The Free Party was a minor

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 ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. They were founded to promote the

free party A free party is a party "free" from the restrictions of the legal club scene, similar to the free festival movement. It typically involves a sound system playing electronic dance music from late at night until the time when the organisers d ...

scene during the 2001 general election. They stood candidates for the three Parliamentary seats within the city of

Brighton and Hove Brighton and Hove () is a city and unitary authority in East Sussex, England. It consists primarily of the settlements of Brighton and Hove, alongside neighbouring villages. Often referred to synonymously as Brighton, the City of Brighton and H ...

, under names associated with the

Church of the SubGenius The Church of the SubGenius is a parody religion that satirizes better-known belief systems. It teaches a complex philosophy that focuses on J. R. "Bob" Dobbs, purportedly a salesman from the 1950s, who is revered as a prophet by the Church. SubG ...

. They proposed to select their policies from a wheel of fortune.

Bob Dobbs

In the 1997 general election, a candidate stood for election in Brighton, Pavilion, using the description

, and the name of the "church" leader, J. R. "Bob" Dobbs. This was the election when the Labour Party was swept into power, winning the election in Brighton and making

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...

prime minister. The Labour government introduced the

Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 The Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (c. 41) is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom that sets out how political parties, elections and referendums are to be regulated in the United Kingdom. It formed an important pa ...

, legislation requiring the registration of political parties, and at the 2001 election, the Free Party was registered with the

Electoral Commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

, the registered party symbol chosen being an image of Dobbs' face. At the 2001 election, the party stood candidates in all the local constituencies, with Bob Dobbs achieving 1 per cent of the total votes for the Pavilion seat, beating the

UK Independence Party The UK Independence Party (UKIP; ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two members of Parliament and was the largest par ...

into seventh place. This was not enough, however, to secure the return of the candidates' £500 deposits. After the 2001 election, the party failed to submit the required returns of electoral expenses, and the party was deregistered in March 2002. At the following election, two candidates named Dobbs were again on the ballot, but without the party name their votes dropped dramatically.

Elections contested by Free Party and allies

References

{{Reflist

External links

Party website
Archived link)

Defunct political parties in England Political parties established in 2001 Political parties disestablished in 2002 2001 establishments in the United Kingdom 2002 disestablishments in the United Kingdom