# David Kurten

David Michael Kurten (born 22 March 1971) is a British politician who has served as leader of the Heritage Party since September 2020. He was previously a member of the London Assembly (AM) for Londonwide from 2016 to 2021. Elected as a UK Independence Party (UKIP) candidate, he subsequently left the party in January 2020. He is the registered leader of the Heritage Party and characterises himself as a social conservative.

## Early life and career

David Michael Kurten was born in Littlehampton in Sussex on 22 March 1971 to parents Reginald Kurten and Patricia Kurten. The son of a British mother and Jamaican father, Kurten was raised by his single mother and his maternal grandparents in Sussex. He studied chemistry at the University of St Andrews, graduating BSc in 1993, before completing a PGCE at the University of Bath in 1995 and graduating MRes in chemistry at the University of Southampton in 1998.
Between 1995 and 2016 he taught chemistry at schools in the UK, Botswana, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bermuda, and the United States.

## Political career
### UK Independence Party

At the 2015 general election, Kurten stood for the UK Independence Party (UKIP) in Camberwell and Peckham, coming fifth with 4.7% of the vote. He was second in the UKIP London-wide list in the 2016 London Assembly election and was elected to the London Assembly alongside Peter Whittle, with the party getting 171,069 votes. In October 2016, Kurten announced his intention to stand for UKIP leader following the resignation of Diane James after just 18 days. However, he withdrew from the contest and endorsed Paul Nuttall. Following the contest, Nuttall appointed Kurten as the party's education spokesperson on 30 November 2016.
At the 2017 general election Kurten stood in the Essex constituency of Castle Point, winning 5.3% of the vote, which was sufficient for him to retain his deposit. Kurten ran in the 2017 UKIP leadership election, where he came third, with Henry Bolton elected as leader. Kurten stepped down from the UKIP frontbench on 22 January 2018 in protest at Bolton's refusal to stand down as leader after receiving a vote of no confidence from the party's national executive committee the previous day. He returned after Gerard Batten became leader on 14 April.
In the May 2018 local elections, Kurten unsuccessfully contested his local Sidcup ward in the London Borough of Bexley. He then stood as UKIP's candidate in the Lewisham East by-election on 14 June 2018, getting 1.7% of the vote. This by-election was mired in controversy, with left-wing activists disrupting a hustings event and abusing Kurten as he arrived; the meeting was stopped by police as Kurten began his speech. In December 2018, Kurten again resigned from the UKIP frontbench, this time on account of the anti-Islam direction of UKIP under the party's then-leader Gerard Batten, most significantly Batten's appointment of activist Tommy Robinson as an advisor on grooming gangs. On 12 December 2018, following Peter Whittle's departure from UKIP, he and Kurten disbanded the UKIP grouping on the London Assembly and formed the Brexit Alliance group, though Kurten remained a member of UKIP.
In December 2019, Kurten stood as the UKIP candidate in the constituency of Bognor Regis and Littlehampton in the 2019 general election after the new Brexit Party announced that it would not be contesting seats won by the Conservative Party at the 2017 general election. His vote share was 1.7%.

### Heritage Party

In the London Assembly, he confronted Sadiq Khan on what he called "gender ideology" by promoting "traditional family values", and as a Brexit campaigner he opposed Khan's support for the EU and call for a second referendum.
In January 2020, Kurten announced he would run as an independent candidate in the upcoming London mayoral and London Assembly elections (then scheduled for May 2020, but both elections were postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic). Kurten founded a new political party in 2020: the Heritage Party was registered with the Electoral Commission that October. Kurten finished 15th with 11,025 votes in the mayoral election, while his party finished 13th on the London-wide list with 13,534 votes.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Kurten spread contested COVID-19 claims by stating that the disease was no worse than the flu. In December 2020, Kurten rejected a COVID-19 vaccine, for which he was denounced by the Conservative mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey, who saw this as irresponsible for an elected politician. Kurten has opposed lockdowns implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and he has attended protests against UK government policies.
The Heritage Party got 1.6% of the vote, coming fourth, in the 2021 Hartlepool by-election with 468 votes. In the 2021 London elections, Kurten received 0.4% of the vote in the mayoral election, coming fifteenth, while the Heritage party list, headed by Kurten, received 0.5% in the Assembly vote. He was, thus, not re-elected.
Kurten contested the December 2021 Old Bexley and Sidcup by-election, finishing ninth, with 116 votes (0.5%).
At the 2023 Arun District Council election, he came last in the Aldwick West ward with 148 votes.
At the 2024 general election, Kurten ran again in Bognor Regis and Littlehampton, coming last with 708 votes (1.5%).

