Heritage Party

[[File:Heritage Party UK logo.png|thumb|right|150px|The logo may be the best thing about this party.]]
{{cquote|…We desperately need a change from the policies and agendas which have been pushed over the last few decades ... The agenda of mass immigration, the agenda of [[net zero]], the woke agenda, by which we have comprehensive [[Sex education|sexuality education]], going into our children's schools and teaching them things which are unscientific and [[Appeal to emotion#Children|very, very damaging to their upbringing]]…|||Heritage Party founder/leader {{wpl|David Kurten||,}} 24 June 2024.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2i6LLUwjT1Y Heritage Party Election Broadcast, 2024] ''YouTube''.</ref>}}
{{ukpolitics}}

The '''Heritage Party''' is a British 'socially conservative' political party or a [[reactionary]], [[right-wing]] [[populist]] party riddled with [[conspiracy theories]] and the ugly end of 'Christian values', depending on one's viewpoint. What isn't in dispute is how minor this group is; it appears to be a vanity project of David Kurten<ref group=note>As the party is a limited company where he controls 75% of the votes Kurten is effectively 'leader for life'.</ref><ref>[https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/12617414 Heritage Party Ltd.] ''Companies House''.</ref> which in the [[2024 United Kingdom general election|2024 general election]] came 25<sup>th</sup> in total votes cast<ref>[https://electionresults.parliament.uk/general-elections/6 Results for a UK general election on 4 July 2024] ''UK Parliament''</ref> and with the exception of Kurten himself (1.5%), found it impossible to get over 1% of the vote in any seat they contested.<ref>[https://electionresults.parliament.uk/general-elections/6/political-parties/256/elections?order=descending&sort=vote-count#results Results for a UK general election on 4 July 2024, Elections contested by Heritage Party] ''UK Parliament''.</ref> With the exception of the very occasional defection of a sitting politician at a lower rung of government<ref>[https://www.kentonline.co.uk/tunbridge-wells/news/conservative-county-councillor-launches-attack-on-party-as-s-321424/ Conservative county councillor Becki Bruneau launches attack on party as she defects to Heritage Party] ''Kent Online'', 14th March 2025.</ref> the party has not enjoyed any representation at any tier of government in their own right, to the credit of the British people.

==History==
Kurten (then a teacher) was involved in the first [[Nigel Farage|Faragist]] vehicle&nbsp;— the [[United Kingdom Independence Party]] (UKIP) - from 2012 onwards; judged decent enough to stand (and win) under their banner in the 2016 London Assembly election.<ref>[https://www.londonelects.org.uk/im-voter/election-results/results-2016 Results 2016] ''London Elects''.</ref> It appears Kurten fell out with two leaders in a row; [[Henry Bolton]] and then [[Gerard Batten]]&nbsp;— the exact reasons for this are unknown, but not hard to guess; that Kurten (who is mixed race) was alienated by the former's toying with [[racism]]<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20220711134339/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/17/world/europe/ukip-henry-bolton-resign.html A Drifting UKIP Ousts Leader at Center of Racism Row] ''New York Times'', 17 February 2018.</ref> which then deepened with the latter's embrace of the racist [[Tommy Robinson]]<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-46308160 UKIP leader defends hiring Tommy Robinson] ''BBC News'', 4 December 2018.</ref>&nbsp;— something which appeared to be (then) a step too far for even 'Uncle Nige'.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-46448299 Former leader Nigel Farage quits UKIP] ''BBC News'', 4 December 2018.</ref> His decision to not continue with UKIP after Batten's fall (or throw his lot in with 'UKIP v2' - the [[Brexit Party]]) may have been a pragmatic one, believing that as [[Boris Johnson]] had finally 'got [[Brexit]] done'<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-51333314 Brexit: UK leaves the European Union] ''BBC News'', 1 February 2020.</ref> and as such, needed a new flag to march under. Why he didn't hook up with either the [[Christian Peoples Alliance]] or the [[Christian Party]] is a bit of a mystery, as Kurten is either a hardline [[Christian]] (of the American [[Religious Right]] stamp)<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20220922051511/https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2018/02/05/david-kurten-christians-arent-leaving-the-church-the-church-is-leaving-them/ DAVID KURTEN: Christians Aren’t Leaving the Church, the Church is Leaving Them] ''Brietbart'', 5 Feburary 2018.</ref> or just so happens to take all of his social positions from them. In this, two guesses can be made; that either those parties did not want Kurten or that they were not willing to parachute him into being their 2020 London Mayoral candidate. Either way, Kurten put himself forward as an independent<ref>[https://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/18191327.david-kurten-announces-run-mayor-london/ David Kurten announces run for Mayor of London] ''East London & West Essex Guardian'', 29 January 2020.</ref>, which led to the founding of the Heritage Party a few months later.

