The Independent Network (IN) is a

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 ...

-based

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

organisation supporting

independent politician An independent politician or non-affiliated politician is a politician not affiliated with any political party or Bureaucracy, bureaucratic association. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent. Some politicia ...

s and political candidates. It is a registered as a political party with 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 ...

in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. IN consists of supporters and volunteers who advocate

non-partisan Nonpartisanship, also known as nonpartisanism, is a lack of affiliation with a political party and a lack of political bias. While an ''Oxford English Dictionary'' definition of ''partisan'' includes adherents of a party, cause, person, etc., ...

politics. Former MPs

Martin Bell Martin Bell, (born 31 August 1938) is a British UNICEF (UNICEF UK) Ambassador, a former broadcast war Journalist, reporter and former independent politician who became the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Ta ...

and Richard Taylor have been involved. A number of supporters of IN are current independent representatives in national,

regional In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

and

local Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...

governments. IN does not impose political views on the individuals it supports. However, individuals must adhere to a

code of conduct A code of conduct is a set of rules outlining the social norm, norms, rules, and responsibilities or proper practices of an individual party or an organization. Companies' codes of conduct A company code of conduct is a set of rules which is comm ...

Organisation

Marianne Overton, Jim Thornton and Karen Lucioni are the organisation's leadership, fulfilling the roles of leader, treasurer, nominations officer and campaigns officer. Similarly, these individuals are the registered officers for the political party. The organisation has been registered as a company since 2009, with Thornton and Brian Ahearne serving as directors.

Supporters

IN has been supported by several notable figures in independent politics, including Martin Bell; Richard Taylor MP;

Terry Waite Sir Terence Hardy Waite (born 31 May 1939) is a British human rights activist and author. Waite was the Assistant for Anglican Communion Affairs for the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Runcie, in the 1980s. As an envoy for the Church of ...

and

Esther Rantzen Dame Esther Louise Rantzen (born 22 June 1940) is an English journalist and television presenter who presented the BBC television series ''That's Life!'' for 21 years, from 1973 until 1994. She works with various charitable causes and founded t ...

. During the 2005 elections, with IN's backing, Reg Keys contested Sedgefield, the constituency of

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...

, following the death of his son in the Iraq War. In January 2010, Waite sent an open letter to all independent Parliamentary candidates giving them his support and approval.

Services

IN offers services and support to independent candidates. Services include: *Administrative and legal assistance for election purposes *A list of

best practices A best practice is a method or technique that has been generally accepted as superior to alternatives because it tends to produce superior results. Best practices are used to achieve quality as an alternative to mandatory standards. Best practice ...

for campaigning, fundraising, public relations, and appropriate use of the Internet. *

Public opinion Public opinion, or popular opinion, is the collective opinion on a specific topic or voting intention relevant to society. It is the people's views on matters affecting them. In the 21st century, public opinion is widely thought to be heavily ...

and policy research. *Organising debates and discussions. In January 2010, IN held a workshop in the

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

Priory Rooms to instruct PPCs on the electoral process and regulations. Bell, Taylor, Rantzen, and

Lynn Faulds Wood Lynn Faulds Wood (25 March 1948 – 24 April 2020) was a Scottish television presenter and journalist. She co-presented the British television programme '' Watchdog'' with her husband John Stapleton. Early life and career Faulds Wood was born ...

attended the event. IN endorsed independent candidates in the 2010 election. Endorsed candidates could use the IN logo and branding.IN Endorsement Pack
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References

{{Reflist

External links

The Independent Network Homepage

Independent MPs blog

Guide to Becoming an Independent Candidate
Political organisations based in the United Kingdom Independent politicians in the United Kingdom Organizations established in 2005