## Electoral performance
### House of Commons
#### UKIP

General election 2015: Camberwell and Peckham :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Harriet Harman | 32,614 | 63.3 | +4.1 |
| | Conservative | Naomi Newstead | 6,790 | 13.2 | +0.2 |
| | Green | Amelia Womack | 5,187 | 10.1 | +7.2 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Yahaya Kiyingi | 2,580 | 5.0 | –17.4 |
| | UKIP | David Kurten | 2,413 | 4.7 | New |
| | All People's Party | Prem Goyal | 829 | 1.6 | New |
| | NHA | Rebecca Fox | 466 | 0.9 | New |
| | TUSC | Nick Wrack | 292 | 0.6 | New |
| | CISTA | Alex Robertson | 197 | 0.4 | New |
| | Workers Revolutionary | Joshua Ogunleye | 107 | 0.2 | –0.3 |
| | Whig | Felicity Anscomb | 86 | 0.2 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 25,824 | 50.1 | +11.3 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 51,561 | 62.3 | +3.0 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 82,746 | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | +2.0 | |
General election 2017: Castle Point :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Rebecca Harris | 30,076 | 67.3 | +16.4 |
| | Labour | Joseph Cooke | 11,204 | 25.1 | +11.3 |
| | UKIP | David Kurten | 2,381 | 5.3 | −25.9 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Tom Holder | 1,049 | 2.3 | +0.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 18,872 | 42.2 | +22.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 44,710 | 64.4 | −2.3 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | +2.6 | |
2018 Lewisham East by-election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Janet Daby | 11,033 | 50.2 | −17.7 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Lucy Salek | 5,404 | 24.6 | +20.2 |
| | Conservative | Ross Archer | 3,161 | 14.4 | −8.6 |
| | Green | Rosamund Kissi-Debrah | 788 | 3.6 | +1.9 |
| | Women's Equality | Mandu Reid | 506 | 2.3 | New |
| | UKIP | David Kurten | 380 | 1.7 | 0.0 |
| | For Britain | Anne Marie Waters | 266 | 1.2 | New |
| | CPA | Maureen Martin | 168 | 0.8 | +0.3 |
| | Monster Raving Loony | Howling Laud Hope | 93 | 0.4 | New |
| | Democrats and Veterans | Massimo DiMambro | 67 | 0.3 | New |
| | Libertarian | Sean Finch | 38 | 0.2 | New |
| | No description | Charles Carey | 37 | 0.2 | New |
| | Radical Party | Patrick Gray | 20 | 0.1 | New |
| | Young People's Party UK | Thomas Hall | 18 | 0.1 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 5,629 | 25.6 | −19.3 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 22,056 | 33.3 | −36.1 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 66,140 | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | -19.0 | |
General election 2019: Bognor Regis and Littlehampton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Nick Gibb | 32,521 | 63.5 | +4.5 |
| | Labour | Alan Butcher | 10,018 | 19.6 | −5.3 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Francis Oppler | 5,645 | 11.0 | +4.5 |
| | Green | Carol Birch | 1,826 | 3.6 | +1.7 |
| | UKIP | David Kurten | 846 | 1.7 | −1.9 |
| | Independent | Andrew Elston | 367 | 0.7 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 22,503 | 43.9 | +9.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 51,223 | 66.1 | −1.6 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | +4.9 | |

