The English Democrats are a far-right, English nationalist political party active in England. A minor party, it currently has no elected representatives at any level of government.
The English Democrats were established in 2002 by members of the Campaign for an English Parliament pressure group. Following growing political devolution in the United Kingdom, which had seen the creation of the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Parliament and Northern Ireland Assembly, the party's founders called for a separate English Parliament. In the 2000s, it obtained a small number of local councillors. In 2009, the party's candidate, Peter Davies, was elected Mayor of the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster, although he left the party in 2013 in protest at its admittance of former members of the fascist British National Party (BNP). As well as attracting many ex-BNP members, who then constituted a sizeable percentage of the English Democrats' electoral candidates, in 2015 the political party Veritas merged into it.
Ideologically committed to English nationalism, the party previously called for England to become an independent state, thus leaving the United Kingdom. Since 2016, it has instead called only for the creation of a devolved English Parliament within a federal UK. It has also called for a referendum on whether Monmouthshire, a county presently recognised as being in Wales, should instead be classified as part of England. The party is Eurosceptic and endorsed Brexit.
History In 1998, in response to calls for the devolution of power to Scotland and Wales, Robin Tilbrook aimed at reforming the English National Party, which had ceased operating in 1981. This project included members of the Campaign for an English Parliament, a pressure group that lobbies for a devolved English Parliament. The party was relaunched as the "English Democrats" in September 2002, after merging with several other smaller political parties. In October 2004 the party merged with the Reform UK Party, which was a small splinter group from the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP). The New England Party merged with the English Democrats in February 2007.
The English Democrats were co-founders of the English Constitutional Convention, now defunct.
In December 2004, it was rumoured that Robert Kilroy-Silk, the former UKIP MEP had entered into negotiation to join the English Democrats. However, Kilroy-Silk formed Veritas instead.
In 2007, the columnist and conspiracy theorist Vernon Coleman announced he had joined the English Democrats.
The party's most significant electoral success came when Peter Davies (a former UKIP and Reform UK member), its candidate for Mayor of Doncaster, was elected. Having received 16,961 votes in the first round, 189 votes behind the independent Michael Maye, Davies was returned in the second count on transfers of second preference votes, with 25,344 votes to 24,990. However, Davies announced his resignation from the party on 5 February 2013 citing "a big influx of new members joining from the British National Party".BBC News "Doncaster mayor quits English Democrats 'because of BNP'" , 5 February 2013 One of its councillors, Mick Glynn, resigned the following day after the party's chairman, Tilbrook, launched a personal attack on Davies, thus reducing its number of elected representatives to two.England Watch blog "Another English Democrat Councillor Resigns." , 7 February 2013 The English Democrats lost their remaining councillors in the 2015 local elections. On 18 September 2015, Veritas merged into the English Democrats.- Of the party officers, only the party leader, Therese Muchewizc, joined the English Democrats filling the roles of Deputy Chairman and National Council Member, the remaining officers refusing to do so due to differences in policy beliefs.
The party claimed a total membership of 1,011 at the end of 2004, and 1,202 at the end of 2005.
In 2015, the party lost the vast majority of its general election minimum 5% of poll deposits, had a few councillors elected and gained some by defection and was regarded by some as a fringe party.
Leaders Image Name Time in office Deputy leader/s Robin Tilbrook 17 September 2002 – present None
Election performances and campaigns
The first person to stand as a candidate for the English Democrats was Gary Cowd, who stood in West Heath Ward, Rushmoor, in North Hampshire in a council by-election in May 2003. Cowd was an active member of the English Democrats and a National Council member. He left the party in 2006.
House of Commons ElectionLeaderCandidatesVotes Seats Position#%#± 2005 Robin Tilbrook 25 15,149 0.06% 11th 23rd 2010 107 64,826 0.25% 7th 13th 2015 32 6,531 0.02% 11th 24th2017 7 1,913 0.01% 13th 29th2019 5 1,987 0.01% 14th 31st2024 15 5,182 0.02% 17th 35th
Parliamentary elections At the 2004 Birmingham Hodge Hill by-election the English Democrat candidate received 277 votes, or 1.4% of the votes cast.
The party's slogan for the 2005 general election was "The English Democrats – Putting England First!" In total, the English Democrats fielded 25 candidates for the May 2005 general election, including Staffordshire South where the election was delayed until June due to the death of a candidate. The party withdrew its candidate in North Norfolk and endorsed the Conservative Party candidate, Iain Dale, as he had "taken the issues of English discrimination seriously".
Garry Bushell, the former Sun journalist and current Daily Star Sunday TV critic, became the most high-profile candidate for the English Democrats, standing in the Greenwich and Woolwich constituency in London. Bushell's 1,216 votes (3.4%) beat the UKIP candidate, Stan Gain, who secured 709 votes (2.0%); this was the party's best result for the election though still a fifth-place performance.
In June 2005, Bushell also stood in Staffordshire South, where he received 643 votes (2.5%) coming fifth out of eight candidates. In 2011, Bushell announced that he would, in future, be supporting UKIP.
