The Borders Party was a political party involved in

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

in the

Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by West Lothian, Edinburgh, Midlothian, and East Lothian to the north, the North Sea to the east, Dumfries and Galloway to the south-west, South Lanarkshire to the we ...

area of

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. The party returned two councillors to the

Scottish Borders Council The Scottish Borders is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by West Lothian, Edinburgh, Midlothian, and East Lothian to the north, the North Sea to the east, Dumfries and Galloway to the south-west, South Lanarkshire to the ...

in 2007 and again in 2012.

History

In April 2006, Save Scott's Countryside (SSC), a campaign group opposed to the

Borders Railway The Borders Railway connects the city of Edinburgh with Galashiels and Tweedbank in the Scottish Borders. The railway follows most of the alignment of the northern part of the Waverley Route, a former double-track line in southern Scotland a ...

and a local housing development, announced their intention to field candidates at the upcoming election. The party was launched in October 2006. At their launch their stated ambitions were around local government becoming more responsive to community need. The party remained opposed to the rail link to Edinburgh and in favour of regionalism. The Borders Party contested the 2007 Scottish Borders Council election and returned two councillors. The party also contested each ward in the 2012 Scottish Borders Council election returning Sandy Aitchison and Nicholas Watson to their respective wards for a second term. The two councillors joined a coalition administration as independents. In August 2012, Borders Party Cllr Nicholas Watson announced he would be leaving the area to pursue employment in

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

. He resigned his seat on the Council the following February. The by-election for the Leaderdale and Melrose ward was won by Iain Gillespie, also of the Borders Party, on 2 May 2013. Frances Pringle took over as leader. The Borders Party were part of the Independent group on the council. At the 2017 local elections Gillespie and Aitchison stood as independent candidates. The party was deregistered by the Electoral Commission in November 2020.

References

Political parties established in 2006 2006 establishments in Scotland Locally based political parties in Scotland Defunct political parties in Scotland {{Scotland-party-stub