Save Huddersfield NHS is a minor

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

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, ...

registered in 2006. The party campaigns against a proposed reorganisation of

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

facilities in the

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...

area and is led by Dr. Jackie Grunsell, a local

general practitioner A general practitioner (GP) is a doctor who is a Consultant (medicine), consultant in general practice. GPs have distinct expertise and experience in providing whole person medical care, whilst managing the complexity, uncertainty and risk ass ...

and member of Socialist Alternative. The party contested elections to

Kirklees Kirklees is a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England. The borough comprises the ten towns of Batley, Birstall, West Yorkshire, Birstall, Cleckheaton, Dewsbury, Heckmondwike, Holmfirth, Huddersfield, Meltham, Mirfield and Slaithwaite. It ...

Council, West Yorkshire, England in 2006–2008.

Formation

The organisation was initially formed as a pressure group after a public meeting in February 2006 against the Kirklees and Calderdale

NHS The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

Trust Board's proposals to close St. Lukes Hospital and transfer services (including maternity care) from

to Halifax and

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 109,766 in the 2021 census, up from 99,251 in the 2011 census. The city is the administrative centre of the wider Metropolit ...

. The group organised a petition signed by over 50,000 people opposing the changes and three protest marches. On 21 March 2006 Save Huddersfield NHS was 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 ...

Electoral contests

The party nominated three candidates to contest the

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...

to Kirklees Borough Council in May 2006. Dr. Grunsell, the party leader, was elected for Crosland Moor and Netherton ward with a majority of 807, defeating the sitting Liberal Democrat councillor. She claimed her election was due to the electorate's disillusion with "mainstream parties" and warned that "this sends a very clear message to all those parties that you need to fight for the people you represent if you want to maintain your positions – or people who are prepared to stand and fight will take those positions from you." She went to explain that her party would not limit themselves to health issues, but would "fight on other issues". In the following year the party stood a single candidate, again contesting the Crosland Moor and Neteherton ward. Like Grunsell, the candidate was an active Socialist Party member. He failed to be elected. The 2008 local elections were the last contested by the party: the same candidate contested the same ward as in the previous year. The party slipped into third place, behind the Labour and

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 ...

parties.

Loss of council seat

Although still listed as leader of Save Huddersfield NHS in April 2010, Grunsell defended her seat on Kirklees Council at the 2010 elections as a

Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. Traders generally negotiate through a medium of cred ...

candidate. She was defeated, falling to fourth place with 1472 votes.

Recent developments

For a number of reasons, both personal and political, the broad coalition that gave rise to Save Huddersfield NHS fragmented after the 2010 election. However, in 2014 a group of local activists, several of whom had been involved in the original 2006 crusade, and all of whom were incensed by the coalition government's plans to restructure the health service, as well as proposals to close Accident and Emergency Services at Calderdale Royal Hospital, founded a Huddersfield chapter of the national campaign group, Keep Our NHS Public. At the moment, it is not clear whether the new grouping harbours electoral ambitions. Its primary aim, according to the secretary, Richard Murgatroyd, is to alert "the public about what is going on and why it matters to local people."

References

{{reflist Health in Yorkshire Organisations based in Huddersfield Locally based political parties in England Politics of Kirklees Political parties established in 2006 2006 establishments in England