==Policies==
[[File:David_Kurten.jpg|thumb|left|200px|My ''personal'' vision for Britain.]]
As Kurten's vanity project; the party's manifesto etc is basically 'the world according to David Kurten'. And it is not a pretty place. There is enough within his opinions which makes a standard pigeon-holing as right-wing/reactionary difficult, but enough offensiveness to make a decent guess to ''why'' other parties didn't wish to have him near them. The one interesting thing is that his Christian beliefs are almost unmentioned, most likely in an attempt to court voters who aren't [[fundies]] like him.

Socially, the party is clearly reactionary. Kurten wishes to fully ban [[abortion]], [[euthanasia]], [[stem cell research]] and [[gambling]], while his pet hates include the [[LGBT]] community<ref>[https://www.thepinknews.com/2017/08/09/ukip-assembly-member-not-fit-for-elected-office-after-anti-gay-comments-says-partys-deputy-chair/UKIP Assembly Member ‘not fit for elected office’ after anti-gay comments, says senior UKIP official] ''Pink News'', 9 August 2017.</ref> (with particular ire towards '[[transgenderism]]'<ref group=note>A [[dogwhistle]] used by [[transphobes]].</ref><ref>[https://glaad.org/transgenderism-definition-meaning-anti-lgbt-online-hate/ Online Anti-LGBTQ Hate Terms Defined: “Transgenderism”] ''GLADD''</ref>), '[[cultural Marxism]]',<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20250324162920/https://brugesgroup.com/blog/suella-braverman-is-right-cultural-marxism-is-a-real-and-present-danger Suella Braverman is right: cultural Marxism is a real and present danger] ''Bruges Group Blog'', 28 March 2019.</ref> 'woke ideology', 15-minute neighbourhoods (and other 'anti-car measures'), [[Black Lives Matter]]<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20250617073520/https://www.heartpublications.co.uk/why-im-not-playing-the-blm-game/ Why I’m not playing the BLM game] ''Heart Media'', 30 July 2020.</ref> and is pretty close to outright [[mental illness denial]]. He's all in favour of [[Heteronormativity|preserving/promoting 'the sanctity of traditional marriage']], [[conversion therapy]], 'parental rights'<ref group=note>Code for 'children don't have rights'.</ref> and '[[traditional values]]', including in [[Police|policing]] and [[education]]. Put all together, it looks like he is hankering after a Britain which existed before [[Harold Wilson]] (1964-1970), which is a little ironic because Kurten was only born in 1971 and said era would have hated his guts due to the fact he was the product of '[[miscegenation]]'.<ref group=note>'Yet by the 1990s, racism had mostly disappeared'? Mr Kurten, care to talk to the ghost of [https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/43793772 Stephen Lawrence]?</ref> Needless to say, he is all for the peddling of narrative that [[persecution complex|'Christianity is being persecuted']], mainly because it's not the 1950s anymore and general British society doesn't automatically defer to them in every way.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20241007165322/https://www.thetimes.com/article/marginalised-maybe-but-we-arent-persecuted-8f5pd2509sv Marginalised maybe, but we aren’t persecuted] ''The Times'', 5 April 2010</ref> Lastly, he's all for [[free speech]], that is the variant where viewpoints Mr Kurten ''agrees'' with should have all the airtime they desire while nobody is allowed to argue back at them.

