Anindependent politician ornon-affiliated politician is apolitician formally not affiliated with anypolitical party. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent.
Some independent politicians disagree with the idea or concept of political parties; viewing them as politicallycorrupt.[1] Others may have political views that do not align with the platforms of any political party and therefore they choose not to affiliate with them. Some independent politicians may be associated with a party, perhaps as former members of it or else have views that align with it, but choose not to stand in its name, or are unable to do so because the party in question has selected another candidate. Others may belong to or support a political party at the national level but believe they should not formally represent it (and thus be subject to its policies) at another level. In some cases, a politician may be a member of an unregistered party and therefore officially recognised as an independent.
Officeholders may become independents after losing or repudiating affiliation with a political party. Independents sometimes choose to form a party, alliance, ortechnical group with other independents, and may formally register that organization. Even where the word "independent" is used, such alliances can have much in common with a political party, especially if there is an organization which needs to approve the "independent" candidates.
During the rule ofMuammar Gaddafi, most political parties were banned. After his fall, political parties began to form but still do not have a major role inLibyan society.[5]
Independent politicians are not allowed to run for office in Brazil. The Constitution of 1988, in Article 14, §3rd, item V, says that "Are conditions for eligibility: V - party affiliation".[6] However, the Proposal Amendment to the Constitution (PEC) no. 6/2015, authored by independent senatorJosé Reguffe, would allow the independent candidacy of individuals who have the support of at least 1% of the electors able to vote in the region (city, state or country, depending on the election) in which the candidate is running.[7][8] Currently, members of the legislature can leave their respective parties after being elected, as in the case of senator Reguffe, who left theDemocratic Labour Party (PDT) in 2016.[9]Jair Bolsonaro was independent between 2019 and 2021.
In Canadian federal politics, members of both theHouse of Commons and theSenate are permitted to hold office without being members of a political party. Candidates in federal elections who are not affiliated with a party have two options: independent or no affiliation. In the former case, they appear on the ballot with "Independent" following their name; in the second case, they appear with their name only. The two options are otherwise equivalent.
During the earliest Canadian Parliaments, a lack of coherent political identity among both theLiberal andConservative parties is known to have led toMembers of Parliament (MPs) occasionally demonstrating independence from their party by voting in line with the opposition.[10] Commonly, the issues which caused these MPs to act independently were religious in nature.[10] These tensions began to disperse over the course of the first ten Canadian parliaments as the major political parties began to form consistent identities and MPs began affiliating themselves with the parties they knew more closely shared their core values. This in turn increased cohesion between parties and MPs, and minimized the causes and motivations for MPs to act independently.[10]
Many observers of the Canadian House of Commons in the 21st century have noted its incredibly high party discipline. Few MPs choose to vote against their party's official stance on any given piece of legislation.[11] Between 2011 and 2013—the first two years of the41st Canadian Parliament, following the2011 Canadian federal election—the elected members of the governingConservative Party voted as a unified group on 76% of all votes, while members of the Liberal Party did so on 90% of all votes, and members of theNew Democratic Party (NDP) did so on 100% of votes.[11] This unity further increased in subsequent years, as in the42nd Parliament, following the2015 election, the governing Liberal MPs voted identically on 99.6% of all votes, Conservative MPs on 99.5% of votes, and NDP MPs on 99.8% of votes.[11] (Conservatives, Liberals, and NDP were the only three parties with enough MPs to qualify forofficial party status in the 41st and 42nd parliaments.) Thanks to this strong party discipline, it is uncommon to see politicians who are otherwise affiliated with any of the main political parties act independently of their party.
Though it is acceptable and accepted for politicians to serve as independent MPs, those who attempt to run as such often struggle to be elected without access to the resources of the major parties. As a result, there are seldom more than one or two independent MPs within modern Canadian Parliaments, with many who do sit as such being initially elected as a part of a major party before either leaving voluntarily or being removed.[12] In the first year of the44th Canadian Parliament, the House of Commons featured one sitting independent member:Kevin Vuong, from theOntarioelectoral district, or riding, ofSpadina—Fort York.[13] Vuong had originally campaigned as a member of the Liberal Party during the2021 federal election but was ejected from the party two days prior to the end of the vote due to controversy surrounding past allegations of sexual assault.[14] Despite his removal from the Liberal Party, Vuong won the election for his riding and chose to take his seat as an independent, though this decision was met with controversy because many voters had not known that the Liberals had expelled him before casting their votes.[14] In 2022,Alain Rayes, MP for theQuebec riding ofRichmond—Arthabaska, resigned from the Conservative caucus to sit as an independent,[15] becoming the second independent MP of the 44th Parliament.
