Libertarian Party (UK)

The Libertarian Party, also known as the Libertarian Party UK (LPUK), is a libertarian political party in the United Kingdom led by Martin Day.^[1][3] The party believes in having a written constitution for the UK which "holds the individual to be above the State."^[6]

Libertarian Party
Leader	Alex Zychowski[1]
Founded	21 November 2007; 17 years ago (2007-11-21)[1]
Headquarters	The Libertarian Party UK, White House, Ednam Road, Dudley, DY1 1JX[1]
Youth wing	Young Libertarians[2]
Ideology	Libertarianism[3] Classical liberalism[3]
International affiliation	International Alliance of Libertarian Parties[4] Interlibertarians[5]
Scottish Affiliate	Scottish Libertarian Party
Colours	Blue   Gold
Website
libertarianpartyuk.com
Politics of the United Kingdom Political parties Elections

The LPUK stands candidates in only England, Wales and Northern Ireland because of a legal agreement with the Scottish Libertarian Party, and was also known as the LPoEWNI (England, Wales and Northern Ireland) so not to mislead voters into thinking it covered the whole of the United Kingdom. According to the agreement, after the Scottish Libertarian Party was statutorily deregistered by the Electoral Commission in November 2022,^[7] it could then stand candidates in Scotland. The Scottish Libertarian Party re-registered with the Electoral Commission in January 2023,^[8] so once again it can no longer stand candidates in Scotland.

History

The party was founded in January 2008 under the leadership of Patrick Vessey, having registered the party with the Electoral Commission in November 2007.^[1] In May 2008, The Daily Telegraph leader writer Alex Singleton claimed the founders should have set up a pressure group rather than a party. Singleton believed the new party would reduce the influence of libertarianism.^[9]

On 17 September 2008, Vessey resigned as party leader and was replaced by Ian Parker-Joseph.^{[citation needed]} The party claimed a membership of 1,000 and hoped in the wake of the parliamentary expenses scandal "to establish themselves in the media landscape with a couple of robust performances".^[10] He said the party wanted much smaller government and would initially cut taxation to 10% before removing it altogether.^[11] In November 2008 the party sent every sitting MP a copy of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, inscribed with the admonition: "this book was a warning, not a blueprint."^[12]

On 28 November 2010, Andrew Withers was elected as party leader.^{[13][better source needed]} He was one of the signatories of the agreement with the Scottish Libertarian Party and reluctantly signed despite his displeasure of conceding ground to the new Scottish branch of the party.

Following an internal ballot on 15 August 2015, party members elected Adam Brown as the party leader.^[14]

During the 2018 local elections, the party was described as on "the fringes of mainstream British politics".^[15] A party spokesperson said "This alludes to the fact that this party is the ONLY party to have been constant about the need to reduce taxation and government expenditure."

In October 2018, MEP Bill Etheridge, a former member of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), joined the party^[16] and became its deputy chairman.^[17] Etheridge continued as a member of the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy parliamentary group in the European Parliament.^[18] However, he then left to join the Brexit Party in February 2019.^[19]

List of leaders

• Patrick Vessey (January 2008 – 17 September 2008)
• Ian Parker-Joseph (17 September 2008 – 28 November 2010)
• Andrew Withers (28 November 2010 – 15 August 2015)
• Adam Brown (from 15 August 2015)
• Martin Day (current)

Electoral performance

General elections

2010 general election

Constituency	Candidate	Votes	%
Devizes	Nic Coome	141	0.3[20]
Sutton and Cheam	Martin Cullip	41	0.1[21]

The party did not field parliamentary candidates at the 2015 general election, describing it as a "waste of time and funds".^[13]

2017 general election

Constituency	Candidate	Votes	%
Basingstoke	Scott Neville	213	0.4[22]
Blaydon	Michael Marchetti	114	0.2[23]
Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle	Will Taylor	67	0.2[24]
Portsmouth North	Joe Jenkins	130	0.3[25]

2019 general election

Constituency	Candidate	Votes	%
Chichester	Adam Brown	224	0.4[26]
Crewe & Nantwich	Andrew Kinsman	149	0.3[27]
Leicestershire North West	Dan Liddicott	140	0.3[28]
Sevenoaks	Sean Finch	295	0.6[29]
Stroud	Glenville Gogerly	567	0.9[30]

2024 general election

Constituency	Candidate	Votes	%
North East Hampshire[31]	Alex Zychowski	69	0.1
Ynys Môn[32]	Sam Wood	44	0.1

By-elections

2009

Election	Candidate	Votes	%	Position
Norwich North	Thomas Burridge	36	0.1	11th[33]

2018

Election	Candidate	Votes	%	Position
Lewisham East	Sean Finch	38	0.2	11th[34]

See also

• Classical liberalism
• Liberalism in the United Kingdom
• Libertarianism in the United Kingdom
• Right-libertarianism
• Scottish Libertarian Party