Veterans and People's Party

Veterans and People's Party
LeaderGeorge Reid[1][2]
FounderDamian McAndrew
FoundedMay 2017
Headquarters20-22 Wenlock Road
London
N1 7GU
United Kingdom[2]
IdeologyRight-wing populism
British nationalism
Hard Euroscepticism[3]
Paternalistic conservatism[4]
Colours  Gold
Website
ukvpp.org

The Veterans and People's Party (VPP) was a minor political party in the United Kingdom. It was founded in mid-May 2017 by seven British military veterans to contest the 2017 United Kingdom general election and claimed to have gained 8,000 members in its first month of existence.[citation needed] It was statutorily deregistered by the Electoral Commission in 2022.[2] The party described itself as conservative and "anti-sharia-law".[4][5]

In the 2019 United Kingdom local elections, the party gained its first two councillors from eight fielded candidates.[6]

In September 2019, with the Independent Union councillors, the VPP councillor who made up the coalition at Hartlepool Borough Council defected to the Brexit Party, renaming their already existing coalition with the three Conservative councillors as the "Brexit and Conservative Coalition".[7]

In February 2020, its councillor returned to the VPP after the government's Brexit agreement.[8]

  1. ^ "We are VAPP - A new vibrant, open & transparent political party". Archived from the original on 5 December 2019.
  2. ^ a b c "Registration summary - Veterans and People's Party". Electoral Commission. 2019. Archived from the original on 10 May 2019. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  3. ^ O'Carroll, Lisa; Gayle, Damien (23 June 2018). "Anti-Brexit protest: thousands march two years after referendum". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 22 September 2018. Retrieved 10 May 2019. The mood among the pro-Brexit marchers was one of anger and defiance as far-right groups such as The White Pendragons and For Britain took their place alongside Veterans' and People's Party and Ukip with the sound of God Save the Queen and "Free Tommy" booming through the streets.
  4. ^ a b Horsfall, Robin E, ed. (28 September 2018). "Philosophy of the Veterans' and People's Party". The Veterans' and People's Party Manifesto. 2018 (PDF) (1st ed.). VPP. p. 16. ISBN 9781723981326. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 May 2019. Retrieved 11 March 2021. The philosophy of the Veterans' and People's Party is a moderate, centrist philosophy founded on decency, integrity and honour. The Party want to take the best of conservatism and socialism and create a strong, brave society that has high moral standards.
  5. ^ "Positional Statement". Veterans and People's Party. Archived from the original on 5 May 2019. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  6. ^ "Full list of candidates in Boston Borough Council elections this Thursday". Boston Standard. Boston. 30 April 2019. Archived from the original on 10 May 2019. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
    - Turner, Ed (3 May 2019). "Results of the Hartlepool Local Government Elections". Hartlepool Borough Council. Hartlepool. Archived from the original on 10 May 2019. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
    - Nic, Marko (3 May 2019). "'I will tell people how it is - and if it's not nice, it's not nice,' says Hartlepool's new Veterans' and People's Party councillor". Hartlepool Mail. Hartlepool. Archived from the original on 4 May 2019. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  7. ^ "Brexit Party forms pact for Hartlepool control". BBC News. 13 September 2019. Archived from the original on 17 September 2019. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
    - Bartlett, Nicola (13 September 2019). "Nigel Farage's Brexit Party have just signed their first pact with the Tories". Daily Mirror. London: Reach plc. Archived from the original on 13 September 2019. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
  8. ^ "Hartlepool Council no longer under Brexit Party control". BBC News. 2 September 2020. Archived from the original on 2 September 2020. Retrieved 2 September 2020.