The John Marek Independent Party (JMIP) was a political party in North

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

which eventually evolved into

Forward Wales Forward Wales ( cy, Cymru Ymlaen) was a socialist political party operating in Wales. It evolved from the John Marek Independent Party (JMIP), formed by the ex-Labour member of the Welsh Assembly, John Marek who was the party's national convenor. ...

. The JMIP was formed in March 2003 by

John Marek John Marek (born 24 December 1940) is a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wrexham from 1983 to 2001, and the Member of the Welsh Assembly (AM) for Wrexham from 1999 to 2007. A member of the Labour Party until ...

. Marek had been deselected by his local

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

as official candidate in the

2003 National Assembly for Wales election 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

, over his criticisms of its perceived rightward march. The JMIP stood for the May 2003 elections to the

National Assembly for Wales The Senedd (; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English language, English and () in Welsh language, Welsh, is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, it makes ...

on a left-wing platform that included public ownership of the railways and greater powers for the Assembly. The media portrayed the JMIP as a real threat to Labour in North-East Wales. The party stood in the constituencies of

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

and Clwyd South. The party also had a list in the North Wales region. Their candidates were: *

(Wrexham, former Labour MP/AM) *Colin Jones (Second on the North Wales List, Anti-War Activist) *Marc Jones (Clwyd South,

BBC Wales BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Wales. It is one of the four BBC national regions, alongside the BBC English Regions, BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Scotland. Established in 1964, BBC Cymru Wales is ...

Director and Producer) On 1 May 2003 Marek won Wrexham with 6,539 votes or 37.7% of the vote. Elsewhere they got 2,210 or 11.8% in Clwyd South and 11,008 or 6.3% on the North Wales list. It was the only minor party to retain its deposit in the regional lists and its constituency result compared favourably with other left-wing candidates. During its existence the JMIP forged strong links with the

Scottish Socialist Party The Scottish Socialist Party (SSP; gd, Pàrtaidh Sòisealach na h-Alba; sco, Scots Socialist Pairtie) is a left-wing political party campaigning for the establishment of an independent socialist Scotland. The party was founded in 1998. It c ...

, and

Tommy Sheridan Tommy Sheridan (born 7 March 1966) is a Scottish politician who served as convenor of Solidarity from 2019 to 2021. He previously served as convenor of the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) from 1998 to 2004 and as co-convenor of Solidarity from 2 ...

spoke at its Summer Gathering in August 2003. On 8 November 2003 the JMIP held a conference and re-launched itself as

References

{{reflist Defunct political parties in Wales Political parties established in 2003 Political parties disestablished in 2003 Locally based political parties in Wales

See also

References