The Countryside Party was a minor

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

operating in the United Kingdom. It was formed on 22 May 2000 by Jim Crawford, a

chiropodist A podiatrist ( ) is a medical professional devoted to the treatment of disorders of the foot, ankle, and related structures of the leg. The term originated in North America but has now become the accepted term in the English-speaking world for ...

and

sport shooter Shooting sports is a group of competitive and recreational sporting activities involving proficiency tests of accuracy, precision and speed in shooting — the art of using ranged weapons, mainly small arms (firearms and airguns, in forms such ...

who was the Northern Director of the

Countryside Alliance The Countryside Alliance (CA) is a British organisation promoting issues relating to the countryside such as farming, rural services, small businesses and field sports, aiming to "Give Rural Britain a voice". History The Countryside Allian ...

. Much of the party's agenda was the same as that of the Alliance, such as opposition to any restrictions on

fox hunting Fox hunting is an activity involving the tracking, chase and, if caught, the killing of a fox, normally a red fox, by trained foxhounds or other scent hounds. A group of unarmed followers, led by a "master of foxhounds" (or "master of hounds" ...

. The party stood unsuccessfully in elections for the UK,

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

and

European European, or Europeans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other West ...

parliaments in the early 2000s.

Platform and membership

It was formed out of what it perceived as a lack of understanding or care about rural issues by the mainstream political parties. It was by and large a

conservative 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 civiliza ...

-minded organisation, and unsuccessfully opposed measures such as the Scottish Land Reform Act which had been designed to give greater rights to tenant farmers and crofters. According to its 2004 accounts, the party's membership was formally "limited to the two founders, Jim Crawford and Richard Malbon plus a very small number of supporters who are not actually members of the Party".

Electoral history

Crawford contested Ross, Skye and Inverness West, then held by the

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party, Democratic Liberal Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties have usually followed liberalism as ideology, although they can vary widely from very progr ...

leader

Charles Kennedy Charles Peter Kennedy (25 November 19591 June 2015) was a British politician who served as Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 1999 to 2006, and was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ross, Skye and Lochaber from 1983 to 2015. Kennedy wa ...

, for the Countryside Party in the 2001 UK general election. He did not win the seat and achieved less than 1% of the vote. The Countryside Party stood in the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( ; ) is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. It is located in the Holyrood, Edinburgh, Holyrood area of Edinburgh, and is frequently referred to by the metonym 'Holyrood'. ...

2003 election for the

Highlands and Islands The Highlands and Islands is an area of Scotland broadly covering the Scottish Highlands, plus Orkney, Shetland, and the Outer Hebrides (Western Isles). The Highlands and Islands are sometimes defined as the area to which the Crofters' Act o ...

electoral region. It polled 1,768 votes (1.05% of the vote in the area). It contested the 2004 European elections in the

South West England South West England, or the South West of England, is one of the nine official regions of England, regions of England in the United Kingdom. Additionally, it is one of four regions that altogether make up Southern England. South West England con ...

and

North West England North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of 7,4 ...

constituencies. In the Southwest, it received 2.1% of the vote which was sufficient to retain its deposit. In the Northwest, it polled only 0.5%. Its relatively good standing in the Southwest may owe something to the notability of its candidates for reasons other than politics. The party's six candidates in the region included Chris Thomas-Everard, whose family became famous during the 2001 foot and mouth crisis for refusing to allow his cows to be culled, Diana Scott, joint master of the Devon and Somerset hunt and a prominent pro-hunting campaigner and the explorer

Ranulph Fiennes Sir Ranulph Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, 3rd Baronet (born 7 March 1944), commonly known as Sir Ranulph Fiennes () and sometimes as Ran Fiennes, is a British explorer, writer and poet, who holds several endurance records. Fiennes served in the ...

. The party was deregistered in July 2008. Crawford, who was later elected as a member of

The Highland Council The Highland Council (' ) is the local authority for Highland, one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. The council is based at the Highland Council Headquarters in Inverness. History The Highland area had been created as an administrative ...

for Inverness South, suggested in 2012 that the party could be reformed to oppose

wind farm A wind farm, also called a wind park or wind power plant, is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electricity. Wind farms vary in size from a small number of turbines to several hundred wind turbines covering an exten ...

development. He died in 2020.

References

External links

Official Countryside Party website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Countryside Party (Uk) Political parties established in 2000 Defunct political parties in the United Kingdom Political parties disestablished in 2008 Rural society in the United Kingdom 2000 establishments in the United Kingdom 2008 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Fox hunting Single-issue political parties in the United Kingdom Defunct agrarian political parties in Europe