UK Freedom Party
The
Freedom Party is a small
right wing British political party.
Born of the
Revolutionary Conservative Caucus the party was founded in December 2000, by former members of the
British National Party (BNP) who were disaffected with the party's refusal to moderate its position on race and after an internal feud between the BNP leadership and Steve and
Sharron Edwards, both former BNP activists in the West Midlands. Sharron Edwards is now the deputy chairman of the Freedom Party, while Steve Edwards is its national agent. The chairman is
Adrian Davies. Former Conservative
Member of Parliament Andrew Hunter was associated with the party. He is now a member of the
Democratic Unionist Party.
Michael Newland is the treasurer.
Most of the leadership are prominent in the
Bloomsbury Forum, a right-wing discussion group.
The party is primarily
anti-immigration, although it claims to place more of an emphasis on culture rather than race. It is more moderate on issues such as race than the British National Party, a party with which it has a stormy relationship. It believes in
free enterprise, although is also
protectionist. At present it has one councillor in the
West Midlands.
In 2004 the Freedom Party was involved in founding the English Lobby, a pressure group and electoral coalition which campaigns for the recognition of
St George's Day and the creation of an
English Parliament. The
Third Way and
English Democrats are also supporters of the group. The party has since withdrawn from the Lobby.
Freedom Party only candidate in the
2005 general election was Adrian Davies, who contested
South Staffordshire. The death of a candidate led to this election there being postponed from May 5th to June 23rd. On that day, the Freedom Party polled 473 votes, 1.7% of all those cast.
The party did not contest any seats in the 2006 local elections. Steve Edwards who normally contests the Tipton Green ward in Dudley has put his support behind a muslim Conservative Party candidate. Some believe that this will undermine the BNP's chances of electoral success in the area.
The party is focusing all of its efforts on next years elections, in a bid to get Sharron Edwards re-elected and gain more council seats.
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UK Freedom Party
