Burning Pink, also known as Beyond Politics and formally registered with the Electoral Commission as The Burning Pink Party, was a British political party with the stated goal of a

political revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elemen ...

by replacing the

British government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

with

citizens' assemblies Citizens' assembly is a group of people selected by lottery from the general population to deliberate on important public questions so as to exert an influence. Other names and variations of deliberative mini-publics include citizens' jury, ci ...

in order to tackle the

climate crisis ''Climate crisis'' is a term that is used to describe global warming and climate change and their effects. This term and the term ''climate emergency'' have been used to emphasize the threat of global warming to Earth's natural environment an ...

and other political issues. The party was deregistered by the Electoral Commission on 11 November 2022.

History

The party launched in June 2020 with a shoplifting stunt in which members of the party walked out of a

Sainsbury's J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is a British supermarket and the second-largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company was the largest UK r ...

supermarket branch in

Camden Town Camden Town () is an area in the London Borough of Camden, around north-northwest of Charing Cross. Historically in Middlesex, it is identified in the London Plan as one of 34 major centres in Greater London. Laid out as a residential distri ...

, London with shopping trolleys full of food without paying. On 25 July 2020, a number of the party members occupied a road around

Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster in Central London. It was established in the early-19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. Its name commemorates the Battle of Trafalgar, the Royal Navy, ...

in London, holding a banner saying “bring down the government.” In August, several members of the party were arrested for dousing the party headquarters of the

Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...

, Labour, the

Lib Dems The Liberal Democrats, colloquially known as the Lib Dems, are a Liberalism, liberal political party in the United Kingdom, founded in 1988. They are based at Liberal Democrat Headquarters (UK), Liberal Democrat Headquarters, in Westminster, ...

and the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

in pink paint over their inaction to tackle the climate crisis. Later that month, five members of the party including Roger Hallam were arrested at their homes for conspiracy to cause

criminal damage Property damage (sometimes called damage to property) is the damage or destruction of real or tangible personal property, caused by negligence, willful destruction, or an act of nature. Destruction of property (sometimes called property dest ...

. They were placed on

remand Remand may refer to: * Remand (court procedure), when an appellate court sends a case back to the trial court or lower appellate court * Pre-trial detention, detention of a suspect prior to a trial, conviction, or sentencing See also

*''Reman ...

until the end of a planned period of disruption by multiple environmental groups, including

Extinction Rebellion Extinction Rebellion (abbreviated as XR) is a UK-founded global environmental movement, with the stated aim of using nonviolent civil disobedience to compel government action to avoid tipping points in the climate system, biodiversity loss, and ...

. All five members went on immediate

hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance where participants fasting, fast as an act of political protest, usually with the objective of achieving a specific goal, such as a policy change. Hunger strikers that do not take fluids are ...

in protest at their imprisonment. In January 2021, the group demanded that local councils honour their climate emergency declaration to act on the ecological collapse and social breakdown, or they would begin a nationwide campaign of nonviolent civil disobedience. In their 12 demands, Burning Pink called upon local councils to declare open rebellion against the government. On 15 February, local Burning Pink groups threw pink paint on buildings used by

Norwich City Council Norwich City Council is the local authority for Norwich, a non-metropolitan district with city status in Norfolk, England. It consists of 39 councillors, elected to represent 13 wards, each with three councillors. It forms the lower tier of l ...

and

Norfolk County Council Norfolk County Council is the upper-tier Local government in England, local authority for Norfolk, England. Below it there are seven second-tier district councils: Breckland District, Breckland, Broadland, Borough of Great Yarmouth, Great Yarmo ...

Ipswich Borough Council Ipswich Borough Council is the local authority for Ipswich, a non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Suffolk, England. It is the second tier of a two-tier system, fulfilling functions such as refuse ...