In 2004,Chuck Cadman was elected to the House as an independent MP representing theBritish Columbia riding ofSurrey North. Cadman was first elected to represent the riding as aReform member in the1997 federal election and re-elected as a member of theCanadian Alliance, Reform's successor party, in the2000 federal election. He sought the nomination for the Conservative Party (re-created in 2003 when the Alliance andProgressive Conservatives merged) for the 2004 election but was unsuccessful. Having retained his seat with 43% of the vote in 2004, he died in office in 2005.
Bill Casey, the MP for theNova Scotia riding of Cumberland—Colchester—Musquoduboit Valley, was expelled from the Conservative Party for voting against the2007 budget. He also served as an independent, then ran as such in 2008 and retained his seat with 69% of the vote. Casey resigned from the Commons in 2009 but made a comeback in the same riding, now namedCumberland—Colchester, when he was elected as a Liberal in 2015. He sat in the House for the 42nd Parliament and did not seek re-election in2019.
In 2019, MPJody Wilson-Raybould ran as an independent candidate in the riding ofVancouver Granville after being expelled from cabinet and the Liberal Party over theSNC-Lavalin affair. She was returned to Parliament with 32% of the vote. After sitting as an independent for the43rd Parliament, Wilson-Raybould did not seek re-election in 2021.
While traditionally framed as an "independent body of sober second thought", appointments to the Senate of Canada prior to 2016 were commonly seen as highly partisan, with the majority of Canadian senators identifying themselves as members of either the Liberal or Conservative parties and serving within their party's caucus.[16] As these have been the only two parties to ever form government in Canada, only the Liberal and Conservative parties had been able to appoint new senators. Because Canadian senators are appointed by theGovernor General of Canada on the advice of thePrime Minister rather than being elected, senators were often accused of being appointed as a "reward" for service to the party in power,[17] and once appointed, of simply repeating the points and positions of their counterparts in the House of Commons rather than acting as a means of truly independent policy review.[16]
In 2014, as a response to growing public disapproval of the Senate and the perceived problems brought about by senator partisanship, Liberal Party leaderJustin Trudeau made the decision to expel all Liberal senators from the Liberal Party caucus. Trudeau would go on to call for an overall elimination of partisanship in the Senate and pledged to end the practice of partisan appointments for senators and transition to a new system of merit-based appointments if elected prime minister.[18]
Following the election of a Liberalmajority government in 2015, theIndependent Advisory Board for Senate Appointments was established with the goal of filling Senate vacancies through a selection process based on political knowledge, merit, and perceived ability to act independently of partisan affiliation.[18] This push to remove partisan ties from the Senate resulted in the creation of theIndependent Senators Group, a coalition of both newly appointed independent senators and formally partisan senators who had relinquished their formal party ties, alongside the also independentCanadian Senators Group andProgressive Senate Group.[17]
By 2018, the majority of Canadian Senators were officially independent,[17] though some Liberal senators continued to remain affiliated with the political party despite no longer being permitted within the party caucus.[16] Additionally, the Conservative Party elected not to remove its senators from the party caucus, and many Conservative Party senators kept their official partisan affiliations in public.[16] During the 2019 federal election campaign, in response to reporters' questions, Conservative Party leaderAndrew Scheer said that if his party were elected to form government and he became prime minister, he would reinstate the practice of partisan appointments to the Senate.[19]
The efforts to increase senatorial independence have led some to argue the Senate has developed an increase of importance and power in the legislative process. As of 2021, it was found that Canadian senators were facing increasing pressure fromlobbying groups on a variety of issues, suggesting the more independent Senate has a greater perceived influence over legislative issues.[17] Additionally, following the appointment of senators through the Independent Advisory Board for Senate Appointments, there has been a noted increase in the number of amendments the Senate has proposed for legislation from the House of Commons.[16] During the 42nd Parliament (2015–2019), the Senate attempted to amend 13 government bills, whereas during the 41st Parliament (2011–2015), it had attempted to amend only one government bill.[16] The reformed Senate is noted as having proposed amendments on at least 20% of all legislation.[20]
Several observers and those involved with the Senate itself have criticized the Trudeau government for its attempted reforms, with most accusations centering around the belief that the new appointment process is biased towards those who are ideologically supportive of the Liberal Party's objectives. Remaining Conservative senators have accused the Independent Senators Group in particular as being "too quick to endorse bills from the Liberal government".[16]
