Change UK

[[File:Change UK The Independent Group - Logo.png|right|thumb|165px|In case you haven't guessed, this is their logo. It's shite.]]
{{UKpolitics}}
'''The Independent Group for Change'''<ref name="name change">[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-48629838 "Change UK applies to change name after legal dispute"], ''BBC News''. 13 June 2019.</ref> (formerly '''Change UK''', '''Change UK-The Independent Group'''<ref>[https://twitter.com/britainelects/status/1111582509517717505?s=19 ''Independent Group Name Change''], 29th of March 2019, Britain Elects Via [[Twitter]]. Archived at: http://archive.fo/sw5Ip</ref> and before that just '''The Independent Group''', variously abbreviated '''CUKs/ChUKs/TIG/TIGGERs''') was a [[centrist]] [[United Kingdom|British]] [[political party]] that, at its peak, was made up of 11 former [[Labour Party|Labour]] and [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] Members of Parliament, later falling to 5 MPs and then to no MPs. Their leader is former [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] Member of Parliament Anna Soubry, who replaced former interim leader Heidi Allen in June, 2019, when the latter left the party.<ref>[https://news.sky.com/video/independent-group-running-rather-than-walking-with-interim-leader-heidi-allen-11678086 ''Independent Group Running Rather Than Walking With Interim Leader Heidi Allen'']29th of March 2019, Via Sky News. Archived at: http://archive.fo/yhj8u</ref><ref name=guardiansplit/> On 19 December, 2019, the party announced it was formally being dissolved in a letter posted to their website, following all 11 MPs losing their parliament seats in the 2019 General Election.<ref name="end change uk">Soubry, Anna. voteforchange.uk. 19 December 2019. ''[https://voteforchange.uk/letter-to-members-from-anna-soubry-following-our-management-council-meeting/ Letter to members from Anna Soubry following our Management Council Meeting]''. ([https://web.archive.org/web/20191220133950/https://voteforchange.uk/letter-to-members-from-anna-soubry-following-our-management-council-meeting/ Archived]).</ref>
==The build up==
The main player (and former Shadow Business Secretary for [[Ed Miliband]]) <ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11494915 ''Ed Miliband's Shadow Cabinet''] 17th of May 2012, Via [[BBC]]. Archived at:http://archive.fo/L1aJ</ref> Chuka Umunna threatened to leave the [[Labour Party]], it was unclear if he was actually serious or if these were just empty threats.<ref>[https://twitter.com/alexwickham/status/1097232859914555393 ''Is He leaving?''] 17th of February 2019, Alex Wickham Via [[Twitter]]. Archived at: http://archive.fo/zi47X</ref>

===Reaction===
Reactions to these rumors weren't very positive: 
*Momentum reacted.<ref>[http://archive.fo/g4EXR ''Momentum Reaction''] 14th of February 2019, Via The New European</ref>
*So did Margaret Beckett.<ref>[https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/top-stories/labour-figures-attempt-to-quash-party-split-rumours-1-5895767 ''Margaret Beckett Reaction''] 17th of February 2019, Via The New European. Archived at: http://archive.fo/iRfUT</ref>
*So did petitions website Change.org, hence the clusterfuck of name changes.<ref name="name change" />

===Splits abound===
Divisions in [[Labour]] over [[antisemitism]], foreign policy and [[Brexit]] got to be too much, leading MPs to resign and form the new Independent Group.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2019/feb/18/several-labour-mps-set-to-quit-the-party-politics-live?page=with:block-5c6a8405e4b0bdb6048fde53 ''Labour MPs Quit''] 18th of February 2019,Via [[The Guardian]].Archived At:http://archive.fo/IbRfT</ref> The roles they had in the group will be put next to them. <ref>[https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2019/03/01/the-independent-group-decide-roles-who-is-doing-what/ ''Who's Doing What?''] 1st of March 2019, Via hitc.com. Archived at: http://archive.fo/QFC84</ref> 