#### Heritage Party

2021 Old Bexley and Sidcup by-election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Louie French | 11,189 | 51.5 | −13.0 |
| | Labour | Daniel Francis | 6,711 | 30.9 | +7.4 |
| | Reform UK | Richard Tice | 1,432 | 6.6 | N/A |
| | Green | Jonathan Rooks | 830 | 3.8 | +0.6 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Simone Reynolds | 647 | 3.0 | −5.3 |
| | English Democrat | Elaine Cheeseman | 271 | 1.3 | N/A |
| | UKIP | John Poynton | 184 | 0.8 | N/A |
| | Rejoin EU | Richard Hewison | 151 | 0.7 | N/A |
| | Heritage | David Kurten | 116 | 0.5 | N/A |
| | CPA | Carol Valinejad | 108 | 0.5 | ±0.0 |
| | Monster Raving Loony | Mad Mike Young | 94 | 0.4 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 4,478 | 20.6 | −20.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 21,733 | 33.5 | −36.3 |
| Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | 50 | 0.2 | |
| Total ballots | Total ballots | Total ballots | 21,783 | 33.6 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 64,831 | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | -10.2 | |
General election 2024: Bognor Regis and Littlehampton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Alison Griffiths | 15,678 | 32.8 | –29.4 |
| | Labour | Clare Walsh | 13,913 | 29.1 | +10.1 |
| | Reform UK | Sandra Daniells | 10,262 | 21.5 | N/A |
| | Liberal Democrats | Henry Jones | 5,081 | 10.6 | –2.7 |
| | Green | Carol Birch | 2,185 | 4.6 | +1.3 |
| | Heritage | David Kurten | 708 | 1.5 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,765 | 3.7 | –39.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 47,827 | 61.7 | –6.5 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 77,565 | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | 19.8 | |