Supporting this claim, a 2021 study found that members of the Independent Senators Group voted in favor of legislation proposed by the incumbent Liberal government more consistently than any other group within the Senate, including those still formally aligned to the Liberal Party.[20] This was, however, among an overall trend in which all senators demonstrated lower levels of party loyalty, and as such its full implications are still unknown. The report also concluded that partisanship in Senate appointments was undeniably down when compared to the Senate prior to the reforms.[20] It is generally thought that it will only be possible to judge the success of the attempted reforms accurately when a non-Liberal government is elected to the House of Commons, at which point it can be observed if the noted trend in voting represents simple loyalty to the government, or loyalty to the Liberal Party.[20][18]
Current laws inCosta Rica do not permit a citizen to run directly for any elected position as an independent without the representation of a political party.[22][23] Any nomination must be made through a political party, due to the framework of the current legal system, in which the political parties have a monopoly on the nomination of candidates for elected positions according to the Electoral Code.[24]
However, becoming an independent politician after being elected is protected by virtue of Article 25 of theConstitution of Costa Rica, which guaranteesfreedom of association; therefore, any citizen cannot be forced to remain in a specific political party and can join any other political group. It is common in each legislative period for somedeputies (diputados, term used for legislators) of theLegislative Assembly of Costa Rica to become independents; this has also happened with themayors (alcaldes) of the municipalities ofcantons.[25]
Jaime Heliodoro Rodríguez Calderón (born in 1957), sometimes referred to by his nickname "Bronco", is a Mexican politician and former governor for the northern state ofNuevo León and holds no political party affiliation. As of June 7, 2015[update], he was elected Governor of Nuevo León, making history as the first independent candidate to win in the country.
John Tyler was expelled from theWhig Party in September 1841, and effectively remained an independent for the remainder of his presidency. He later returned to theDemocratic Party and briefly sought election in1844 as aTyler Democrat, but withdrew over fear he would split the Democratic vote and give the election to Whig candidateHenry Clay.
There were several unsuccessful independent gubernatorial candidates in 2006 who impacted their electoral races. InMaine, state legislatorBarbara Merrill (formerly a Democrat) received 21% of the vote. InTexas,country music singer and mystery novelistKinky Friedman received 12.43% of the vote, and State ComptrollerCarole Keeton Strayhorn received 18.13%. Strayhorn and Friedman's presence in the race resulted in a splitting of the ballot four ways between themselves and the two major parties.
In2010,Florida governorCharlie Crist left the Republican party and became an independent. (He later became a Democrat.)[35] He left the Republicans because he did not want to run against former state house SpeakerMarco Rubio in the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate election, preferring to run in the general election instead. Rubio won the election, though Crist came in ahead of Democratic nomineeKendrick Meek.
In2014, formerHonolulu mayorMufi Hannemann ran as an independent candidate for thegovernorship of the State ofHawaii after previously campaigning in the state's Democratic primary. As a result, Democratic candidateDavid Ige was elected as governor with a plurality of 49%.[36] Also in 2014, former mayor ofValdez,Bill Walker won the gubernatorial election. Walker retired before the2018 election but ran again in the2022. He didn't win but received 20% of the vote.
There have been several independents elected to theUnited States Senate throughout history. Notable examples includeDavid Davis of Illinois (a formerRepublican) in the 19th century, andHarry F. Byrd Jr. of Virginia (who had been elected to his first term as a Democrat) in the 20th century. Some officials have been elected as members of a party but became independent while in office (without being elected as such), such asWayne Morse of Oregon, who left the Republican party to become an independent, then joined the Democratic Party two years later.Nebraska senatorGeorge W. Norris was elected for four terms as a Republican before changing to an independent after the Republicans lost their majority in Congress in 1930. Norris won re-election as an independent in 1936, but later lost his final re-election attempt to RepublicanKenneth S. Wherry in 1942.
Vermont senatorJim Jeffords left the Republican Party to become an independent in 2001. Jeffords'schange of party status was especially significant because it shifted the Senate composition from 50 to 50 between the Republicans and Democrats (with a Republican Vice President,Dick Cheney, who would presumably break all ties in favor of the Republicans), to 49 Republicans, 50 Democrats, and one Independent. Jeffords agreed to vote for Democratic control of the Senate in exchange for being appointed chairman of theSenate Environment and Public Works Committee, and the Democrats held control of the Senate until the2002 elections, when the Republicans regained their majority. Jeffords retired at the end of his term in 2007.Dean Barkley of theIndependence Party of Minnesota was appointed a day before the 2002 elections to fill the senate seat ofPaul Wellstone who, while running for re-election, died weeks prior. Barkley refused to caucus with either party.
