Post by pieter on Jul 19, 2019 9:31:14 GMT -7
The Independents is a group of independent MPs in the UK House of Commons founded in July 2019. The group, which is not a registered political party, describes itself as a "co-operative of independent politicians" who hope to "encourage a stronger spirit of cross-party working" and "will work collaboratively in the national interest". The group does not have any formal policies, only providing administrative support to its members who are bound by its six key values of "country first, collaboration, integrity, respect, leadership and openness".
The group was formed on 10 July 2019 by five MPs. Four were among the six MPs who left Change UK (which has since changed its name to the Independent Group for Change) on 4 June. They had been in that party since February 2019, having previously been members of the Labour Party or the Conservative Party. (Of the others who left Change UK at that time, one, Chuka Umunna, joined the Liberal Democrats; the other, Sarah Wollaston, sits as an independent MP.) The fifth member of the new group is John Woodcock, who was suspended from Labour in 2018 over charges of harassment and left the party while under investigation. He has offered to have the charges investigated under the new group's procedures. In an interview following the formation of the group, Heidi Allen explained that the group will not offer a policy platform; instead it will provide administrative functions and support to member MPs. She also stated that there is no intention for the group to become a political party.
www.theindependents.org.uk/about?fbclid=IwAR2X9TH9iQV5mMAi8P8rRV81v-dmdCSg_FAAhRIZ9RCk6tOYvI1NS2p5wjU