Bristol City Hall City Hall (formerly the Council House) was built as the seat of government of the city of Bristol, in the south west of England, opening in 1956. Designed in the 1930s, with construction delayed by the Second World War, it is in a restrained ...

and Brighton Town Hall, resulting in at least six arrests. Later that year, Burning Pink fought arguably their most prominent conventional political campaign when teacher Valerie Brown stood for the party in the

2021 London Mayoral election The 2021 London mayoral election was held on 6 May 2021 to elect the mayor of London. It was held simultaneously with 2021 London Assembly election, elections for the London Assembly, 2021 United Kingdom local elections, other local elections ...

. Ms Brown had been among those arrested for daubing paint on council buildings. She garnered 5,305 votes. The party folded in 2022. Many of its leading members—including Hallam, Brown and Sarah Lunnon—became supporters of

Just Stop Oil Just Stop Oil (JSO) was a British environmental activist group primarily focused on the issue of Climate change, human-caused climate change. The group aimed to force the British government to commit to ending new Energy in the United Kingdom, f ...

, a group similar to Burning Pink in both objectives and strategy.

Party status and name

The party's constitution states "The Party will be registered in Great Britain (excluding Northern Ireland)." The party's application for registration in the

Electoral Commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

's register of political parties, to register the name "The Burning Pink Party", to apply to "All of Great Britain", was approved on 7 October 2020. Beyond Politics Ltd is a company registered at

Companies House Companies House is the executive agency of the British Government that maintains the Company register, register of companies, employs the company registrars and is responsible for Incorporation (business), incorporating all forms of Company, co ...

(no. 12659497), incorporated on 10 June 2020; the party's website says "Burning Pink is a name we trade under to represent Beyond Politics Party Ltd".

Elections contested

Valerie Brown stood as Burning Pink's candidate for the

2021 London mayoral election The 2021 London mayoral election was held on 6 May 2021 to elect the mayor of London. It was held simultaneously with 2021 London Assembly election, elections for the London Assembly, 2021 United Kingdom local elections, other local elections ...

. Brown launched her campaign on 13 November 2020. Brown finished in 20th place out of 20 candidates, achieving 5,305 votes (0.2%). Rachel Lunnon stood as the party's candidate in the ward of

Windmill Hill, Bristol Windmill Hill is a hill, an inner suburban neighbourhood, and an wards of the United Kingdom, electoral ward in Bristol, England. It is located south of the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, southeast of Bedminster, Bristol, Bedminster, north of K ...

, achieving 90 votes (0.9%). Sue Hagley and Jennifer McCarthy stood as the candidates for the wards of St Margaret's and Westgate respectively in the

2021 Ipswich Borough Council election Elections to Ipswich Borough Council were held on 6 May 2021. The elections included the seats that were planned to be elected on 7 May 2020, but were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Usually 16 seats – one in each of the 16 wards – a ...

. Dave Baldwin stood for

Oxfordshire County Council Oxfordshire County Council is the county council (upper-tier local authority) for the non-metropolitan county of Oxfordshire in the South East of England. Established in 1889, it is an elected body responsible for most strategic local government ...

for the

Hanborough Hanborough is a civil parish in West Oxfordshire. The parish includes the villages of Church Hanborough (Ordnance Survey The Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its origi ...

and

Minster Lovell Minster Lovell is a village and civil parish on the River Windrush about west of Witney in Oxfordshire. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 1,409. Minster Lovell village has three parts: Old Minster, Little Minster and New Min ...

Division, and Tina Smith stood for

Suffolk County Council Suffolk County Council is the upper-tier Local government in England, local authority for the county of Suffolk, England. It is run by 75 elected county councillors representing 63 divisions. It is a member of the East of England Local Governme ...

for the St Margaret's and Westgate Division.https://www.ipswich.gov.uk/sites/www.ipswich.gov.uk/files/statement_of_persons_nominated_and_notice_of_poll_scc.pdf/ Statement of Persons Nominated

References

External links

*{{Official website, burningpink.earth Defunct political parties in the United Kingdom Environmental organisations based in the United Kingdom Environmental protests in the United Kingdom Radical environmentalism Climate change organizations 2020 establishments in the United Kingdom Political parties established in 2020 Political parties disestablished in 2022 2022 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Direct democracy parties Direct action