In2006, independent politicianBernie Sanders won the Senate seat vacated by the retiring Jim Jeffords as an independent and was reelected in2012,2018 and2024. He was an independent member of theUnited States House of Representatives forVermont-at-large from 1991 to 2007. Sanders is the longest-serving independent member of Congress in American history.[37] Also in2006,Joe Lieberman was a formerDemocrat and ran under a third party (Connecticut for Lieberman Party) after he lost the primary. After the election, Lieberman enrolled himself as anIndependent Democrat until his retirement in 2013. In 2006, Sanders and Lieberman were the only two victorious independent candidates for Congress, both caucusing with the Democrats. In2012,Angus King was elected to the U.S. Senate as an Independent from Maine. He was reelected in2018 and won a third term in2024.
Independent politicians have also played notable roles at the state and local levels, often finding success in contexts where party affiliation is less dominant or elections are nonpartisan.[41]
Mayors and municipal leaders
There have been many cases where independent candidates have made a large impact on elections and have even won, particularly in large cities. For instance, former New York City mayorMichael Bloomberg served as 2002 to 2013 as a Republican but for his third term he won as an independent.[42] Independent politicians have also led cities likeMinneapolis, whereCharles Stenvig served as an independent mayor throughout the 1970s.[43] These leaders often emphasize pragmatic governance over party ideology, appealing to diverse voter bases.
State legislatures
While less common than in Congress, independents occasionally serve in state legislatures.Maine andAlaska, in particular, have seen a history of independent state legislators. For example, in theAlaska State House, independents have sometimes played pivotal roles in coalition governments, demonstrating their influence in closely divided chambers. These legislators often prioritize regional or policy-specific issues over strict adherence to party platforms.[44]
Judicial and nonpartisan offices
Many state and local offices, particularly in the judiciary, are officially nonpartisan, providing opportunities for independents to succeed.[45] For example, state superintendents of schools or city council members are normally politicians who identify as independent or with no party at all. This system allows voters to focus on the candidate's qualifications rather than party affiliation since this should not be stressed for these positions.[46]
Independent candidates can contest elections on the basis of their personal appeal or to promote an ideology different from any party. In the2024 general election, seven independent candidates were elected toLok Sabha, the lower house ofIndian Parliament.[49][50][51]
Independents have rarely been elected to theDewan Rakyat and state legislative assemblies. In Malaysian elections, many independent candidates lose their election deposit because they had failed to secure at least 12.5% or one-eighth of the total votes cast. Independentsenators are quite rare.
As of May 2018[update], three independent MPs were elected inGE14, but later joinedPakatan Harapan (PKR), thus causing no representation for independent MP for that time. However, as of June 2018 and December 2018, the number increased to 13 independent Members of Parliament that sat in theDewan Rakyat as of December 2018.
At the same time in December 2018, almost all members from SabahUMNO quit the party and became independent politicians.
Parliamentary independent candidates: The system in place whither the DPRK allows for independent politicians to launch their own campaigns to gain a seat in parliament. The candidates however must be approved by the Fatherland Front, being the primary party of the DPRK. To cast votes to independent candidates the voting population must do so at independent voting stations.
Nearly all electoral systems currently in practice in the DPRK that exist on a local level are made up of mostly independent Candidates, as the Fatherland Front and other major party's primarily operate in the urban heartland of the DPRK. On the local level of North Korean elections, alliances between independent candidates is banned.[citation needed]
In Nepal, there are some independent politicians, especially in local government. Independent politician and rapperBalen Shah was elected as Mayor ofKathmandu in 2022.[54][55] Similarly,Harka Sampang andGopal Hamal were also elected as Mayor of some of the major cities likeDharan andDhangadhi, respectively.[56][57]
Ever since the first elections during the1907 Philippine Assembly elections, independents have been allowed to participate and have won seats. On that first election, independents had the most members, behind theNacionalista Party. When theSenate was first created, itsfirst elections in 1916 also saw independents participating and winning one seat. In the Nacionalista landslide of1941, the three independents were the only non-members of the Nacionalista Party to win in the House of Representatives; this was also the start of independents being shut out in the Senate.
After independence was granted by the United States in 1946, thetwo-party system between the Nacionalistas andLiberal Party was established, with certain candidates who failed to get the nomination of either parties appearing on the ballot as "Independent Nacionalista" or "Independent Liberal", as the case may be. Independents not associated with any party were still able to participate and sporadically win elections. In the1961 Philippine vice-presidential election, independentSergio Osmeña Jr. narrowly lost toEmmanuel Pelaez. The first breakthrough was in the1967 Philippine Senate election whereMagnolia Antonino, widow of Gaudencio Antonino who died on election eve, won.
