political activist
A political movement is a collective attempt by a group of people to change government policy or social values. Political movements are usually in opposition to an element of the status quo, and are often associated with a certain ideology. Some ...
s which were active on the topic of hunting animals during the
2005
File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...
,
2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
and 2015 general election campaigns.
Vote-OK came into being in 2005 through the efforts of Gloucestershire farmer Charles James Mann, his wife Carole (nickname 'Chipps'), and Jeremy Sweeney, a former lobbyist. Charles Mann, a longstanding pro-hunt campaigner and Beacon Co-ordinator during th Liberty and Livelihood campaign marches ran the Action Office for th Countryside Alliance between 1997 and 2005 but was required to step down because of legislation regarding electoral campaigning.
The group stands as a single issue lobby group and is a Registered Recognised Third Party, one of only 11 in the country. Its main aim is to galvanise and organise more people to get involved i in order to defeat any
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 ...
who voted in favour of the
Hunting Act 2004
The Hunting Act 2004 (c 37) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which bans the hunting of most wild mammals (notably foxes, deer, hares and mink) with dogs in England and Wales, subject to some strictly limited exemptions; the ...
. Their tactic is to aid other candidates in any
constituency
An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger State (polity), state (a country, administrative region, ...
where the sitting MP supported a ban in order to bring about a government that will repeal the Hunting Act. This usually means supporting the
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 ...
candidate. They did not focus efforts in campaigning against the fox hunting ban itself but provided extra
volunteer
Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...
s during the campaigning stage of the election. They became involved in telephone canvassing, leafleting and other activities as required.
Vote-OK is a group of active campaigners which include Lord Mancroft co-ordinating support in marginal constituencies. Vote-OK head office consists of half a dozen people supporting Vote-OK Directors allocated to target constituencies. Liaising closely with the local candidate, the Directors role is to organise volunteers in the most effective way. Vote-OK is independent and are working with Conservative, Liberal Democrat and
Plaid Cymru
Plaid Cymru ( ; ; officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, often referred to simply as Plaid) is a centre-left to left-wing, Welsh nationalist political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from the United Kingdom.
Plaid wa ...
Candidates.
Vote-OK's rural origins as a campaign solely to repeal the Hunting Act are not emphasised, on the basis that it is not considered a 'vote winner'. As
Simon Hart
Simon Anthony Hart (born 15 August 1963) is a British politician serving as the Chief Whip of the House of Commons and Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury since October 2022. He previously served as Secretary of State for Wales between 2019 ...
646
__NOTOC__
Year 646 ( DCXLVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 646 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era ...
contested in the election).
After the election the group claimed to have helped defeat 29 MPs as well as reducing the
majorities
A majority, also called a simple majority or absolute majority to distinguish it from related terms, is more than half of the total.Dictionary definitions of ''majority'' aMerriam-WebsterSave Our Wild Animals dismissed this claim as "ludicrous".
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 ...
who they have claimed to have helped defeat include David Rendel (
Liberal Democrat
Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democratic ideology.
Active parties
Former parties
See also
*Liberal democracy
*Lib ...
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 ...
) of
The Wrekin
The Wrekin is a hill in east Shropshire, England. It is located some five miles (8 km) west of Telford, on the border between the unitary authorities of Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin. Rising above the Shropshire Plain to a height of 4 ...
who was the
Parliamentary Private Secretary
A Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) is a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom who acts as an unpaid assistant to a minister or shadow minister. They are selected from backbench MPs as the 'eyes and ears' of the minister in the H ...
of Alun Michael, the minister in charge of handling the ban, and
Helen Clark
Helen Elizabeth Clark (born 26 February 1950) is a New Zealand politician who served as the 37th prime minister of New Zealand from 1999 to 2008, and was the administrator of the United Nations Development Programme from 2009 to 2017. She was ...
(Labour) of
Peterborough
Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...
. It is difficult, however, to separate out such local swings from the national swing in the election.
2010 general election
Vote-OK stated it had helped more than 30 pro-hunt MPs win or keep seats. Conservative leader
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...
had pledged to give a free vote on repealing the Hunting Act if he won, but within the coalition that won this was not possible.
2015 general election
''
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
Ben Howlett
Ben Howlett (born 21 October 1988) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).
Howlett was selected by Essendon with pick 30 in the 2010 rookie draft ...
Alex Chalk
Alexander John Gervase Chalk, (born 8 August 1976) is a British politician serving as Minister of State at the Ministry of Defence since October 2022. He has been the Member of Parliament for Cheltenham since 2015. Chalk previously served as t ...
(
Cheltenham
Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...
) received help from Vote-OK.
See also
*
Countryside Alliance
The Countryside Alliance (CA) is a British organisation promoting issues relating to the countryside such as farming, rural services, small businesses and field sports, aiming to "Give Rural Britain a voice".
History
The Countryside Alliance ...
*
Pressure groups in the United Kingdom
:'' N.B.: Trade unions may be invariably described as pressure groups; these organisations should be mentioned at the list of trade unions in the United Kingdom article, not here.''
There are many pressure groups around the world. This is a list o ...