### London elections

2016 London Assembly election :
| List | Candidates | Votes | Of total (%) | ± from prev. |
| Labour | Fiona Twycross (105,480), Tom Copley (95,891), Nicky Gavron (87,900), Murad Qureshi (81,139), Alison Moore, Preston Tabois, Feryal Demirci, Mike Katz, Emily Brothers, Bevan Powell, Sara Hyde | 1,054,801 | 40.3% | –0.8% |
| Conservative | Kemi Badenoch (127,372), Andrew Boff (109,176), Shaun Bailey (95,529), Susan Hall (84,914), Amandeep Bhogal, Joanne Laban, Antonia Cox, Joy Morrissey, Timothy Barnes, Gregory Stafford, Kishan Devani, Jonathan Cope | 764,230 | 29.2% | –2.8% |
| Green | Siân Berry (207,959), Caroline Russell (103,980), Shahrar Ali (69,320), Jonathan Bartley, Noel Lynch, Rashid Nix, Dee Searle, Benali Hamdache, Andrea Carey Fuller, Anne RoseMary Warrington, Peter Underwood | 207,959 | 8.0% | –0.6% |
| UKIP | Peter Whittle (171,069), David Kurten (85,535), Lawrence Webb (57,023), Peter Harris, Neville Watson, Piers Wauchope, Afzal Akram, Elizabeth Jones, Tariq Saeed, Freddy Vachha, Peter Staveley | 171,069 | 6.5% | +2.0% |
| Liberal Democrats | Caroline Pidgeon (165,580), Emily Davey (82,790), Merlene Emerson, Robert Blackie, Zack Polanski, Dawn Barnes, Annabel Mullin, Marisha Ray, Adrian Hyyrylainen-Trett, Pauline Pearce, Benjamin Mathis | 165,580 | 6.3% | –0.5% |
| Women's Equality | Sophie Walker, Harini Iyengar, Jacquelyn Guderley, Alison Marshall, Rebecca Manson Jones, Anila Dhami, Isabelle Parasram, Chris Paouros, Joanna Shaw, Kate Massey-Chase, Melanie Howard | 91,772 | 3.5% | N/A |
| Respect | George Galloway, Akib Mahmood, Mikail Rayne, Clare McCaughey, Rehiana Ali, Terry Hoy, Simon Virgo, Saurav Dutt, Tehmeena Mahmood, Karina Lockhart | 41,324 | 1.6% | N/A |
| Britain First | Jayda Fransen, Paul Golding, Christine Smith, Anne Elstone, Nancy Smith, Hollie Rouse, Peggy Saunders, Donna King, Kevan McMullen, Steven Connor | 39,071 | 1.5% | N/A |
| CPA | Malcolm Martin, Maureen Martin, Yemi Awolola, Helen Spiby-Vann, Ray Towey, Damilola Adewuyi, Kathy Mils, Kayode Shedono, Des Coke, Ashley Dickenson, Stephen Hammond, Kevin Nichols | 27,172 | 1.0% | –0.8% |
| Animal Welfare | Vanessa Hudson, Jonathan Homan, Alexander Bourke, Linda Seddon, Zsanett Csontos | 25,810 | 1.0% | N/A |
| BNP | David Furness, Paul Sturdy, John Clarke, Michael Jones, Peter Finch, Nicola Finch, Denise Underwood, Stephen Dillon, Philip Dalton, Gareth Jones, Beb Smith | 15,833 | 0.6% | –1.5% |
| The House Party | Terry McGrenera | 11,055 | 0.4% | +0.1% |
2021 London Assembly election :
| List | Candidates | Votes | Of total (%) | ± from prev. |
| Labour | Elly Baker (98,661), Sakina Sheikh (89,692), Murad Qureshi (82,217), Emine Ibrahim, Faduma Hassan, Sophie Charman-Blower, Bob Littlewood, Miriam Mirwitch, Shahina Jaffer, Taranjit Chana, James Beckles | 986,609 | 38.1% | 2.2% |
| Conservative | Shaun Bailey† (132,514), Andrew Boff (113,583), Susan Hall (99,385), Emma Best (88,342), Selina Seesunkur (79,508), Toby Williams, Ahmereen Reza, Timothy Briggs, Simon Hoar, John Riley, Julian Gallant, George Currie | 795,081 | 30.7% | 1.5% |
| Green | Siân Berry† (305,452), Caroline Russell (152,726), Zack Polanski (101,817), Benali Hamdache (76,363), Shahrar Ali, Rosamund Kissi-Debrah, Ben Fletcher, Hannah Graham, Peter Underwood, Kirsten De Keyser, Jarelle Francis | 305,452 | 11.8% | 3.8% |
| Liberal Democrats | Caroline Pidgeon (189,522), Hina Bokhari (94,761), Robert Blackie (63,174), Chris Maines, Joyce Onstad, Irina von Wiese, Hussain Khan, Michael Bukola, Adrian Hyyrylainen-Trett, Adetokunbo Fatukasi, Charley Hasted | 189,522 | 7.3% | 1.0% |
| Women's Equality | Harini Iyengar, Jacueline Dean, Tabitha Morton, Rebecca Manson-Jones, Nikki Uppal, Pamela Ritchie, Leila Fazal, Sarabajaya Kumar, Guilene Marcor, Sellisha Lockyer, Korina Holmes, Maureen Obi-Ezekpazu, Georgina Ladbury | 55,684 | 2.2% | 1.3% |