In the local level, former priestEddie Panlilio was elected as governor ofPampanga in 2007, defeating two administration candidates. When Panlilio eventually transferred to the Liberal Party in time for the 2010 election, it was ruled that he was beaten in the 2007 election; in 2010, he was defeated.
In contesting elections, independent candidates can spend as much as those with parties can under the law, but they are not able to tap in spending from a political party that nominated them.
Independent candidates are different fromnonpartisan politicians; the former are elected in openly partisan elections, while the latter participate in nonpartisan elections such asbarangay elections. Local legislatures may find itself with independent and nonpartisan members.
ThePresident of BulgariaRumen Radev is an independent with support from theBulgarian Socialist Party. Radev was elected in the2016 presidential election. An independent politician can enter into parliament only if they gather enough votes to pass the 4% threshold, thus behaving like political parties. However, they can be part of a civic quota of a given party. Civic quotas are lists of independents candidates, who are represented on a given party's electoral list, without directly joining the party. Every party has the capability to invite independent candidates into their lists, without forcing them to join the party itself.
Also, after serving six years on his first term as the 12th president of Finland in theNational Coalition Party from 2012 to 2018,Sauli Niinistö was elected for his second term in 2018 after running as an independent candidate. Sauli Niinistö's status as an independent/non-partisan president has been attributed to his historical approval ratings and popularity, which stood at 90% favorable in July 2021 of which 52% said that Niinistö had handled the presidency "Very favorably".[60][61]
In France, independent politicians are frequently categorised assans étiquette ("without label") in municipal or district elections.
In the nineteenth century and first half of the twentieth century, most French national politicians were independents. The first modern French political parties date from the early 1900s (foundation ofAction Libérale and theRadical Party). The first legislation on political parties dates from 1911, though it was not until 1928 that parliamentarians were required to select a political party for the parliamentary register (either by formally joining a group, or by loosely working with one as anapparenté, or associate), and not until after 1945 that structured political parties came to dominate parliamentary work.
Once elected, independents tended to attach themselves to a parliamentary party. In some cases independent deputies banded together to form atechnical group of their own. In 1932, for instance, there were four technical groups created: the left-of-centreIndependent Left, with 12 deputies; the centre-right liberalIndependents of the Left, with 26 deputies; the right-wingagrarianIndependents for Economic, Social and Peasant Action, with six deputies; and the far-rightmonarchistIndependent Group, with 12 deputies—these four technical groups thus accounted for one-tenth of deputies. In addition, the larger parliamentary parties, including the socialist SFIO, centre-left PRRRS, centre-right ARD and conservative FR all included a greater or lesser number of independents who sat with their group for parliamentary work (apparentés).
However, it is nowadays rare to have independent politicians at national level, if only because independents usually affiliate themselves to an existing political grouping. Noteworthy independents includeJosé Bové in the2007 presidential election.Emmanuel Macron was an independent politician as Minister, but formed his own party to stand in the2017 presidential election.
From 2001 to 2008, "without label" was no longer used in the nomenclature of theMinistry of the Interior. Candidates and lists presenting themselves as "without label" are classified in DVG (various left), DVD (various right), DVC (various center) or AUT (other) according to their political sensitivity. Therefore, from 2008 onwards, the DIV (miscellaneous) or the LDIV code for the "miscellaneous" list has been created to group unclassifiable or categorical interests and, by default, mayors without a declared label claiming no political sensitivity, be it left, center or right. The AUT (other) grade replaces the DIV grade without changing its definition.[62]
Joachim Gauck,President of Germany from March 2012 to March 2017 and the first Federal President without party affiliation, was to date the most prominent independent politician. In theGerman presidential election of 2010 he was the candidate of theSocial Democrats andGreens, in2012 the candidate of all major parties exceptThe Left. His presidency—though his powers are limited—constitutes an exception, as Independent politicians have rarely held high office in German history, at least not sinceWorld War II. It has nevertheless happened that a presidential candidate without any chances of election by theFederal Convention was not a party member: for example, in 1984 the Greens came up with the writerLuise Rinser.
In theBundestag parliament nearly all deputies belong to a political party. The voting system ofpersonalized proportional representation (since 1949) allows any individual holding thepassive right to vote to stand for a directmandate in theelectoral districts—299 of the seats in parliament are distributed by districts according to aplurality voting system. Such a candidate has to present 200 signatures in favor of their candidacy, the same as a candidate of a party that had no parliamentary presentation previously. The firstBundestag election in 1949 saw three independents elected; since then, no party-independent candidate has won a seat.[63] Atstate level, the situation is more or less the same: only party members have a real chance to be elected to aLandtag legislature, and state ministers without party membership are just as rare as at the federal level.
