Heritage Party (UK)

Not to be confused with Heritage (Armenia).

Heritage Party
LeaderDavid Kurten
FounderDavid Kurten
Founded21 October 2020; 4 years ago (2020-10-21)
Split fromUK Independence Party
IdeologyEuroscepticism
British nationalism
British unionism
Right-wing populism
Social conservatism
Political positionRight-wing
Slogan"Freedom, Family, Nation"
Website
heritageparty.org

The Heritage Party is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist, and socially conservative minor political party in the United Kingdom, founded in October 2020 when then-London Assembly Member David Kurten left the UK Independence Party (UKIP) to form the party.[1] Kurten was also a member of the Brexit Alliance, a Eurosceptic technical group he formed in 2018 with fellow former UKIP member Peter Whittle.

History

David Kurten, founder and leader of the Heritage Party

In January 2020, Kurten announced he would be running 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).[2] Kurten founded the Heritage Party, and it was registered with the Electoral Commission that October.[3][4]

In December 2020, Kurten rejected a COVID-19 vaccine, for which he was denounced by Conservative mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey, who saw this as irresponsible for an elected politician.[5] Lockdowns in response to the coronavirus pandemic in the United Kingdom were condemned by Kurten.[6]

Elections

Parliamentary by-elections

The party has stood in eight by-elections so far:

By-election Candidate Votes Out of Percentage Place Out of Notes References
2021 Hartlepool by-election Claire Martin 468 29,933 1.6 4th 16
2021 Batley and Spen by-election Susan Laird 33 37,786 0.1 16th 16
2021 Old Bexley and Sidcup by-election David Kurten 116 21,733 0.5 9th 11
2021 North Shropshire by-election James Elliot 79 38,093 0.2 10th 14
2022 Southend West by-election Ben Downton 236 15,942 1.6 6th 9 Held due to the murder of previous MP David Amess on 15 October 2021. The major parties thus did not stand. [7]
2022 Tiverton and Honiton by-election Jordan Donoghue-Morgan 167 42,707 0.4 7th 8 [8]
2023 Selby and Ainsty by-election Guy Phoenix 162 35,886 0.5 10th 13 [9]
2023 Mid Bedfordshire by-election Alberto Thomas 63 40,720 0.5 11th 13

2021 elections

May 2021 London elections

Kurten came 15th in the 2021 London mayoral election with 0.4% of the vote. Heritage came 13th in the Assembly election with 0.5% of the vote. In addition to his Mayoral loss, Kurten lost his seat in the Assembly (to which he had been elected second on the UKIP list at the 2016 election).

London Assembly

Election Votes Share of votes Seats Note(s)
2021 13,534 0.52%
0 / 25
 #13

Northern Ireland Assembly

Election First Preference Vote Share of votes Seats Note(s)
2022 128 0.0%
0 / 90
 #16

2023 UK local elections

Council Candidates Elected Votes Percentage
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole[10]
1 / 76
0 / 76
 181 0.1
Tonbridge and Malling[11]
1 / 44
0 / 44
 77 0.1
South Staffordshire[12]
1 / 42
0 / 42
 86 0.4

2024 UK local elections

Council Candidates Elected Votes Percentage
West Oxfordshire[13]
1 / 17
0 / 17
 99 0.1

2024 general election

The party's candidates stood in 41 constituencies in the 2024 United Kingdom general election on 4 July 2024: 34 in England, 1 in Scotland, 6 in Wales.[14] These candidates received a total of 6,597 votes, and none of them were elected.[15]

Election year Leader # of total votes % of overall vote # of seats won Outcome
2024 David Kurten 6,597 Increase 0.0% Increase
0 / 650
Steady 		No seats

References

  1. ^ "View registration". The Electoral Commission. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  2. ^ Mathewson, Jessie (28 January 2020). "David Kurten announces run for Mayor of London". Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  3. ^ "HERITAGE PARTY - Overview (free company information from Companies House)". Gov.uk.
  4. ^ "View current applications". Electoral Commission. 18 July 2020. Archived from the original on 18 July 2020.
  5. ^ Sleigh, Sophia; Dunne, John (28 December 2020). "London Assembly member David Kurten slammed for 'anti-vax' comments". Evening Standard. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  6. ^ Prosser, Ryan (29 January 2021). "London Mayor Heritage Party candidate David Kurten criticises COVID chaos". SWLondoner. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
  7. ^ "Election results Southend West by-election 2022". Southend Council. 4 February 2022. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
  8. ^ "STATEMENT OF PERSONS NOMINATED AND NOTICE OF POL L". Mid Devon District Council. 25 May 2022. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  9. ^ Council, North Yorkshire. "Notice of Results" (PDF). www.northyorks.gov.uk. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  10. ^ "Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council - Election results for Talbot and Branksome Woods, 4 May 2023". BCP Council. 4 May 2023. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  11. ^ "Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council - Election results for Snodland West and Holborough Lakes, 4 May 2023". Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council. 4 May 2023. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  12. ^ "Election results for Wombourne North, 4 May 2023" (PDF). sstaffs.gov.uk. 4 May 2023. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  13. ^ "WEST OXFORDSHIRE DISTRICT COUNCIL ELECTION RESULTS SUMMARY - THURSDAY 2 MAY 2024" (PDF). West Oxfordshire District Council. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
  14. ^ "Westminster Elections". Heritage Party. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  15. ^ "UK election results 2024: Parliament results". BBC News. Retrieved 6 July 2024.