Economically, the party is [[laissez-faire]] ideologues;<ref group=note>'Ideologies' in this case because they do not admit the existence of any downsides.</ref> holding that [[free market]] [[capitalism]] is ''inherently'' superior to all other options, even attacking the fairly benign 'stakeholder capitalism'<ref group=note>The idea that a company holds loyalty beyond merely making money for shareholders.</ref> as being 'a mixture of [[communism]] and [[Technocracy]], both of which are [[totalitarian]] ideologies'. Expect a lot of crummy [[voodoo economics]] now popular with the American [[Republican Party]]; [[DOGE|that tons of mystical 'efficiencies' can be found to cut]], [[Starve the beast|while taxes can be slashed]], to 'spur entrepreneurship' through rapid [[deregulation]] and all the while '[[Fiscal responsibility|balancing the books]]' and having an [[inflation]] rate of zero. Except where it's not popular to do this, so nationalisation of [[Monopoly|monopolies]], the increase of [[taxes]] on multinationals/online retailers, stopping the building of homes on the green belt and the strengthening of banking regulations to effectively render the retail side as a de facto public service. 

In a nutshell; it's a total load of crap which the party is attempting to give everyone a free [[unicorn]] while nobody is footing the bill for it while denying there is even a bill. That is unless you work for a hated {{wpl|Quango|’Quango’}} are a [[DEI|diversity]] officer or work within the general 'Green economy' in which case, you can go to [[hell]]. Because the Heritage Party holds that [[climate change]] is not real ''period'' (which is again [[ironic]] because Kurten has in fact a degree in [[chemistry]] and is therefore 'a [[scientist]]'); that [[renewable energy]] is a [[Scam|con]]<ref group=note>They don't just argue the ending of new solar/wind plant construction, but the scrapping of ''existing plant''.</ref>, [[recycling]] is useless, [[energy]] efficiency is pointless and the country should go head-first into not only new [[Fossil fuel|oil/gas]] production, but bringing back King [[Coal]] in production and electricity generation. They even object to anti-[[pollution]] measures; such as vowing to abolish all low emission zones&nbsp;— even after admitting that air pollution in urban areas is often dangerous.<ref group=note>As there isn't a 'free market solution' to solving this, it means nothing can be done about it. But oddly enough, they find it okay to 'interfere in the market' to demand all new buildings to be 'traditional' in design and construction materials.</ref> It shall not be a shock to anyone that they held the same irresponsible position during the whole [[COVID-19 pandemic|Covid pandemic]], during which they lurched deeper towards conspiracy theories such as '[[the Great Reset]]' and [[Anti-vaccination movement|attacking vaccine mandates]] and 'lockdowns'<ref>[https://www.swlondoner.co.uk/news/29012021-london-mayor-heritage-party-candidate-david-kurten-criticises-covid-chaos London Mayor Heritage Party candidate David Kurten criticises COVID chaos] ''SW Londoner'', 29 January 2021.</ref> while muttering ever-louder in sinister tones about '[[globalist]]s', '[[Big Pharma]]' and suchlike pulling strings in the background of British society.

Perhaps this quest to have a polluted, poisoned land with coal smogs and chronic nitrogen dioxide poisoning is deliberate to make the United Kingdom as unattractive to foreigners as possible&nbsp; for the Heritage Party [[xenophobia|loathes and despises them]]. Doesn't matter who you are, the reason you came or what you can give back to the country&nbsp;— if you were not here by say, 1990 you are to ''go'', ideally immediately. For Kurten goes even further than the likes of Farage and [[GB News]]; even genuine [[Afghan]] refugees from the [[Taliban]], [[Hong Kong]]ers fleeing the [[Chinese]] [[police state]]<ref group=note>So much for ''foreigners'' wanting free speech, eh?</ref> or [[Ukrainian]]s declining to be [[Russian invasion of Ukraine|killed/maimed by Russian forces]] are to 'bugger off back to their own country', 'legal migration' to be capped around a few thousand a year, the number of refugees to be accepted yearly to be zero<ref group=note>Using the often repeated 'first available safe country' [[pseudolaw]] which means the UK would only ever accept refugees from [[France]] and [[Ireland]] (i.e., effectively none).</ref> and all 'illegals' to be deported<ref group=note>They don't mention ''where'', exactly&nbsp; which raises the possibility they'd support some kind of 'Rwanda-plus' solution in which said people are simply dumped in some suitably remote locale.</ref> A lot of this is rooted in [[Islamophobia]]; they are portrayed as a combination of cultural '[[Other|others]]', possible sex offenders, likely criminals, freeloaders off the state and the main reason why nothing works and there's a shortage of housing and government services. Oh, and if any international regulation, treaty or agreement stops this&nbsp;— the UK will leave them.