An independent member of parliament, who also is not a member of avoters' association, holds the status offraktionsloser Abgeordneter, i.e., not affiliated to anyparliamentary group. A representative who either leaves their party (and their parliamentary group) or is expelled from it and does not join another becomesfraktionslos. In 1989 the Bundestag MPThomas Wüppesahl, who had left the Green Party in 1987 and was excluded from the Green parliamentary group the next year, obtained more rights as afraktionsloser Abgeordneter, for example more talking time and representation in a subcommittee, when theFederal Constitutional Court decided partially in their favor.
Since World War II, only two ministers of (West) German cabinets have not been party members, though "on the ticket" of the major party in the coalition, the Social Democrats: Education MinisterHans Leussink (1969–1972), and Minister of EconomyWerner Müller (1998–2002). Minister of JusticeKlaus Kinkel only shortly after his appointment joined theFree Democrats in 1991. A special case is the former Federal Minister and ChancellorLudwig Erhard, whose affiliation with theChristian Democratic Union (CDU) has not been conclusively established: although he served as Minister of Economics from 1949 to 1963 and as Federal Chancellor from 1963 to 1966, and was even elected CDUparty chairman in 1966, it seems that he never signed a membership form or paid contributions. Researches byDer Stern magazine have revealed a record at the CDU party archives created only in 1968, with the faked date of entry of early March 1949.[64]
ThePresident of Iceland (currentlyHalla Tómasdóttir) is independent. By convention, presidents of Iceland usually relinquish any party membership prior to or upon taking office.
In Ireland, constituency-based proportional representation, the comparative looseness of formal parties, and strong local sentiment have meant that independents have formed a significant part of the parliamentary landscape since thefoundation of the state: in the early elections toDáil Éireann (parliament), independents accounted for7% of seats in 1922,8.5% in 1923,10.5% in 1927, and9% in 1932, though with the development of relatively more structured parties their numbers declined thereafter. These were similar proportions to the number of independents elected to other interwar European democracies such as France (see above).
It was not until the 2010s that independents would see a similar electoral success, with record scores for independents surpassing the previous interwar highs.
After theIrish general election in 2020, there were 23 independentTDs (parliamentary deputies) in theDáil (the lower house of the Irish parliament), representing 14% of the total.
There are ten independent senators in the26thSeanad (the upper house of the Irish parliament), representing 16% of the total. Two of these are elected by the graduates of theNational University of Ireland and three fromDublin University. There is also one independent senator who was nominated by theTaoiseach and four elected by the technical panels.
According to the1862 Constitution of Liechtenstein, the appointedGovernor of Liechtenstein was required to be politically non-aligned with any party in both Austria and Liechtenstein.[65] Regardless, however, no political parties existed in Liechtenstein until 1918 and all members of theLandtag of Liechtenstein were elected as independents.[66] Under the currently used1921 Constitution of Liechtenstein, independent candidates are allowed to run for both the Landtag and prime minister, though an independent candidate has not been elected to either position since 1921.[66][67][68]
The PolishSejm is elected by party-list ordination, which does not allow lone candidates to run, although since 2001 there has been a possibility to create a non-partisanVoters' Electoral Committee (pol.KWW,komitet wyborczy wyborców); they are by almost any means party lists, but no officially registered party is behind them. They can be unregistered parties, e.g.Kukiz'15, or non-partisan movements, although the latter never reached the 5% threshold. National minorities candidates also form Voters' Electoral Committees (likeGerman Minority Electoral Committee, represented in Sejm between 1991 and 2023), but they do not have to reach the nationwide threshold. However, during a Sejm term many members switch parties or become independents.
Tickets such asCivic Platform during the2001 election were formally non-partisan, Civic Platform was widely viewed as a de facto political party, as it is now.
The situation in theSenate is different, as the voting system allows independents to run as single candidates and some are elected in their own right. In the last parliamentary election (2023) four independents won seats in the Senate.
Allpresidents of Poland have formally been independents.Lech Wałęsa was not an endorsed candidate of any party, but the chairman of theSolidarity and he was elected without full support of the union (with some in Solidarity preferringPrime MinisterTadeusz Mazowiecki).Aleksander Kwaśniewski was a leader of theSocial Democracy of the Republic of Poland, but formally resigned from the party after he was elected, as didLech Kaczyński, who was the first leader ofLaw and Justice (PiS),Bronisław Komorowski (PO) andAndrzej Duda (PiS). The resignation is required because the Constitution says that the president shall hold no other offices nor discharge any public functions.[69] The aforementioned presidents often participated in their party's campaigns (e.g. Andrzej Duda in the Law and Justice campaign three months after his resignation from the party).Karol Nawrocki, despite being endorsed by the Law and Justice party, was never a member of the party and stood as an independent candidate.
