Yorkshire Party | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Chair | Richard Honnoraty[1] |
| Leader | Laurence Waterhouse[2] |
| Founded | April 2014; 11 years ago (April 2014) |
| Headquarters | York Hub Popeshead Court Offices Peter Lane York YO1 8SU[3] |
| Ideology | Regionalism Social democracy[4] Devolution[5] |
| Political position | Centre tocentre-left |
| European affiliation | European Free Alliance[6] |
| Colours | Sky blue |
| House of Commons(Yorkshire seats) | 0 / 54 |
| Local government in Yorkshire | 0 / 1,139 [7] |
| Directly elected mayors in Yorkshire | 0 / 4 |
| Website | |
| www | |
TheYorkshire Party is aregionalist political party inYorkshire.
Founded in 2014, it campaigns for the establishment of adevolved Yorkshire Parliament within the United Kingdom, with powers over education, environment, transport and housing.[8]
It describes itself as acentrist party built onsocial-democratic principles and believes that "changing the way the UK political system works is the best way to address the everyday issues faced by people living in Yorkshire".[9]
The party has parish, town, district and county councillors. It stood 21 candidates at the2017 general election, and secured 8.6% of the vote in the2018 Sheffield City Region mayoral election. It fielded 28 candidates at the2019 general election.[10]
In the2021 West Yorkshire mayoral election it received nearly 60,000 votes (nearly 10% of the vote share) in the first round and third overall, behind theLabour Party and theConservative Party.[11] The party came third behind Labour and the Conservatives in the first round of the2022 South Yorkshire mayoral election, with a higher vote share of 13.4%, only 3.1% away from beating the Conservatives into the second round.
The party was founded as Yorkshire First in 2014 by the businessmen Stewart Arnold and Richard Honnoraty, and the management consultant Richard Carter.[12] Carter was the party's first leader. The party's launch was welcomed by a spokesperson forMebyon Kernow.[13]
Contesting the2014 European Parliamentary elections in theYorkshire and the Humber constituency, the Yorkshire Party received 19,017 votes (1.5%). Arnold, its lead candidate, described this as "a hugely significant result".[14]
In 2015 it fought its first general election, fielding 14 candidates.[15] The party also gained its first town and parish council seats. Internationally, the party was granted observer status in theEuropean Free Alliance grouping[16] and has since become a full member.[6]
In 2016 it stood 17 candidates across six local authorities, and also fought theSheffield Brightside & Hillsborough by-election. In July, Arnold took over from Carter as leader of the party, with Chris Whitwood becoming deputy leader.[17] The party joined the Make Votes Matter Alliance for Proportional Representation.[18]
In May 2017 the Yorkshire Party stood in Doncaster for the first time, contesting themayoral election and saving its deposit. In addition, the party stood seven candidates forcouncil elections. In June 2017 it stood 21 candidates[19] inthe general election, coming third in three constituencies. This resulted in the Yorkshire Party becoming the sixth-most-voted-for party in England and one of only three parties to increase its vote share on 2015.[20]
In 2018 its Rotherham candidate, Mick Bower, was selected to contest theSheffield City Region mayoral election.[21] Securing 8.6% of the vote, gaining fourth place of the seven parties standing, the party also came third in three of the four participating council areas, beating theLiberal Democrats and theGreen Party of England and Wales in Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham. The 22,318 votes gained was also the largest ever individual tally gained by the party.
In summer 2018 the party gained its first district and county level councillors when the former mayor of Northallerton andHambleton District councillor, Claire Palmer,[22] and the senior Conservative councillor onSelby District Council andNorth Yorkshire County Council, Mike Jordan, defected. Jordan said that he was joining the Yorkshire Party because he believed the government was "not doing Yorkshire the justice it deserves".[23]
In March 2019 Whitwood became party leader and Laura Walker took on the role of deputy.[24] Whitwood expressed his optimism at the positive role the Yorkshire Party could play in the politics of people's everyday lives, describing the period as a golden opportunity where "small parties can make a huge difference and carry a huge amount of influence".[25]
In April 2019, with the fifth anniversary of the party's formation, it fielded a record number of candidates in that year's local elections, more than double the previous record.[26]
The party fielded six candidates at the2019 European Parliament election.[27] None were elected. They fielded 28 candidates in the2019 general election: none was elected, but with 29,201 votes, they received the third-highest number of votes of any party that did not get an MP elected, after theBrexit Party and theUlster Unionist Party.