| Rejoin EU | Richard Hewison†, Deborah Iliffe, Charlotte Blake, John Stevens, Brendan Donnelly, Rory Fitzgerald, Benrd Rendic, Philipp Gnatzy, Karol Bobal, Raj Kumar, Javern Pond | 49,389 | 1.9% | New |
| Animal Welfare | Vanessa Hudson†, Sam Morland, Alex Bourke, Femy Amin, Mark Scott, Julian Weisman | 44,667 | 1.7% | 0.7% |
| CPA | Maureen Maud Marin, Helen Spiby-Vann, Ashley Keith Dickenson, Carol Valinejad, Eunice Oruyinka Ade Odesanmi, Katherine Susan Hortense, Desmond Coke, Donald Akhigbe | 28,878 | 1.1% | 0.1% |
| UKIP | Peter Gammons†, Elizabeth Jones, Julie Carter, Stuart Freeman, Marjan Keqaj, Kakala Nyembwe, Ziz Kakoulakis, Geoffrey Courtenay, Anil Bhatti, Amir Latif, Simon Harman | 27,114 | 1.0% | 5.5% |
| Reform UK | Richard Tice, David Bull, Robert Poll, Dominique Day, Michael Pastor, Saradhi Rajan, Ian Price, Edward Apostolides, Mark Simpson, Michael Anthony, John Cronin | 25,009 | 1.0% | New |
| London Real Party | Brian Rose†, Paul Frost, Kim Murray, Julian Bailes | 18,395 | 0.7% | New |
| Let London Live | Piers Corbyn†, Heiko Khoo, Sylvia Da Barca, Julia Stephenson, Renos Samson | 15,755 | 0.6% | New |
| Heritage | David Kurten†, Sean Finch, Lewis Glyn, Zachary Stiling, Barbara Ray, Dominic Stockford | 13,534 | 0.5% | New |
| TUSC | Nancy Taaffe, April Ashley, Lewis Baker, Deji Olayinka, Andrew Walker, Thea Everett, Lawanya Ramajayam, Jack Jeffery, Marvin Hay, Len Hockey, Lois Austin, Bob Law, Ferdy Lyons, Rachel Lyon, Naomi Bryan, Pete Mason, Angharad Hillier, Hugo Pierre, Brian Debus, Mira Glavardanov, Niall Mulholland, John Viner, Wally Kennedy, Paul Kershaw, Paul Scott | 9,004 | 0.3% | New |
| Communist | Robin Talbot, Judith Cazorla Rodenas, Philip Wedgwood Brand, Akira Allman, Lorraine Douglas, Stewart McGill, Lucian Branescu-Mihaila, Anita Halpin, Hannah Sawtwell | 8,787 | 0.3% | New |
| SDP | Eric Siva-Jothy, Stephen Gardner, Matthew Beresford, Simon Marshall, Brilant Krasniqi, Seth Liebowitz, Tricia Bracher, Rosamund Hubley | 7,782 | 0.3% | New |
| Londependence | Bella Roberts, Tom Foster, Daniel Jacobs, John Halnan | 5,746 | 0.2% | New |
| National Liberal | Upkar Rai, Arunasalam Rajalingam, Faisal Maramazi, Araz Yurdseven, Ponniah Yogaraja | 2,860 | 0.1% | New |
2021 London mayoral election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | 1st round | 1st round | 2nd round | 2nd round | 2nd round | 1st round votesTransfer votes, 2nd round |
| Party | Party | Candidate | Total | Of round | Transfers | Total | Of round | 1st round votesTransfer votes, 2nd round |
| | Labour | Sadiq Khan | 1,013,721 | 40.0% | 192,313 | 1,206,034 | 55.2% | ​​ |
| | Conservative | Shaun Bailey | 893,051 | 35.3% | 84,550 | 977,601 | 44.8% | ​​ |
| | Green | Siân Berry | 197,976 | 7.8% | | | | ​​ |
| | Liberal Democrats | Luisa Porritt | 111,716 | 4.4% | | | | ​​ |
| | Independent | Niko Omilana | 49,628 | 2.0% | | | | ​​ |
| | Reclaim | Laurence Fox | 47,634 | 1.9% | | | | ​​ |
| | London Real | Brian Rose | 31,111 | 1.2% | | | | ​​ |
| | Rejoin EU | Richard Hewison | 28,012 | 1.1% | | | | ​​ |
| | Count Binface | Count Binface | 24,775 | 1.0% | | | | ​​ |
| | Women's Equality | Mandu Reid | 21,182 | 0.8% | | | | ​​ |
| | Let London Live | Piers Corbyn | 20,604 | 0.8% | | | | ​​ |
| | Animal Welfare | Vanessa Hudson | 16,826 | 0.7% | | | | ​​ |
| | UKIP | Peter Gammons | 14,393 | 0.6% | | | | ​​ |
| | Independent | Farah London | 11,869 | 0.5% | | | | ​​ |
| | Heritage | David Kurten | 11,025 | 0.4% | | | | ​​ |
| | Independent | Nims Obunge | 9,682 | 0.4% | | | | ​​ |
| | SDP | Steve Kelleher | 8,764 | 0.3% | | | | ​​ |
| | Renew | Kam Balayev | 7,774 | 0.3% | | | | ​​ |
| | Independent | Max Fosh | 6,309 | 0.2% | | | | ​​ |
| | Burning Pink | Valerie Brown | 5,305 | 0.2% | | | | ​​ |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Labour hold | Labour hold | Labour hold | Labour hold | Labour hold | Labour hold |