.gif)
Veritas (political party)
Encyclopedia
Veritas is a political party
in the United Kingdom
, formed in February 2005 at Hinckley
golf club (Leicestershire) by politician-celebrity Robert Kilroy-Silk
following a split from the United Kingdom Independence Party
(UKIP). Kilroy-Silk served as party leader from formation, through the 2005 General Election
, until his resignation in July that year. He was succeeded by Patrick Eston
who resigned the leadership on 15 June 2008 citing frustrations of his efforts to reform the party.
Therese Muchewicz is the new Party Leader. Veritas has no representation in the Parliament of the United Kingdom
, although its members have served in both the European Parliament
and the London Assembly
, having been elected as UKIP members and defecting upon Veritas' formation.
The party put forward no candidates in the 2010 General Election.
shadow cabinet member and television presenter, was elected as a UKIP Member of the European Parliament
in the 2004 European Parliament election
for the East Midlands
region. His ambition to attain the leadership of that party was announced in October 2004, but it proved very unpopular within the party. Instead of risking disciplinary action for continuing this action, Kilroy-Silk resigned the party whip
, while remaining a full member and asserting his continued challenge. The plan ultimately failed, and Kilroy-Silk finally resigned from the party - as had been long expected - on 20 January 2005. Rumours circulated immediately that Kilroy-Silk was set to form his own party, fuelled by the registration of the domain name "veritasparty.com" a month earlier. An earlier rumour suggested that he had been in negotiations with the English Democrats to join and lead their party.
Veritas - Latin for "truth" - was officially founded in a press conference on 2 February, during which Kilroy-Silk proclaimed "unlike the old parties, we shall be honest, open and straight", devoid of the other parties' "lies and spin". There were a number of defections from UKIP to the new party. They included UKIP London Assembly member Damian Hockney
, who became deputy leader.
At the time of formation, its primary policy was opposition to immigration to the United Kingdom
. It was pursued to be more specific than UKIP's general euroscepticism
, and almost to the point of Veritas being labelled a single-issue party. Kilroy-Silk also proposed support for the introduction of flat tax
in opposition to the existing system of income tax bands varying with income. Kilroy-Silk's preferred figure was 22%, the "basic rate" band in which most UK citizens fell at the time.
The party was immediately lambasted as nothing more than a vanity vehicle for Kilroy-Silk, and was nicknamed "Vanitas" by former allies.
. Although The Times
newspaper had suggested that Veritas hoped to run candidates in every constituency in Great Britain
, the party ended up fielding 65 candidates in England and Wales, polling 40,481 votes, an average of 623 (1.5%).
Kilroy-Silk contested the constituency of Erewash
in Derbyshire
. He came fourth with 2,957 votes (5.8%); Liz Blackman
was elected for Labour with 22,472. No Veritas candidates were elected; Kilroy-Silk was the only one to save his deposit.
In the subsequent Cheadle by-election
on the 14 July 2005 Les Leggett of Veritas polled 218 votes (0.6%).
Kilroy-Silk resigned as party leader on 29 July. In a press statement he said "It was clear from the general election result - and more recently that of the Cheadle by-election - that the electors are content with the old parties and that it would be virtually impossible for a new party to make a significant impact given the nature of our electoral system. We tried and failed".
Further resignations included that of his chief-of-staff David Soutter and deputy leader Damian Hockney. Hockney and London Assembly UKIP representative, Peter Hulme-Cross
subsequently formed the One London
party.
A leadership election was held in September 2005. Acting leader Patrick Eston
defeated Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Colin Brown, and former boxer Winston McKenzie
on a 22% turnout. This, combined with a poor turnout at the party's first Annual General Meeting, is believed to have brought about the subsequent resignation of Brown and the founders of the VMA. Eston appointed a new party chairman, Alan Ainscow, who resigned from that post and the party in November. As defections and resignations continued, a number of members and former members from Veritas and UKIP, including Anthony Bennett
and Ken Wharton, formed a new party, the Popular Alliance
in March 2006. Eston appointed a deputy, Howard Martin, who also is the main Veritas Party spokesperson, and seemed determined to continue with the party, despite the depletion of the Veritas membership.
