Yorkshire Party
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Chair | Lucy Brown |
Leader | Stewart Arnold |
Deputy Leader | Chris Whitwood |
Founded | April 2014 |
Ideology | Yorkshire regionalism |
Political position | Centre |
European affiliation | European Free Alliance |
Colours | Sky blue, white |
Website | |
www |
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The Yorkshire Party (previously Yorkshire First) is a regionalist political party in Yorkshire, a historic county of England. Launched by Richard Carter and Stewart Arnold ahead of the 2014 European Parliament election, it campaigns for the establishment of a Yorkshire Parliament within the UK, similar to the Scottish Parliament or National Assembly of Wales.
It is otherwise described as a party of the "pragmatic centre", with "progressive views on economic, social and environmental issues". Its constitution rejects the whip system, and its candidates agree to abide by Martin Bell's code of conduct for politicians.
Yorkshire First faced its first electoral test when it stood three candidates in Yorkshire and the Humber in the 2014 European elections. The party's launch was welcomed by a spokesperson for Mebyon Kernow. During the campaign, the party complained about BBC and Ofcom rules which precluded it from having an election broadcast. It came 8th of 10 parties with 19,017 votes (1.47%), which the party's lead candidate, Stewart Arnold, described as "a hugely significant result".
In late 2014, a former Labour councillor, Paul Salveson, joined the party, saying the "vitality in Scotland confirmed that it was the right choice to make". He stood as the party's parliamentary candidate in Colne Valley in the 2015 general election.