All of Russia'spresidents have been independents. Former presidentDmitry Medvedev declined an offer to joinUnited Russia, saying that he believes the President should be an independent so that he serves the interests of the country rather than his political party.
Vladimir Putin, the current president of Russia, was the head of theUnited Russia party until 26 May 2012, but even then was not its member, thus formally was and still is independent.
The Swedish election system is based on parties nominating candidate MPs for their party ballots, and each party has to receive 4% or more of the national vote (or 12% in one region, which has never happened independently of also reaching the different 4% threshold). This makes running as an independent MP impossible. Once elected, the seat is personal; MPs may resign their party membership, or be stripped of it, while retaining theirRiksdag seats to become independent to become what is commonly referred to as apolitisk vilde (political savage) symbol: (-).
In theGovernment (executive cabinet), there is no requirement for ministers to be MPs, or even have a political affiliation (though this has overwhelmingly been the case in modern times). This means that even thePrime Minister could technically be an independent if chosen by the Riksdag.
TheRegistration of Political Parties Act 1998 laid down the first specific rules in the United Kingdom relating to the use of the term 'independent' by election candidates. That Act was repealed with most of its contents covered by Part II of thePolitical Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. Candidates standing for United Kingdom local elections and United Kingdom parliamentary elections, including the devolved parliaments and assemblies, can use the name of a registered political party, or the term 'Independent' (or its Welsh language equivalentannibynol) or no ballot paper description at all.[71][72]
JournalistMartin Bell was elected atTatton in thegeneral election of 1997, having stood on an anti-corruption platform, defeating incumbentNeil Hamilton. He was the first independent to be newly elected to the Commons since1951.[74] He stood unsuccessfully in a different constituency in 2001.
Two independent (or local party) members of parliament were elected in the2005 election, although both were defeated five years later. In the same election,Peter Law was elected as an independent atBlaenau Gwent. Law died on 25 April 2006: the resultingby-election electedDai Davies of the local partyBlaenau Gwent People's Voice. The by-election was unusual as it was the first time in over eighty years that an independent had held a seat previously occupied by another independent.
There have also been several instances of politicians being elected to the Commons as representatives of a political party, then resigning the party's whip, or having it withdrawn. Examples in this in the 2010–2015 parliament includedMike Hancock (formerly aLiberal Democrat),Eric Joyce (formerly Labour) andNadine Dorries, a Conservative who had the whip withdrawn for part of the parliament and thus sat as an independent during that time.
Independent candidates often stand in British parliamentary elections, often with platforms about specific local issues, but usually without success. An example from the 2001 general election wasAston Villa supporter Ian Robinson, who stood as an independent in theSutton Coldfield constituency in protest at the way chairmanDoug Ellis ran the football club. Another example an independent candidate, in theSalisbury constituency, isArthur Uther Pendragon, a local activist and self-declared reincarnation ofKing Arthur.
Other independent candidates are associated with a political party and may be former members of it, but cannot stand under its label. For instance, for several months after being expelled from the Labour Party but before theRespect Coalition was founded,George Galloway MP described himself as "Independent Labour".
On 23 March 2005, theIndependent Network was set up to support independent candidates in the forthcoming general election.[75] The Independent Network still supports Independent candidates in local, regional, national and European elections. It has an organic[clarification needed] set of principles which are known as the Bell Principles and are very closely related toLord Nolan's Standards of Public Life. The Independent Network does not impose anyideology or political influence on their candidates.
In March 2009, the multi-millionairePaul Judge established theJury Team, an umbrella organisation dedicated to increasing the number of independent candidates standing in Britain, in both national and European elections.[76]
In 2024, a record of six independent candidates was elected to the 59th parliament.[77]
Part II of thePolitical Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 allows individuals who wish to stand as a candidate to all parliaments and assemblies in the UK, including the House of Commons, the right to use one of three ballot paper descriptions. Those descriptions are the name of a registered political party; the word "independent"; or no description at all.[78]
Unless a candidate stands as "independent" or as a "No Description" candidate leaving the ballot paper description box blank, their candidature must be confirmed by a signed certificate from the relevant officer from a registered political party, as set out in Section 52 of theElectoral Administration Act 2006.[79]
TheHouse of Lords includes many peers independent from political parties. Some are simplynot affiliated with any grouping, whilst another, larger, grouping is given the official designation ofcrossbenchers. Additionally theLords Spiritual (bishops of theChurch of England) do not have party affiliations.