====Labour members====
*Mike Gapes (Military and Foreign Affairs)
*Luciana Berger (Health, Home Affairs and Technology)
*Ann Coffey (Education)
*Funny tinged Angela Smith (Transport, so yes she is the female version of Chris Grayling)
*Chris Leslie (Treasury and Trade)
*Chuka Umunna (Spokesperson) 
*Gavin Shuker (Convener)
*Joan Ryan (Business)<ref>[https://twitter.com/TheIndGroup/following ''The Independent Group: Following''] Via [[Twitter]].Archived at: http://archive.fo/xJtFR</ref>

===Good start then===
They were described as a 21<sup>st</sup> century equivalent of 1980s [[Labour Party|Labour]] breakaway group [[wp:Social_Democratic_Party_(UK)|The SDP]] (The Social Democratic Party).<ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/labour-split-independent-group-sdp-party-jeremy-corbyn-chuka-umunna-tony-blair-a8784671.html''SDP Independent Group'']18th of February 2019, Via The Independent.Archived at: http://archive.fo/ajW5w</ref> Although in fairness to The SDP they didn't come out the gate saying [[racist]] shit on live TV, which Angela Smith blamed on "tiredness" (oh boo hoo). <ref>[https://twitter.com/ClaudiaWebbe/status/1097524397789904896 ''Angela Smith on Politics Live''] 18th of February 2019,Claudia Webbe Via [[Twitter]]. Archived at:https://web.archive.org/web/20190322020026/https://video.twimg.com/ext_tw_video/1097517819833581568/pu/vid/1152x720/wxfLHtgSXKXMIPDG.mp4?tag=6</ref> <ref>[https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2019/02/watch-angela-smith-blames-funny-tinge-comment-on-tiredness/ ''Angela Smith Blames Racism on Tirdeness''] 19th of February 2019, Via The Spectator. Archived at: http://archive.fo/ZqmDv</ref> Keep in mind that Mike Gapes left Labour because of racism. <ref>[https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/uk/mike-gapes-labour-party-anti-semitic-racist/ ''Mike Gapes Leaves Because of Racism''] 18th of February 2019, Via LBC. </ref>

===More join===
Tories also defected too, bringing the total number to 11. <ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/feb/20/tory-mps-defect-independent-group-soubry-allen-wollaston ''Tories Join''] 20th of February 2019,Via [[The Guardian]]. Archived at: http://archive.fo/RXZZx</ref>

====Conservative members====
*Sarah Wollaston (Recruiter)
*Heidi Allen (Interim Leader)
*And finally Anna Soubry ([[Brexit]] Person)

==Views?==
===Where the Group stands===
{{Cquote|To change our broken politics, we need a different culture. The Independent Group aims to reach across outdated divides and tackle Britain’s problems together.|20px|20px|The Independent Group<ref>[https://www.theindependent.group/ ''Independent Group Website''] Archived at: https://web.archive.org/web/20190321013016/https://www.theindependent.group/</ref>}}
They claim to be ideologically neutral and "pursue policies that are evidence-based". Their statement is less of an outline of their political aims and more of list of nice sounding statements with options for you to "agree" at the side like it's Gotoquiz or Buzzfeed.<ref name="Statement">[https://www.theindependent.group/statement ''Statement''] http://archive.fo/t6sXN</ref>

These nice sounding statements include:
{{Cquote|Ours is a great country of which people are rightly proud.|20px|20px|The Independent Group}}
{{Cquote|Our [[Freedom of speech|free media]], the [[rule of law]], and our open, tolerant and respectful [[democratic]] society should be cherished and renewed.|20px|20px|The Independent Group}}

These are just worthless platitudes instead of defined policy goals.