Anything else to note? Ah yes, Kurten is firmly pro-[[Putin]], all but peddling the Kremlin's narrative on the [[Russian invasion of Ukraine|Ukraine War]] and putting out his own disinformation<ref>[https://factcheck.ge/en/story/41748-disinformation-britons-consider-vladimir-putin-as-the-best-president Disinformation: “Britons consider Vladimir Putin as the best president.”] ''Factcheck Georgia'', 22 March 2023.</ref>. Naturally, he is also a fan of other right-wing populists, such as [[Donald Trump]] and [[Viktor Orbán]].

==Effects==
Thankfully for the country, the answer is 'almost nil'. They are occasionally seen haunting the fringes of cranky right-wing conferences, conspiracy theory demonstrations (such as the anti-lockdown protests) and of late trying to help whip up drama regarding 'small boats' and the [[Great Replacement]].<ref>[https://searchlightmagazine.com/2024/06/heritage-party-conspiracy-nuts-fight-41-seats/Heritage Party conspiracy-nuts fight 41 seats] ''Searchlight Magazine'', 23 June 2024.</ref> Kurten himself did a stint on the [[Australian]] conspiracist station TNT Radio until it shutdown due to a lack of interest and/or funding,<ref>[https://www.crikey.com.au/2024/09/17/tnt-radio-shutting-down-conspiracy-theorists-fringe-politicians/ TNT Radio, a network for conspiracy theorists and fringe politicians, is shutting its doors] ''Crikey'', 17 September 2024.</ref> and apparently he is too far gone for even the likes of GB News to be motivated to offer him a berth (though they are happy to repeatedly have him as a guest). Similar can be said during the last election; they spent less than £8,000 to run their campaign<ref>[https://search.electoralcommission.org.uk/Search/Spending?currentPage=1&rows=10&query=Heritage%20Party&sort=DateIncurred&order=desc&tab=1&et=pp&et=ppm&includeOutsideSection75=true&evt=ukparliament&evt=nationalassemblyforwales&evt=scottishparliament&evt=northernirelandassembly&evt=europeanparliament&evt=senedd&evt=referendum&optCols=CampaigningName&optCols=ExpenseCategoryName&optCols=FullAddress&optCols=AmountInEngland&optCols=AmountInScotland&optCols=AmountInWales&optCols=AmountInNorthernIreland&optCols=DateOfClaimForPayment&optCols=DatePaid Spending by the Heritage Party] ''Electoral Commission''.</ref> which suggests they're too fringe to even attract a sugar parent's loose change and the only '[[MSM]]' attention they got for the last election was to attend a 'minor party hustings' chaired by LBC Radio Iain Dale which ended with him calling Kurten a [[bigot]]ed [[homophobe]]<ref group=note>Dale is [[gay]] himself.</ref> on-air and telling him to get the hell out of his studio immediately afterwards.<ref>[https://x.com/IainDale/status/1808065374157476014?lang=en-GB Iain Dale on X] ''X.Com'', 2 July 2024.</ref> Impressively, Kurten managed to make the stooge from [[George Galloway|Galloway]]'s Worker's Party appear sane and reasonable in comparison, which if nothing else showed that the [[tone argument]] won't ''always'' work in one's favour (Kurten is quite capable of presenting a polite/calm demeanour even when suggesting on live radio that his host might be mentally ill and/or the victim of childhood abuse.<ref>[https://www.attitude.co.uk/news/world/controversial-anti-gay-politician-who-linked-homosexuality-to-child-abuse-to-run-in-london-by-election-295868/ Controversial anti-gay politician who linked homosexuality to child abuse to run in London by-election] ''Attitude'', 15 May 2018.</ref>)

==See also==
*[[Bruges Group]] - Kurten wrote on their blog and attended confrences at least until 2020.
*[[The Conservative Woman]] - Right-wing [[webshite]], Kurten as a contributor.

==External links==
*[https://heritageparty.org/ Their own site (inc manifesto).] Just if you'd like to check the 'Policies' section is as bad as summed-up here.

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

[[Category:Anti-vaccination movement]]
[[Category:British political parties]]
[[Category:Far-right political parties]]
[[Category:Homophobia]]
[[Category:Politics]]
[[Category:British politics]]
[[Category:Xenophobes]]

Categories: Anti-vaccination movement, British political parties, Far-right political parties, Homophobia, Politics, British politics, Xenophobes