Save Huddersfield NHS is a minor

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

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 ...

registered in 2006. The party campaigns against a proposed reorganisation of

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

facilities in the

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

area and is led by Dr. Jackie Grunsell, a local general practitioner and member of Socialist Alternative. The party contested elections to

Kirklees Kirklees is a local government district of West Yorkshire, England, governed by Kirklees Council with the status of a metropolitan borough. The largest town and administrative centre of Kirklees is Huddersfield, and the district also includes ...

Council, West Yorkshire, England in 2006–2008.

Formation

The organisation was initially formed as a pressure group after a public meeting in February 2006 against the Kirklees and Calderdale

NHS The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

Trust Board's proposals to close St. Lukes Hospital and transfer services (including maternity care) from

to Halifax and

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...

. The group organised a petition signed by over 50,000 people opposing the changes and three protest marches. On 21 March 2006 Save Huddersfield NHS was registered as a political party 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 ...

Electoral contests

The party nominated three candidates to contest the

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative ...

to Kirklees Borough Council in May 2006. Dr. Grunsell, the party leader, was elected for Crosland Moor and Netherton ward with a majority of 807, defeating the sitting

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 ...

councillor. She claimed her election was due to the electorate's disillusion with "mainstream parties" and warned that "this sends a very clear message to all those parties that you need to fight for the people you represent if you want to maintain your positions – or people who are prepared to stand and fight will take those positions from you." She went to explain that her party would not limit themselves to health issues, but would "fight on other issues". In the following year the party stood a single candidate, again contesting the Crosland Moor and Neteherton ward. Like Grunsell, the candidate was an active Socialist Party member. He failed to be elected. The 2008 local elections were the last contested by the party: the same candidate contested the same ward as in the previous year. The party slipped into third place, behind the Labour 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.

Loss of council seat

Although still listed as leader of Save Huddersfield NHS in April 2010, Grunsell defended her seat on Kirklees Council at the 2010 elections as a Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition candidate. She was defeated, falling to fourth place with 1472 votes.

Recent developments

For a number of reasons, both personal and political, the broad coalition that gave rise to Save Huddersfield NHS fragmented after the 2010 election. However, in 2014 a group of local activists, several of whom had been involved in the original 2006 crusade, and all of whom were incensed by the coalition government's plans to restructure the health service, as well as proposals to close Accident and Emergency Services at Calderdale Royal Hospital, founded a Huddersfield chapter of the national campaign group, Keep Our NHS Public. At the moment, it is not clear whether the new grouping harbours electoral ambitions. Its primary aim, according to the secretary, Richard Murgatroyd, is to alert "the public about what is going on and why it matters to local people."

References

{{reflist Health in Yorkshire Organisations based in Huddersfield Locally based political parties in England Politics of Kirklees Political parties established in 2006 2006 establishments in England