==By-election==
Basically [[Labour Party|Labour]] wanted MPs who left parties to stand in by-elections (basically mini-general elections).<ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/labour-split-by-election-recall-petition-independent-group-joan-ryan-corbyn-a8787661.html ''Corbyn Tells Joan Ryan to Stand''] 20th of February 2019, Via The Independent.Archived at: http://archive.fo/r9UBQ</ref> 
[[Labour Party|Labour]] even held a rally in Anna Soubry's constituency of Broxtowe as a form of legal intimidation.<ref>[https://twitter.com/jeremycorbyn/status/1099311013894279168 ''Jeremy Corbyn Broxtowe March''] 23rd of February 2019, Via [[Twitter]]. Archived at: http://archive.fo/YupXl</ref>

==Look at that hypocrisy==
{{main|Hypocrisy}}
{{Cquote|We believe that our parliamentary democracy in which our elected representatives deliberate, decide and provide leadership, held accountable by their whole electorate is the best system of representing the views of the British people.|20px|20px|The Independent Group<ref name="Statement"/>}}
So despite saying that, they're not going to stand for a by elections because they know they will lose, which every single one of them did.<ref>[https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/independent-group-mps-refuse-face-14026674 ''Refuse By Elections'']20th of February 2019,Via The Daily Mirror</ref>

==Too many centrist parties?==
Pre-2019 General Election polling had The [[Liberal Democrats|Lib Dems]] doing pretty poor compared to The Independent Group. <ref>[https://twitter.com/britainelects/status/1100161171632594944 ''Britain Elects Polling''] 25th of February 2019, Via [[Twitter]]. Archived at: http://archive.fo/WxzJA</ref> As you may have noticed if you combine the two together they're equal or beating [[Labour Party|Labour]]. Which lead to calls for them to merge. <ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/feb/26/independent-group-lib-dems-vince-cable-westminster-sdp ''Lib Dem Merge?''] 26th of February 2019,Via [[The Guardian]]. Archived at: https://web.archive.org/web/20190322022003/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/feb/26/independent-group-lib-dems-vince-cable-westminster-sdp</ref> This turned out be a fools' errand as even MPs which later defected to the Liberal Democrats lost all their seats.

==In the news==
===Lost privileges===
Mike Gapes and non-Independent Group defector Ian Austin were booted from the Foreign Affairs committee in major a blow to the group's influence. <ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-parliaments-47631199 ''Ex Labour MPs 'booted''']19th of March 2019,Via the [[BBC]]Archived at: http://archive.fo/vNM2X</ref>

===Bad blood===
[[Jeremy Corbyn]] apparently walked out of cross-party [[Brexit]] meetings with [[Theresa May]] because Chuka Umunna was there, in what has been called 'juvenile' by the British media.<ref>[https://news.sky.com/story/juvenile-corbyn-walks-out-of-cross-party-meeting-after-independent-group-members-invited-11671274 ''Jeremy Corbyn Walks Out'']21st of March 2019, Via Sky News.Archived at:http://archive.fo/D7jFp</ref> Jeremy said that this decision was due to 'confusion'. <ref>[https://www.aol.co.uk/news/2019/03/21/jeremy-corbyn-blames-a-confusiona-for-brexit-meeting-walkout/ ''Walkout Due to 'Confusion''']21st of March 2019,Via AOL.Archived at:http://archive.fo/qotfF</ref> It has been speculated that this move was less 'juvenile' and more of an attempt to starve TIG of any attention in an attempt to make them insignificant.<ref>[https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/staggers/2019/03/jeremy-corbyn-s-brexit-walkout-disaster-not-reasons-you-think ''Walkout Not a Disaster,Via the Newstatesman'']20th of March 2019, Via The Newstatesman.Archived at:https://web.archive.org/web/20190320212216/https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/staggers/2019/03/jeremy-corbyn-s-brexit-walkout-disaster-not-reasons-you-think</ref>

