The Independents (UK)

This article is about the UK political group founded in July 2019. For similarly-named groups, see The Independents (disambiguation) and Independent Group (disambiguation).

The Independents
Founded10 July 2019 (2019-07-10)
Dissolved12 January 2020 (2020-13-12)
Split fromChange UK
Headquarters1 Mill Yard
Guildford Street
Luton
LU1 2NR
Colours  Magenta
SloganIndependent together
Website
https://www.theindependents.org.uk/

The Independents were a group of independent MPs in the UK House of Commons that came together in July 2019.[1] The group, which was not a registered political party, described itself as a "co-operative of independent politicians" who hoped to "encourage a stronger spirit of cross-party working" and "will work collaboratively in the national interest".[2] As a technical group, The Independents did not have any formal policies, only providing administrative support to its members who were bound by its six key values[3][4] of "country first, collaboration, integrity, respect, leadership and openness".[5]

The group had five founding members, four who were elected as Labour MPs and one as a Conservative. When parliament was dissolved for the 2019 general election, two remained, three having left to join the Liberal Democrats.

  1. ^ Zeffman, Henry (10 July 2019). "All change: independent MPs team up, but not as a party". The Times. Retrieved 10 July 2019.(subscription required)
  2. ^ McCarthy, Sebastian (10 July 2019). "Take two: Ex-Change UK MPs forge new alliance called The Independents". City AM. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  3. ^ Lines, Harriet (11 July 2019). "Five UK MPs form new commons grouping to support independent parliamentarians". Gibraltar Chronicle. Press Association. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  4. ^ "Values". The Independents. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  5. ^ Chaplain, Chloe (10 July 2019). "The Independents: Ex-Change UK MPs re-brand again with another new political group". The i. Retrieved 11 July 2019.