The United Kingdom First Party was a small short-lived
populist,
Eurosceptic
Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies, and seek reform ...
, founded in 2009. It fielded candidates in three
English regions
The regions, formerly known as the government office regions, are the highest tier of sub-national division in England, established in 1994. Between 1994 and 2011, nine regions had officially devolved functions within government. While they no ...
for the
2009 European parliamentary elections: the
East Midlands
The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It comprises the eastern half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It consists of Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Li ...
, the
East of England
The East of England is one of the nine official regions of England. This region was created in 1994 and was adopted for statistics purposes from 1999. It includes the ceremonial counties of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire ...
and the
South East
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
.
The party agreed to work with the Popular Alliance during the election, in order to achieve the two parties' goals, with each party saying it had similar backgrounds and goals.
It disbanded in 2010 after its failure in the European parliamentary elections. It was voluntarily deregistered in April 2010.
Policies
The party placed its opposition to British membership of the European Union in the context of a desire to reduce "the cost, the scope and the number of layers of government". It set out a brief summary of its policies, with an undertaking to develop them further after the European elections, influenced by the outcome, towards simpler taxation, smaller government and less centralisation.
The party also stated that it believed in freedom for Britain to negotiate its own trade deals individually or as part of a
trade bloc, free speech and the ability to hold politicians to account through
referendums.
European Parliament election, 2009
Candidates for the
European Parliament in
2009
File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...
included the journalist and former presenter of ''
One Man and His Dog'',
Robin Page
Robin Page (2 November 1932 – 12 May 2015) was a British painter. He was one of the early members of the Fluxus art movement.
Biography
Page was born in England in 1932. His father, Peter Carter-Page, was a humorist and cartoonist who worked ...
, and the former
UK Independence Party chairman
Petrina Holdsworth
Petrina Alexandra Holdsworth (born 1 October 1952), is an English barrister turned politician, formerly National Chairman of the UK Independence Party (UKIP).
Career
After training as a barrister, in the late 1970s she worked in the Inner Lo ...
.
The candidates pledged to serve only one term, not to employ family members, to publish their accounts and refuse invitations to "sit on committees of the European Parliament nor attend the plenaries in Brussels and Strasbourg except in the case of a vote which the party leadership regards as of critical importance to British interests".
At the 2009 European election, UK First received 74,000 votes – 0.5% of the national vote – and none of its candidates were elected.
MEP candidate list, 2009
See also
*
Alliance for Democracy
References
{{reflist
External links
UK First Party
Political parties established in 2009
Eurosceptic parties in the United Kingdom
2009 establishments in the United Kingdom