Northern Independence Party
The Northern Independence Party (NIP) is a secessionist and democratic socialist political party that seeks to make Northern England an independent nation, under the name of Northumbria. Founded in October 2020 by Brighton resident Philip Proudfoot, the party currently has no elected representatives. History. The NIP was formed on 22 October 2020 by Philip Proudfoot, an international development studies lecturer at the University of Sussex and former Labour Party activist from County Durham, along with his colleague Evie McGovern and other former Labour activists who were alienated by what they saw as Keir Starmer's move towards  the centre as leader of the party. Proudfoot was inspired to found the party after watching Andy Burnham's critical response to the Westminster government's limited support package for Greater Manchester during the COVID-19 pandemic. He told "Big Issue North" that the centralisation of power in London had played a part as well, highlighting the North-South divide in healthcare, transport, education, and general standard of living as motivating factors. The NIP applied to the Electoral Commission for registration on 12 February 2021, but the application was rejected on the grounds of its initial application being incomplete. On 24  March, the party reapplied for registration, and announced on 30 June that it was registered with the Electoral Commission. Following the NIP announcement that it had selected former Labour MP Thelma Walker as its candidate for the Hartlepool by-election in May 2021, it was reported by "Huffington Post UK" that the party's membership had increased from 300 members to 1,300. Policies. Inspired by the Scottish National Party's campaign for an independent Scotland, the NIP seeks to make the North of England an independent state under the name Northumbria, which previously existed as an Anglo-Saxon medieval kingdom  from the 7th century until the 10th century. Proudfoot has said that the geography of Northumbria would consist of Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cumbria, Merseyside, Tyne and Wear, Greater Manchester, County Durham, Northumberland and Cheshire, and, since 2022, has generally included the borough of High Peak in northern Derbyshire within it. The party has proposed York as a possible capital city, though has also proposed having multiple capitals. The NIP describes itself as a democratic socialist party, advocating for a "green industrial rebirth" and "socialism with a northern accent", proposing a market socialist economy, with a more decentralised system and an emphasis  on co-operatives, locally-owned businesses and social enterprises. The party also endorses the principles of community wealth building, known as the Preston Model. It has also said that in an independent North, it would nationalise some industries where feasible, including utilities, public transport and the National Health Service. It supports the nationalisation of broadband to make it free at the point of delivery. Identifying itself as a post-Brexit party, the NIP has stated that the issue of an independent North joining the European Union would be decided by a future referendum that they would not call. It would  also leave the question of whether an independent North would retain the monarchy to the electorate, in a referendum that would be held on the issue if it arose. The NIP also opposes First Past the Post as an electoral system, believing that its replacement should be determined by a constitutional assembly. It was reported that much of the party's initial support has been drawn from disillusionment with Starmer's leadership of the Labour Party, particularly on the party's left flank. Reception. Stewart Arnold of "The Yorkshire Post" argued that the party's presence would be "good for  democracy as it will challenge the two main parties to present suitable plans that allow Yorkshire and the rest of the North to take control of its own destiny and unleash its potential", while in "The Guardian", Alex Niven was sceptical of the party's chances, noting that the "archaic first-past-the-post system makes it extremely difficult for smaller parties to establish a foothold in Westminster". He compared the NIP's prospects to UKIP but with "none of UKIP's advantages and most of its limitations", although he suggested that the party "might just be the start of  a more general realignment in British politics", noting "If even a minority of disaffected Corbynite northerners get behind NIP, [...] Labour's downslide will accelerate." In an opinion piece for "The Times", former Labour staff member James Matthewson called the NIP "a glorified joke" and accused it of being a "fetishisation of Northern working-class culture by privileged, middle class hard-left ideologues". Labour MP for Liverpool Riverside, Kim Johnson, dismissed the party's slogan, 'It's About Bloody Time', and use of a logo featuring a whippet as "patronising in the extreme". In the "New Statesman", Freddie Hayward, while dismissing  favourable comparisons to the Scottish independence movement, concluded that the party "may be quixotic, or it may be the germination of a political force that gives the north 'national consequence'" and that it may be "needed to hold the major parties accountable for failing to address the north–south divide". In the same outlet, contributor Jonn Elledge criticised the party's decision not to contest northern mayoralties, writing that while anything to "make everyone pay more attention to the north has to be a good thing", he viewed the party's targeting of Labour voters as potentially "handing another red -wall seat to the governing party" which would be unlikely to "wake up ministers to the need to give more money and attention to anywhere north of Stevenage". Writing for "Novara Media", psephology blogger Ell Folan, though dismissive of Thelma Walker's chances to win Hartlepool, believed the NIP "could easily cost Labour key seats in the future (especially with the Tories so far ahead in the polls)", concluding that "with leftism still popular in the north, regionalism on the rise and Labour's red wall no longer solid, Starmer needs to take the NIP seriously – or it won't  seem like a joke much longer". Elections. 2021 local elections. The party endorsed four independent candidates in the 2021 local elections in the Derby and Litherland wards of Sefton and the Pendleton & Charlestown ward of Salford. None of these candidates were elected. On 28 March 2021, the NIP selected Thelma Walker, formerly the Labour MP for Colne Valley from 2017 to 2019, to stand as its first prospective parliamentary candidate at the Hartlepool by-election. However, as the party was not registered with the Electoral Commission before the candidate nomination deadline, Walker appeared on the ballot as an Independent. Walker  won 250 votes, coming eighth with 0.84% of the vote and losing her deposit. 2022 local elections. The NIP will run eight candidates in the 2022 local elections in the Kingstone ward of Barnsley, the Beeston and Holbeck ward of Leeds, West Fenham and Wingrove wards of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, the Litherland ward of Sefton, the City and Crookes and Crosspool wards of Sheffield, and West Kirby and Thurstaston ward of Wirral.