Scottish Parliament, Senedd (Welsh Parliament) and Northern Irish Assembly
Peter Law was expelled from the Labour Party after standing against an official Labour candidate in Blaenau Gwent at the 2005 UK general election and became an independent in the National Assembly and UK Parliament. In 2006 Peter Law died from abrain tumour and his wife,Trish Law, campaigned and took the seat as an independent candidate at the subsequent by-election and held onto the seat again in the2007 Welsh Assembly elections.
In 2016,Nathan Gill as the then leader of UKIP Wales defected from the group to sit as an independent after a falling out withNeil Hamilton, who was elected UKIP Assembly group leader.Dafydd Elis-Thomas left thePlaid Cymru group later in 2016 after multiple fallings out with Plaid Cymru leaderLeanne Wood. Elis-Thomas said his reason for leaving Plaid Cymru was that it not serious about working with theWelsh Labour Government.Neil McEvoy was expelled from Plaid Cymru on 16 January 2018 and sat as an independent AM until 2021.[81] Nathan Gill stood down on 27 December 2017[82] and was replaced byMandy Jones. Mandy Jones left the UKIP group on 9 January 2018 over a fallout over her staff.[83]
Independentsenators are quite rare. In modern politics, IndependentBrian Harradine served from 1975 to 2005 with considerable influence at times.Nick Xenophon was the only elected independent senator after his election to the Senate at the2007 federal election and was re-elected for another six-year term at the2013 federal election.[88] He resigned from the Australian Senate in 2017 to contest a seat in the House of Assembly of South Australia.DLP SenatorJohn Madigan became an independent senator in September 2014,[89] but lost his seat in the2016 election.PUP SenatorsJacqui Lambie andGlenn Lazarus became Independent senators in November 2014 and March 2015 respectively.[90][91] Lambie was re-elected in 2019 with the support of theJacqui Lambie Network.[92] At the2022 Australian federal election, independent senator for the ACTDavid Pocock was elected, becoming the first independent senator from a territory.[93][94]
Originally, there were no recognised parties in the New Zealand parliament, although loose groupings did exist informally (initially between supporters of central government versus provincial governments, and later between liberals and conservatives). The foundation of formal political parties, starting at the end of the 19th century, considerably diminished the number of unaffiliated politicians, although a smaller number of independent candidates continued to be elected up until the 1940s. Since then, however, there have been relatively few independent politicians in Parliament. No independent candidate has won or held a seat in a general election since1943, although two independent candidates have been successful inby-elections (in all cases after having held the seats in question as partisan candidates up until that point). Other politicians have become independents in the course of a parliamentary term, but not been voted into office as such.
The last person to be directly elected to Parliament as an independent in New Zealand wasWinston Peters, who won the1993 by-election inTauranga electorate as an independent after having previously held it a member of theNational Party. By the time of thenext general election, he had formed his own party (New Zealand First), and thus was no longer standing as an independent. Since that time, the only independents in Parliament have been people who quit or were expelled from their original party but retained their seats without going through a by-election. Some have gone on to found or co-found their own parties, with varying levels of success—examples includePeter Dunne,Taito Phillip Field,Gordon Copeland,Tau Henare, andAlamein Kopu. Others have joined parties which were then outside Parliament, such asFrank Grover andTuariki Delamere.
There were two independent MPs in the49th New Zealand Parliament:Chris Carter andHone Harawira. Carter became an independent after his criticisms of theLabour Party's leadership resulted in his being expelled from the Labour caucus, while Harawira resigned from theMāori Party and, after a short period as an independent, also resigned as an MP in order to force the2011 by-election when he was re-elected as representative of his new political party,Mana and retained the seat in the 2011 General Election. There were also two other parties which had only a single MP:United Future withPeter Dunne andACT withDavid Seymour. Neither Dunne nor Seymour was classed as an independent—Dunne's presence in Parliament was due to personal votes in his home electorate, and Seymour's presence was as the sole elected MP of ACT because of a collapse in their support in the2011 election. In the50th New Zealand Parliament there was one independent MP:Brendan Horan, a former New Zealand First MP who was expelled from his party because of allegations of misappropriation of family assets.
Peter Dunne effectively became an Independent MP for a short period after his United Future political party was deregistered on 25 June 2013 by the Electoral Commission, as the party no longer had the required minimum of 500 members.[95] The party was subsequently re-registered two months later.[96][97]
InNiue, there have been no political parties since 2003, when theNiue People's Party disbanded, and all politicians arede facto independents. The government depends on an informal coalition.[98]
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