===Anna Soubry's fucky wucky===
The Independent Group decided to become a political party on the 29th of March 2019. <ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-47745166 ''Independent Group to Become a Political Party''] 29th of March 2019, Via the [[BBC]]. Archived at: http://archive.fo/jHsQb</ref> Anna Soubry referred to their new party name as "change.org", the actual change.org are now pursuing legal charges. <ref>[https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/change-org-to-challenge-new-political-party-over-use-of-change-uk-name/ ''Change Name Dispute'']30th of March 2019, Via inews. Archived at:http://archive.fo/9rsBF</ref>
{{Cquote|It is said that imitation is a form of flattery. But the movement that we have built in the UK to win campaigns for ordinary people is ours – all 17 million of us. We are seeking guidance on the proposed use of our brand name by those reported to be setting up a new political party.|20px|20px|change.org}}

===Twisting the knife===
[[David Cameron|Cameronite]] and ex-[[Conservative Party (UK)|Tory]] Nick Boles resigned the whip after his attempts at cross party compromise in the [[Brexit]] indicative votes failed. <ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/apr/01/conservative-mp-nick-boles-quits-party-after-his-soft-brexit-plan-fails''Conservative MP Nick Boles quits party after his soft Brexit plan fails''] 1st of April 2019,Via [[The Guardian]]. Archived at:http://archive.fo/uLmOh</ref> Here comes Anna Soubry telling Nick how great he is and how there's "always a place for him" in The Independent Group. <ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20190406145103/https://video.twimg.com/ext_tw_video/1112833527320596480/pu/vid/1280x720/_MBJJuGmuiKYCcee.mp4?tag=8 ''Anna Soubry on ITV News''] 1st of April 2019, Via [[Twitter]]. </ref> All of the TIGGERs voted against his proposal which caused him to resign in the first place, the proposal would have won otherwise. No shame. <ref>[https://ig.ft.com/brexit-second-round-indicative-votes/ ''How MPs voted on the second round of indicative votes'']1st of April 2019,Via The Financial Times. Archived at:http://archive.fo/c8PW1</ref>

===Split===
In June 2019, 6 of its 11 MPs left the party, blaming its terrible performance in the May 2019 European elections, at which the Liberal Democrats captured the pro-European Union vote with 20% of the total votes cast, while Change UK scored 3%. Those quitting included leader Heidi Allen, with ex-Conservative Anna Soubry taking over command of the sinking ship. The departing members are believed likely to join the Lib Dems.<ref name=guardiansplit>[https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jun/04/change-uk-poised-to-lose-at-least-half-its-mps-heidi-allen-chuka-umunna-lib-dems Change UK loses six of its 11 MPs after dire EU elections result], The Guardian, 4 June 2019</ref>
==EU Elections and the 2019 General Election==
[[Change UK]] barely have more influence than other dead parties like [[UKIP]] after only getting 17,000 more votes than them nationally in the 2019 EU Elections. <ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/topics/crjeqkdevwvt/the-uks-european-elections-2019 ''UK's EU Election Results'',] Via The [[BBC]]. Archived at: http://archive.ph/NcioQ </ref> To make them even more pathetic they managed to lose every single one of their MPs in the 2019 General Election. <ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/general-election-results-chuka-umunna-gyimah-berger-lib-dems-labour-a9244996.html ''Every Change Uker Loses Their Seat''] Via The Independent. Archived at: http://archive.ph/Y9ixB </ref> Basically the political party has lost all of its influence and is dead.
==The End==
On the 19th of December 2019 Change UK disbanded permanently after its hilariously bad election results. <ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/dec/19/independent-group-for-change-party-disbanded ''Independent Group For Change Disband''] Via [[The Guardian]]. Archived at: http://archive.ph/kZFTO </ref><ref name="end change uk"/>
==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20190601211022/https://voteforchange.uk/ Their website, via Internet Archive] (not change.org)
*{{wpa|Change UK}}<!-- Wikipedia is still trying to figure out what the hell to name their article, the 20 name changes have not been kind to the editors there. -->

==References==
{{reflist|2|90%}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Independent Group}}

 [[Category:British political parties]] [[Category:Centrism]]

Categories: British political parties, Centrism