, Veritas stood four candidates: two each in Kingston-upon-Hull and Bolton
. They polled an average of 98 votes each (3.5% of the total).
In the 2007 elections, Veritas stood three candidates: two in English council elections and one - Iain James Sheldon in the Mid and West Wales
Region for the Welsh Assembly, who received 502 votes (0.2% of the total).
In the summer of 2007, Patrick Eston contacted the leadership of other parties with similar political positions with a view to organising a meeting to discuss co-operation. While all parties were being contacted a later meeting was being arranged for September between Eston and the leaders of the Freedom Party
and United Kingdom Popular Democrats who had shown interest.
On 15 June 2008 Patrick Eston announced that he could not take the Veritas Party in the direction he wanted and so would be resigning the party leadership. In a resignation letter to the party membership he said:
Therese Muchewicz, Party Secretary served as Acting Leader until leadership elections in October 2008. She was subsequently elected as the new Party Leader.
The party put forward no candidates in the 2010 General Election in the United Kingdom. The "News" section of its website was last updated 7 December 2009.
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, formed in February 2005 at Hinckley
Hinckley
Hinckley is a town in southwest Leicestershire, England. It has a population of 43,246 . It is administered by Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council...
golf club (Leicestershire) by politician-celebrity Robert Kilroy-Silk
Robert Kilroy-Silk
Robert Michael Kilroy-Silk is an English former politician, former independent Member of the European Parliament, and former television presenter, best known for his daytime talk show Kilroy. He has been a university lecturer and Labour Party Member of Parliament...
following a split from the United Kingdom Independence Party
United Kingdom Independence Party
The United Kingdom Independence Party is a eurosceptic and right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. Whilst its primary goal is the UK's withdrawal from the European Union, the party has expanded beyond its single-issue image to develop a more comprehensive party platform.UKIP...
(UKIP). Kilroy-Silk served as party leader from formation, through the 2005 General Election
United Kingdom general election, 2005
The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....
, until his resignation in July that year. He was succeeded by Patrick Eston
Patrick Eston
Patrick Eston is a British politician and former leader of the Veritas party.Patrick Eston is a conservatory manufacturer from Atherstone in Warwickshire with two sons, Steven and Damian, and a dog, as featured on Patrick's Christmas card to members of Veritas.Before joining Veritas, he was a...
who resigned the leadership on 15 June 2008 citing frustrations of his efforts to reform the party.
Therese Muchewicz is the new Party Leader. Veritas has no representation in the Parliament of the United Kingdom
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
, although its members have served in both the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
and the London Assembly
London Assembly
The London Assembly is an elected body, part of the Greater London Authority, that scrutinises the activities of the Mayor of London and has the power, with a two-thirds majority, to amend the mayor's annual budget. The assembly was established in 2000 and is headquartered at City Hall on the south...
, having been elected as UKIP members and defecting upon Veritas' formation.
The party put forward no candidates in the 2010 General Election.
Formation
Robert Kilroy-Silk, a former LabourLabour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
shadow cabinet member and television presenter, was elected as a UKIP Member of the European Parliament
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...
in the 2004 European Parliament election
European Parliament election, 2004
Elections to the European Parliament were held from 10 June 2004 to 13 June 2004 in the 25 member states of the European Union, using varying election days according to local custom...
for the East Midlands
East Midlands
The East Midlands is one of the regions of England, consisting of most of the eastern half of the traditional region of the Midlands. It encompasses the combined area of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Northamptonshire and most of Lincolnshire...
region. His ambition to attain the leadership of that party was announced in October 2004, but it proved very unpopular within the party. Instead of risking disciplinary action for continuing this action, Kilroy-Silk resigned the party whip
Whip (politics)
A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy...
, while remaining a full member and asserting his continued challenge. The plan ultimately failed, and Kilroy-Silk finally resigned from the party - as had been long expected - on 20 January 2005. Rumours circulated immediately that Kilroy-Silk was set to form his own party, fuelled by the registration of the domain name "veritasparty.com" a month earlier. An earlier rumour suggested that he had been in negotiations with the English Democrats to join and lead their party.
