The Alliance EPP: European People's Party UK, also known as UK EPP and the 4 Freedoms Party, is a pro-European Union,

centre-right Centre-right politics is the set of right-wing politics, right-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. It is commonly associated with conservatism, Christian democracy, liberal conservatism, and conservative liberalis ...

political party in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. It first contested an election at the 2014 European Parliament elections.

Political stance

The party leader is Dirk Hazell, who is a former Conservative

councillor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or re ...

, who has also been a candidate for the Liberal Democrats. In its initial campaign before the 2014 European Parliament elections, the party was critical of the Conservative Party's departure from the

European People's Party group The European People's Party Group (EPP Group or simply EPP) is a political group of the European Parliament consisting of deputies (MEPs) from the member parties of the European People's Party (EPP). Sometimes it also includes independent ME ...

in 2009 and opposed calls for the United Kingdom to leave the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

. It positioned itself as 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 ...

, pro-European alternative to the Conservative Party and the

UK Independence Party The UK Independence Party (UKIP, ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two members of parliament (both through defect ...

, which it condemned as "Britain's hard right". The party called for EU reform and a greater focus on jobs and training. It expressed support for

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

Four Freedoms The Four Freedoms were goals articulated by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt on Monday, January 6, 1941. In an address known as the Four Freedoms speech (technically the 1941 State of the Union address), he proposed four fundamental freed ...

, in addition to the EU's

. The UK EPP claimed an association with the

European People's Party The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian democracy, Christian democratic, liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative, and conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other p ...

family but is not actually a member.

European Parliament elections

In 2014, the party fielded candidates for the European election in the London constituency only. It polled 28,014 votes across the city and failed to win any seats. The party had little public activity following the 2014 European Parliament election. ''Alliance EPP'' did not contest the

2019 European Parliament election The 2019 European Parliament election was held in the European Union (EU) between 23 and 26 May 2019. It was the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) we ...

. Its political space became occupied predominantly by

Change UK Change UK, founded as The Independent Group (TIG) and later The Independent Group for Change, was a British centrist, pro–European Union political party, which lasted for ten months in 2019. Established in February and formally recognised ...

, formed in early 2019 by former Labour and Conservative members, which stood candidates in all constituencies except Northern Ireland. Change UK gathered 571,846 votes (3.3%) but did not win any seats.

Other Conservative EPP MEPs in 2014-2019

Without any link to the ''Alliance EPP'' party, two British MEPs formerly elected with the Conservative Party, Richard Ashworth and Julie Girling, joined the

on 28 February 2018. Ashworth later joined

and was a candidate for it at the

, at which he failed to be re-elected. Girling did not stand for re-election in the 2019 European Parliament election, declaring support for the Liberal Democrats, and later became the leader of the

Renew Party The Renew Party was a minor centrist political party in the United Kingdom. It was set up in 2017 to provide an alternative for moderate voters in the wake of the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum. The party described i ...

. Alliance EPP's founder, Dirk Hazell, has been critical of Girling and Ashworth on Twitter.
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References

External links

* {{British political parties 2012 establishments in the United Kingdom Conservative parties in the United Kingdom Conservative Party (UK) breakaway groups Parties related to the European People's Party Political parties established in 2012 Political organisations based in London Pro-European political parties in the United Kingdom

Political stance

European Parliament elections

Other Conservative EPP MEPs in 2014-2019

See also

References

External links