election of 1997, having stood on an anti-corruption platform, defeating incumbent Neil Hamilton (politician), Neil Hamilton. He was the first independent to be newly elected to the Commons since 1951 United Kingdom general election, 1951.
[Martin Bell's 1997 election was the first election of an Independent in the UK since 1951: ] He stood unsuccessfully in a different constituency in 2001.
At the 2001 United Kingdom general election, 2001 general election, Richard Taylor (UK politician), Dr Richard Taylor of the Independent Kidderminster Hospital and Health Concern party was elected for the constituency of Wyre Forest (UK Parliament constituency), Wyre Forest. Taylor was re-elected for Wyre Forest at the 2005 United Kingdom general election, 2005 general election, becoming the only independent in recent times to have been elected for a second term.
Two independent (or local party) members of parliament were elected in the 2005 United Kingdom general election, 2005 election, although both were defeated five years later. In the same election, Peter Law was elected as an independent at Blaenau Gwent (UK Parliament constituency), Blaenau Gwent. Law died on 25 April 2006: the resulting 2006 Blaenau Gwent by-elections, by-election elected Dai Davies (politician), Dai Davies of the local party Blaenau Gwent People's Voice. The by-election was unusual as it was the first time in over eighty years that an independent had held a seat previously occupied by another independent.
Only one independent was elected to the Commons in the 2010 United Kingdom general election, 2010, 2015 United Kingdom general election, 2015 and 2017 United Kingdom general election, 2017 elections: Sylvia Hermon, the member for North Down (UK Parliament constituency), North Down, a Unionism in Ireland, Unionist who left the Ulster Unionist Party because of its links with the Conservative Party (UK), Conservatives.
There have also been several instances of politicians being elected to the Commons as representatives of a political party, then resigning the party's whip, or having it withdrawn. Examples in this in the 2010–2015 parliament included Mike Hancock (British politician), Mike Hancock (formerly a Liberal Democrats (UK), Liberal Democrat), Eric Joyce (formerly Labour) and Nadine Dorries, a Conservative who had the whip withdrawn for part of the parliament and thus sat as an independent during that time.
Independent candidates often stand in British parliamentary elections, often with platforms about specific local issues, but usually without success. An example from the 2001 general election was Aston Villa supporter Ian Robinson, who stood as an independent in the Sutton Coldfield (UK Parliament constituency), Sutton Coldfield constituency in protest at the way chairman Doug Ellis ran the football club. Another example an independent candidate, in the Salisbury (UK Parliament constituency), Salisbury constituency, is Arthur Uther Pendragon, a local activist and self-declared reincarnation of King Arthur.
Other independent candidates are associated with a political party and may be former members of it, but cannot stand under its label. For instance, for several months after being expelled from the Labour Party but before the Respect Party, Respect Coalition was founded, George Galloway MP described himself as "Independent Labour".
On 23 March 2005 the Independent Network was set up to support independent candidates in the forthcoming General Election. The Independent Network still supports Independent candidates in local, regional, national and European elections. It has an organic set of principles which are known as the Bell Principles and are very closely related to Committee on Standards in Public Life, Lord Nolan's Standards of Public Life. The Independent Network does not impose any ideology or political influence on their candidates.
In March 2009, the multi-millionaire Paul Judge established the Jury Team, an umbrella organisation dedicated to increasing the number of independent candidates standing in Britain, in both national and European elections.
=Independent and undescribed candidates
=
Part II of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 allows individuals who wish to stand as a candidate to all parliaments and assemblies in the UK, including the House of Commons, the right to use one of three ballot paper descriptions. Those descriptions are the name of a registered political party; the word "independent"; or no description at all.
Unless a candidate stands as "independent" or as a "No Description" candidate leaving the ballot paper description box blank, their candidature must be confirmed by a signed certificate from the relevant officer from a registered political party, as set out in Section 52 of the Electoral Administration Act 2006.
House of Lords
The House of Lords includes many peers independent from political parties. Some are simply Non-affiliated members of the House of Lords, not affiliated with any grouping, whilst another, larger, grouping is given the official designation of Crossbench#United Kingdom, crossbenchers. Additionally the Lords Spiritual (bishops of the Church of England) do not have party affiliations.