Veritas - Latin for "truth" - was officially founded in a press conference on 2 February, during which Kilroy-Silk proclaimed "unlike the old parties, we shall be honest, open and straight", devoid of the other parties' "lies and spin". There were a number of defections from UKIP to the new party. They included UKIP London Assembly member Damian Hockney
Damian Hockney
Damian Hockney is a British politician and the leader of the One London Party. He was a London Assembly member and a member of the Metropolitan Police Authority from 2004 to 2008.-Political background:...
, who became deputy leader.
At the time of formation, its primary policy was opposition to immigration to the United Kingdom
Immigration to the United Kingdom
Immigration to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland since 1922 has been substantial, in particular from Ireland and the former colonies and other territories of the British Empire - such as India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, the Caribbean, South Africa, Kenya and Hong Kong - under...
. It was pursued to be more specific than UKIP's general euroscepticism
Euroscepticism
Euroscepticism is a general term used to describe criticism of the European Union , and opposition to the process of European integration, existing throughout the political spectrum. Traditionally, the main source of euroscepticism has been the notion that integration weakens the nation state...
, and almost to the point of Veritas being labelled a single-issue party. Kilroy-Silk also proposed support for the introduction of flat tax
Flat tax
A flat tax is a tax system with a constant marginal tax rate. Typically the term flat tax is applied in the context of an individual or corporate income that will be taxed at one marginal rate...
in opposition to the existing system of income tax bands varying with income. Kilroy-Silk's preferred figure was 22%, the "basic rate" band in which most UK citizens fell at the time.
The party was immediately lambasted as nothing more than a vanity vehicle for Kilroy-Silk, and was nicknamed "Vanitas" by former allies.
2005 election
The first test of Veritas' ambitions was the general election on 5 May 2005 where it had hoped to overtake UKIP as the primary party opposing the European UnionEuropean Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
. Although The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
newspaper had suggested that Veritas hoped to run candidates in every constituency in Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
, the party ended up fielding 65 candidates in England and Wales, polling 40,481 votes, an average of 623 (1.5%).
Kilroy-Silk contested the constituency of Erewash
Erewash (UK Parliament constituency)
Erewash is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-Boundaries:The constituency covers the borough of Erewash....
in Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
. He came fourth with 2,957 votes (5.8%); Liz Blackman
Liz Blackman
Elizabeth Marion "Liz" Blackman is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Erewash from 1997 to 2010. She served as a Government Whip from 2007-08.-Early life:...
was elected for Labour with 22,472. No Veritas candidates were elected; Kilroy-Silk was the only one to save his deposit.
In the subsequent Cheadle by-election
Cheadle by-election, 2005
The Cheadle by-election, in Greater Manchester, England, was caused by the death of Patsy Calton, the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Cheadle on 29 May 2005. The election was held on 14 July 2005....
on the 14 July 2005 Les Leggett of Veritas polled 218 votes (0.6%).
Aftermath of 2005 general election
In the wake of the poor showing in the general election, it was reported that there were many resignations from the party. Some discontented party members came to oppose Kilroy-Silk and formed the Veritas Members Association (VMA). One of its founders, Ken Wharton, challenged Kilroy-Silk for the leadership on 12 July 2005, during the Cheadle by-election campaign but his challenge faltered due to ill health.Kilroy-Silk resigned as party leader on 29 July. In a press statement he said "It was clear from the general election result - and more recently that of the Cheadle by-election - that the electors are content with the old parties and that it would be virtually impossible for a new party to make a significant impact given the nature of our electoral system. We tried and failed".
Further resignations included that of his chief-of-staff David Soutter and deputy leader Damian Hockney. Hockney and London Assembly UKIP representative, Peter Hulme-Cross
Peter Hulme-Cross
Peter Hulme-Cross is a politician in the United Kingdom and a former One London Party Member of the London Assembly. He was also a member of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority....
subsequently formed the One London
One London
One London was a small British political party formed on September 1, 2005 by Damian Hockney and Peter Hulme-Cross. Both of them were originally elected to the London Assembly in June 2004 as United Kingdom Independence Party representatives, but in February 2005 announced the formation of the...
party.