The English Democrats fielded Joanne Robinson as their candidate in the by-election forced by the resignation of former shadow home secretary David Davis from the House of Commons. Because of the issues raised by David Davis in the by-election, many parties other than the Conservatives, such as Labour, Liberal Democrats, United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) and British National Party (BNP) chose not to stand. Joanne Robinson came third, with 1,714 votes (7.2%), 44 votes fewer than the Green candidate received in second place. Of the 26 candidates she was one of only three to win back her deposit. This result is both the highest place gained and the highest percentage of the votes won by any English Democrat candidate in a parliamentary election or parliamentary by-election.
The English Democrats stood 107 candidates in the 2010 general election. 106 is the minimum number required to qualify for a Party Election Broadcast. The English Democrats received 64,826 votes, or 0.3% of the vote in England, and 0.2% of the vote in the United Kingdom. No candidates were elected but the party saved one deposit in the Doncaster North constituency, where candidate Wayne Crawshaw picked up 5.2% of the vote.
In subsequent by-elections, the party contested Oldham East and Saddleworth (where Stephen Morris polled 144 (0.4%)),UK Polling Report: "Oldham East and Saddleworth" 14 January 2011 Barnsley Central (Kevin Riddiough polled 544 (2.2%) votes),Brian Wheeler, Barnsley by-election: What now for Lib Dems?, BBC News, 4 March 2011 Feltham and Heston (Roger Cooper polled 322 (1.4%)),Feltham & Heston at telegraph.co.uk (accessed 12 May 2012) Corby (David Wickham polled 432 (1.2%) votes)"By-elections: Labour takes Corby from Conservatives" , BBC News, 16 November 2012 and Rotherham (David Wildgoose polled 703 (3.3%) votes)."By-elections: Labour retains three seats" BBC News, 30 November 2012
At the 2015 general election, the party contested 32 seats, securing a total of 6,531 votes (0.02%).
In the 2016 Batley and Spen by-election, the English Democrats received 4.8% of the votes, coming second to Labour's Tracy Brabin, when all of the other major parties did not stand out of respect for the murdered MP, Jo Cox.
European Parliament elections 2004 The English Democrats stood candidates for the 2004 European Parliament election in five of the nine regions of England. The party's 2004 election canvassing leaflet featured the slogan, "Not left, not right, just English". Its candidates received 130,056 votes in total.
2009 In June 2009, the English Democrats contested elections to the European Parliament. The party fielded a full slate of candidates across the nine English European parliament constituencies. On 18 May 2009, the English Democrats broadcast their first national Party Election Broadcast. They came seventh in the election in England (ninth in the UK as a whole) with 279,801 votes or 1.8%, a rise from the 0.7% they received at the previous elections in 2004. The English Democrats do not stand in Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales, and their vote across England in 2009 was 2.1%, an increase of 1.3% yet still did not keep their deposits except in Yorkshire and the Humber where they gained 2.6% of the vote. None of the English Democrats candidates were elected; the English Democrats were the highest-polling party across the UK not to have an MEP elected.
2014 The English Democrats began their 2014 EU election campaign in September 2013 with an extensive social media campaign. On 30 April 2014, they held a rally at Fobbing in Essex, the site of the 1381 Peasants' Revolt, and declared, "let the English revolt begin." The party fielded a full slate of candidates across the nine English European parliament constituencies on 22 May 2014. On 13 February 2014, party chairman Robin Tilbrook appeared on the BBC Daily Politics with Nicola Sturgeon, the deputy leader of the Scottish National Party. The English Democrats performed poorly at the election, taking just 0.8% of the votes, down more than 1% on 2009. They again failed to win any seats."Vote 2014: UK European election results" , BBC News. Accessed 22 January 2015.
2019 In May 2019, the English Democrats took part in the elections to the European Parliament, fielding candidates in only four out of nine English constituencies: East of England, North West England, South West England, and Yorkshire and the Humber. In total they received 39,938 votes, 0.2% of the 17,199,701 valid votes cast, being around 10,000 in each of the constituencies they contested. They again failed to win any seats.
Local councils In November 2005, the party achieved its first electoral success when Paul Adams was elected to Crowborough Town Council, polling 120 votes, or 56.8% of the poll, on a turnout of 10%.
In the 2007 local elections, 78 candidates stood for election in boroughs and districts in 15 English counties, including 20 in Dartford and ten in Portsmouth. All were unsuccessful.
In 2008, the party fielded candidates in 12 district council elections. None was elected. The party's best results were when it came second to the Conservatives: in the Finningley ward of Doncaster and in three wards in Rochford.
In the 2009 English local elections, the party fielded 84 county council and local authority candidates, with a particular focus in Bristol, Essex, Hampshire, Kent, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Wiltshire and Lancashire. The party had an unexpected success when Peter Davies, its candidate for Mayor of Doncaster, was elected. Having received 16,961 votes in the first round, 189 votes behind the independent Michael Maye, Davies was returned in the second count on transfers of second preference votes, with 25,344 votes to 24,990.