Scottish Parliament, Senedd (Welsh Parliament) and Northern Irish Assembly
In the 2003 Scottish Parliament election, 2003 Scottish Parliamentary elections, three Member of the Scottish Parliament, MSPs were elected as Independents: Dennis Canavan (Falkirk West (Scottish Parliament constituency), Falkirk West), Dr Jean Turner (Strathkelvin and Bearsden (Scottish Parliament constituency), Strathkelvin and Bearsden) and Margo MacDonald (Lothians (Scottish Parliament electoral region), Lothians). In 2004 Campbell Martin (West of Scotland (Scottish Parliament electoral region), West of Scotland region) left the Scottish National Party to become an independent and in 2005 Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife (Scottish Parliament electoral region), Mid Scotland and Fife) left the Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party to become an independent. At the 2007 Scottish Parliament election, 2007 Scottish Parliamentary elections Margo MacDonald was again returned as an independent MSP and was elected as an independent for the third time 2011 Scottish Parliament election, four years later. She died in 2014 while still serving as member of the Parliament. As she was elected as an independent regional MSP, there could be no by-election and her seat remained vacant until the 2016 Scottish Parliament election, 2016 election.
Peter Law was expelled from the Labour Party after standing against an official Labour candidate in Blaenau Gwent at the 2005 UK general election and became an independent in the National Assembly and UK Parliament. In 2006 Peter Law died from a brain tumour and his wife, Trish Law, campaigned and took the seat as an independent candidate at the subsequent by-election and held onto the seat again in the 2007 National Assembly for Wales election, 2007 Welsh Assembly elections.
In 2016, Nathan Gill as the then leader of UKIP Wales defected from the group to sit as an independent after a falling out with Neil Hamilton (politician), Neil Hamilton, who was elected UKIP Assembly group leader. Dafydd Elis-Thomas left the Plaid Cymru group later in 2016 after multiple fallings out with Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood. Elis-Thomas said his reason for leaving Plaid Cymru was that it not serious about working with the Welsh Labour Government. Neil McEvoy was expelled from Plaid Cymru on 16 January 2018 and sat as an independent AM until 2021. Nathan Gill stood down on 27 December 2017 and was replaced by Mandy Jones (politician), Mandy Jones. Mandy Jones left the UKIP group on 9 January 2018 over a fallout over her staff.
Local elections
The introduction of Directly elected mayors in England and Wales, directly elected mayors in several parts of England has witnessed the election of independents to run councils in Stoke-on-Trent, Middlesbrough (borough), Middlesbrough, Borough of Bedford, Bedford, Hartlepool (borough), Hartlepool and Mansfield (district), Mansfield. The first Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, was 2000 London mayoral election, first elected as an independent, having run against the official Labour candidate Frank Dobson. He was subsequently re-admitted to the Labour Party in December 2003 before his first re-election campaign.
Independent candidates frequently stand and are elected to local councils. There is a special Independent group of the Local Government Association to cater for them. A number of local authorities have been entirely or almost entirely composed of independent members, such as the City of London Corporation, the 2009 Council of the Isles of Scilly election, Isles of Scilly Council, Orkney Islands Council, Shetland Islands Council and Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (Western Isles Council) in the Outer Hebrides.
Roughly a quarter of the police and crime commissioners elected in England and Wales in the 2012 England and Wales police and crime commissioner elections, 2012 election were independents.
Oceania
Australia
Independents are a recurrent feature of the federal Parliament of Australia, and they are more commonly elected to state parliaments. There have been up to five independents in every federal parliament since 1990, and independents have won twenty-eight times during national elections in that time. A large proportion of independents are former members of one of Australia's four main parties, the Australian Labor Party, the Liberal Party of Australia, the Australian Greens, or the National Party of Australia. In 2013 a political party named the Australian Independents was registered with the Australian Electoral Commission.
At the dissolution of parliament before the 2019 Australian federal election, 2019 federal election, four independents sat in the Australian House of Representatives: Andrew Wilkie (Member for Division of Denison, Denison), Cathy McGowan (politician), Cathy McGowan (Member for Division of Indi, Indi), Kerryn Phelps (Member for Division of Wentworth, Wentworth), and Julia Banks (Member for Division of Chisholm, Chisholm). Of these, Wilkie had previously been a Greens candidate, McGowan had been a Liberal staffer, and Banks was elected as a Liberal MP before resigning from the party in November 2018. At the 2019 election, Wilkie was re-elected as the Member for Division of Clark, Clark, while McGowan retired, and both Phelps and Banks lost their seats. However, two new independents entered parliament: Zali Steggall (Member for Division of Warringah, Warringah) and Helen Haines (Member for Division of Indi, Indi).