A leadership election was held in September 2005. Acting leader Patrick Eston
Patrick Eston
Patrick Eston is a British politician and former leader of the Veritas party.Patrick Eston is a conservatory manufacturer from Atherstone in Warwickshire with two sons, Steven and Damian, and a dog, as featured on Patrick's Christmas card to members of Veritas.Before joining Veritas, he was a...
defeated Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Colin Brown, and former boxer Winston McKenzie
Winston McKenzie
Winston Truman McKenzie is a UK politician, notable for having joined every major political party, and for having stood as an independent or minor party candidate on numerous occasions...
on a 22% turnout. This, combined with a poor turnout at the party's first Annual General Meeting, is believed to have brought about the subsequent resignation of Brown and the founders of the VMA. Eston appointed a new party chairman, Alan Ainscow, who resigned from that post and the party in November. As defections and resignations continued, a number of members and former members from Veritas and UKIP, including Anthony Bennett
Anthony Bennett (English politician)
Anthony John Stuart Bennett is an English politician and campaigner. He was a member of the British political party Veritas and was listed on the database of the Electoral Commission as official leader for three days, before the real leader was revealed as Robert Kilroy-Silk.In 2006, he began a...
and Ken Wharton, formed a new party, the Popular Alliance
Popular Alliance (UK)
The Popular Alliance is a political party in the United Kingdom. It was formed in March 2006 by former members of other smaller political parties who were disillusioned with events and registered with the Electoral Commission on 3 March of that year...
in March 2006. Eston appointed a deputy, Howard Martin, who also is the main Veritas Party spokesperson, and seemed determined to continue with the party, despite the depletion of the Veritas membership.
Since 2005
In the 2006 local electionsUnited Kingdom local elections, 2006
Local government elections took place in England on Thursday 4 May 2006. Polling stations were open between 7:00 and 22:00.All London borough council seats were up for election, as well as a third of the seats on each of the metropolitan borough councils, and a third of some unitary authorities...
, Veritas stood four candidates: two each in Kingston-upon-Hull and Bolton
Bolton
Bolton is a town in Greater Manchester, in the North West of England. Close to the West Pennine Moors, it is north west of the city of Manchester. Bolton is surrounded by several smaller towns and villages which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, of which Bolton is the...
. They polled an average of 98 votes each (3.5% of the total).
In the 2007 elections, Veritas stood three candidates: two in English council elections and one - Iain James Sheldon in the Mid and West Wales
Mid and West Wales
Mid and West Wales is an unofficial subdivision of Wales that is sometimes used, consisting broadly of the preserved counties of Dyfed and Powys, sometimes Swansea and sometimes parts of Gwynedd....
Region for the Welsh Assembly, who received 502 votes (0.2% of the total).
In the summer of 2007, Patrick Eston contacted the leadership of other parties with similar political positions with a view to organising a meeting to discuss co-operation. While all parties were being contacted a later meeting was being arranged for September between Eston and the leaders of the Freedom Party
UK Freedom Party
The Freedom Party was a right wing political party in the United Kingdom.The party was founded in December 2000 by former members of the British National Party , dubbed "ultra-Tories" by BNP leader Nick Griffin, who were disaffected with the party's refusal to moderate its position on race...
and United Kingdom Popular Democrats who had shown interest.
On 15 June 2008 Patrick Eston announced that he could not take the Veritas Party in the direction he wanted and so would be resigning the party leadership. In a resignation letter to the party membership he said:
- "I have come to the reluctant conclusion that the only way a new political party can move forward is for one person to have complete control and take all the decisions. However, I believe that members must have a say on whether that person stays as leader on a yearly basis. A sort of benevolent dictator that members can remove yearly if they so wish."
Therese Muchewicz, Party Secretary served as Acting Leader until leadership elections in October 2008. She was subsequently elected as the new Party Leader.
The party put forward no candidates in the 2010 General Election in the United Kingdom. The "News" section of its website was last updated 7 December 2009.