In May 2020 Bob Buxton, a teacher, was elected to serve a two-year term as leader following the resignation of Whitwood.[28] In June 2020 a Shipley businessman, Darren Longhorn, was appointed interim party chairman.[29]
At the end of August 2020 Councillor George Derx of the Stainforth and Barnby Dun ward inDoncaster defected from the Labour Party and joined the Yorkshire Party. He said that he believed that the party had the "right policies for our region".[30] As a result of this defection, the Yorkshire Party is now represented by eight councillors in local government.
On 14 June 2023 the Conservative Party lost its majority onNorth Yorkshire Council following the resignation of one of its councillors,[31] Mike Jordan, who represents the Camblesforth & Carltonward in the Selby area. He cited concerns about the party nationally as his reason.[32] He re-joined the Yorkshire Party and was announced as the party's candidate in the2023 Selby and Ainsty by-election.[33] Jordan was, however, listed on the Statement of Persons Nominated with no party affiliation.[34] He received 4.2% of the votes.[35]
The party advocates for regional devolution for Yorkshire, such as by Yorkshire having a regional parliament and supports other regions of England having the right to each choose to have a regional parliament.[36] Its argument for regional devolution is said to be founded on the principle ofsubsidiarity[25] – the belief that matters ought to be handled by the smallest, lowest or least centralised competent authority.
The party promotes a range of policies covering education, environment, transport and housing it describes as economicallycentrist and underpinned bysocial-democratic principles.[37]
The party supports building a West Yorkshiremetro system that would extend into North Yorkshire.[38]
In 2014 it started by fielding candidates forthe European Parliament election in theYorkshire and the Humber constituency, winning 1.5% of the vote with just over 19,000 votes.
At the2015 general election it contested 14 constituencies, winning 6,811 votes and an average vote share of 1.04%.
The party increased its number of candidates at the2017 general election to 21, winning 20,958 votes, a huge increase from the previous election. The party also increased its average vote share in seats it contested to 2.1% of the vote. While contesting seats only within Yorkshire the party, received enough votes to become the sixth-most-popular party in England.[39]
The party won its first principal authority elections at the2019 local elections, taking seats onSelby District Council andEast Riding of Yorkshire Council.
At the 2019 European Parliament election, in theYorkshire and the Humber constituency it received over 50,000 votes (4% of the vote share).[40] It was the only non-parliamentary party to outpollChange UK.[41]
At the2019 local elections the Yorkshire Party won four seats onSelby District Council[42] and two onEast Riding of Yorkshire Council.[43] When taken alongside the two seats the party holds on theNorth Yorkshire County Council[23] andDoncaster Metropolitan Borough Council[30] due to defections.
At the2019 general election it further increased its number of candidates to 28 and secured 29,201 votes in total — its best electoral performance in a general election. The party's average vote share remained constant at 2.1%, with a slight increase of 0.07%.[44]
In the2021 West Yorkshire mayoral elections, it received nearly 60,000 votes (nearly 10% of the vote share) in the first round - third overall, behind Labour and the Conservatives.[45]
The Yorkshire Party contested the 2022 local elections, fielding 37 candidates across Yorkshire, with the Barnsley environmentalist and entrepreneur Simon Biltcliffe running as the party's candidate for the South of Yorkshire Mayoral election. Biltcliffe finished third with 13.4% of first choice votes.[46]
The Yorkshire Party contested the2022 Wakefield by-election with David Herdson, who lives in the constituency, as candidate. It came fourth with 4.3% of the vote.[47]
The party stood 27 candidates at the2024 general election.[48] It secured 17,227 votes in total.[49]
Prior to 17 July 2025, the party had three councillors on theEast Riding of Yorkshire Council representingBridlington until they defected to theGreen Party.[50][51]
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