After the 2022 Australian federal election, 2022 federal election, a record ten independents were elected to the House of Representatives, including re-elected members Andrew Wilkie (Division of Clark, Clark), Zali Steggall (Division of Warringah, Warringah), and Helen Haines (Division of Indi, Indi). Seven new independents were elected to the House of Representatives: Dai Le (Division of Fowler, Fowler), Zoe Daniel (Division of Goldstein, Goldstein), Monique Ryan (Division of Kooyong, Kooyong), Allegra Spender (Division of Wentworth, Wentworth), Kate Chaney (Division of Curtin, Curtin), Kylea Tink (Division of North Sydney, North Sydney), and Sophie Scamps (Division of Mackellar, Mackellar).
Independent Australian Senate, senators are quite rare. In modern politics, Independent Brian Harradine served from 1975 to 2005 with considerable influence at times. Nick Xenophon was the only elected independent senator after his election to the Senate at the 2007 Australian federal election, 2007 federal election and was re-elected for another six-year term at the 2013 Australian federal election, 2013 federal election. He resigned from the Australian Senate in 2017 to contest a seat in the House of Assembly of South Australia. Democratic Labour Party (Australia), DLP Senator John Madigan (Australian politician), John Madigan became an independent senator in September 2014, but lost his seat in the 2016 Australian federal election, 2016 election. Palmer United Party, PUP Senators Jacqui Lambie and Glenn Lazarus became Independent senators in November 2014 and March 2015 respectively. Lambie was re-elected in 2019 with the support of the Jacqui Lambie Network. At the 2022 Australian federal election, independent senator for the ACT David Pocock was elected, becoming the first independent senator from a territory.
New Zealand
Originally, there were no recognised parties in the New Zealand parliament, although loose groupings did exist informally (initially between supporters of central government versus provincial governments, and later between liberals and conservatives). The foundation of formal political parties, starting at the end of the 19th century, considerably diminished the number of unaffiliated politicians, although a smaller number of independent candidates continued to be elected up until the 1940s. Since then, however, there have been relatively few independent politicians in Parliament. No independent candidate has won or held a seat in a general election since 1943 New Zealand general election, 1943, although two independent candidates have been successful in by-elections (in all cases after having held the seats in question as partisan candidates up until that point). Other politicians have become independents in the course of a parliamentary term, but not been voted into office as such.
The last person to be directly elected to Parliament as an independent in New Zealand was Winston Peters, who won the in electorate as an independent after having previously held it a member of the New Zealand National Party, National Party. By the time of the 1993 New Zealand general election, next general election, he had formed his own party (New Zealand First), and thus was no longer standing as an independent. Since that time, the only independents in Parliament have been people who quit or were expelled from their original party but retained their seats without going through a by-election. Some have gone on to found or co-found their own parties, with varying levels of success—examples include Peter Dunne, Taito Phillip Field, Gordon Copeland, Tau Henare, and Alamein Kopu. Others have joined parties which were then outside Parliament, such as Frank Grover and Tuariki Delamere.
There were two independent MPs in the 49th New Zealand Parliament: Chris Carter (politician), Chris Carter and Hone Harawira. Carter became an independent after his criticisms of the New Zealand Labour Party, Labour Party's leadership resulted in his being expelled from the Labour caucus, while Harawira resigned from the Māori Party and, after a short period as an independent, also resigned as an MP in order to force the when he was re-elected as representative of his new political party, Mana Party (New Zealand), Mana and retained the seat in the 2011 General Election. There were also two other parties which had only a single MP: United Future with Peter Dunne and ACT New Zealand, ACT with David Seymour (New Zealand politician), David Seymour. Neither Dunne nor Seymour was classed as an independent—Dunne's presence in Parliament was due to personal votes in his home electorate, and Seymour's presence was as the sole elected MP of ACT because of a collapse in their support in the . In the 50th New Zealand Parliament there was one independent MP: Brendan Horan, a former New Zealand First MP who was expelled from his party because of allegations of misappropriation of family assets.
Peter Dunne effectively became an Independent MP for a short period after his United Future political party was deregistered on 25 June 2013 by the Electoral Commission, as the party no longer had the required minimum of 500 members. The party was subsequently re-registered two months later.
Niue
In Niue, there have been no political parties since 2003, when the Niue People's Party disbanded, and all politicians are ''de facto'' independents. The government depends on an informal coalition.
See also
* Nonpartisanism
* Party switching
* Backbencher
* Centrism
* Electoral reform
* Benjamin Franklin
* Independent voter
* Non-partisan democracy
* Radical center (politics), Radical centrism
* Swing vote
* Syncretic politics
* Third party (United States)
Notes
References
*
*
External links
Independent Political Candidate Directory
{{Authority control
Independent politicians,
Political terminology