Scottish Family Party

The Scottish Family Party (SFP) is a socially conservative political party in Scotland. It was formed in 2017 and is led by former UKIP member and registered teacher Richard Lucas.

When launched in 2017, the SFP said its "central goal" was to gain election to the Scottish Parliament and "to fill the void" left behind by the current parties and their abandoning of "Judeo-Christian-inspired values of traditional Western civilisation". According to party leader Richard Lucas, they intend to be the party "to confront the cosy Holyrood consensus, interrupting the monochrome virtue-signalling that currently passes for debate in many areas". It also aims to be "pro-family, pro-marriage, pro-life, pro-freedom of speech, anti-identity politics, that values the complementary contributions of men and women and recommends schools refocus on education instead of social engineering, radical gender ideology and political moulding".

The SFP contested their first seats in the 2019 UK general election, and also fielded candidates at the 2021 Scottish Parliament election and the 2022 Scottish local elections, but has never won any seats.

Party ideology and policy

Family policy

The SFP believes that 'Strong families make for a strong nation' and has proposals to help families with their finances such as giving cash in lieu of free nursery provision to those families who chose to have one parent not work and look after their children. The party thinks that married couples should be assessed for income tax as a family rather than as individuals, with tax allowances fully transferable between each spouse.

The SFP argues in favour of more autonomy for families and also demands an end to the ignoring of underage sex. The party would seek to have illegal underage sexual relations acted against rather than ignored by the police. The SFP is against "vaguely defined" domestic abuse laws and believes people should be treated equally in this regardless of whether they are male or female. SFP recognises marriage as a "a solemn, lifelong commitment." The party claims that "civil partnerships for heterosexual couples will further undermine the culture of marriage". The SFP does not support the use of NHS resources for any fertility-related treatment apart from for a man and woman in a long-term stable relationship.

Opposition to abortion and assisted suicide

The SFP is pro-life, opposing both abortion and assisted suicide. During a protest at a sexual health clinic in Sandyford, Glasgow in March 2023, Lucas branded abortion providers at the clinic "killers".

Education

The SFP believes that education should increase its focus on "traditional focuses" of "discipline, knowledge, formal teaching, and objective testing." They argue against the Curriculum for Excellence as it, "elevates subjective learner experience over teaching, undermining the intellectual authority of teachers, and uses student motivation and enjoyment as the measure of what is worth knowing."

Lucas has spoken out against rainbow flags being displayed in schools. The party is opposed to the inclusion of certain content in sex education such as LGBT and pornographic topics (both of which, it claims, are currently taught in Scottish schools). It supports education that includes the promotion of family planning and abstinence from alcohol use.

In February 2020, the party submitted a complaint concerning a HappyFest event that celebrated LGBT arts (including drag, theatre, poetry, dance, and music) at Dunbar Grammar School in East Lothian which was part of LGBT History Month, claiming that the acts promoted "a philosophy of gender fluidity that is confusing and dangerous to young people" and that "the drag scene is often associated with less than positive values.". A spokesperson rejected the complaints stating that the event was run "to raise awareness and challenge prejudice"."

Other social issues

The SFP believes the gender pay gap is by and large a reflection of personal choices and the natural differences between men and women, and no government action is required to address it. The Scottish Family Party also opposes assisted suicide and euthanasia.

In October and December 2022, the party held protests at the Scottish Parliament opposing reform to the Gender Recognition Act.

Controversies

Offensive comments, arguments and opinions

In August 2017, Lucas was criticised for suggesting that the arguments used to justify same-sex marriage could equally be used to justify incest. Additionally, he denied allegations that he had posted a joke about the murder of Jo Cox shortly after her death, saying he had instead been criticising others who were seeking to use her murder as a reason to vote Remain.

In February 2021, having previously criticised Ruth Davidson in a Youtube broadcast for seeking to have a "Fatherless child", the General Teaching Council for Scotland cleared Lucas of misconduct and allowed him to remain a registered teacher.

On 29 August 2022, the SFP tweeted a picture of Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon outside Auschwitz, with a cartoon-like thought bubble reading: "There should have been a buffer zone around this place." Green MSP Gillian Mackay, responsible for Act that created buffer zones around abortion clinics targeted by anti-abortion protesters, described the meme as "crass, insensitive and shameful" and that "Even by their standards, this is appalling."

SFP was referenced in the 2022 Hope Not Hate 'State of Hate Report' claiming that the party spread "an increasing amount of anti-trans and anti-LGBT+ campaign material and content on its social media, arguing that " Transgender Ideology” is damaging and “confusing children". However, the party also opposes protections for children and argues that parents should be allowed to beat their children, and it opposes the "UN Convention on the Rights of the Child", saying this undermines the rights of parents. The SFP also opposes hate crime legislation.

It has been alleged that Lucas spreads misinformation about the sexual health curriculum in schools with one teacher, who spoke to '' The National'' newspaper, linking SFP rhetoric to abuse of LGBT+ teachers and to incidents of teachers being called perverts or groomers in the street, abused as "paedophiles" over the phone, or in the case of some LGBT+ teachers, "forced out of the profession altogether".

Alleged breach of electoral law

According to '' The Ferret'', Lucas was revealed on 27 July 2020 to have breached electoral law by failing to submit a record before the deadline of his personal campaign spending after running in the 2019 general election - he had provided information to the Electoral Commission but not the local returning officer for the constituency he contested.

Links to far-right organisations

In January 2023, Scottish Family Party Leader, Richard Lucas was interviewed by a prominent figure of the far-right hate group Patriotic Alternative Scotland (Simon Crane), a group targeted by government counter terrorism strategy. Crane also interviewed Scottish Family Party member and activist, Niall Fraser. Lucas said Crane used to be a member of the Scottish Family Party (SFP), but left "after discussions with myself led him to the conclusion that PA reflected his ethno-nationalist political stance while the SFP did not." Lucas added that he takes "any opportunity to present the SFP to a new audience" and would "probably" speak to PA again.

In March 2023, PinkNews described the group as "far-right" due to plans to "brick up" the Sandyford Clinic in Glasgow in a protest against gender affirming care.

Fraser announced in late August 2023 that he would be contesting Margaret Ferrier's MP seat in Rutherglen and Hamilton West. According to the '' Daily Record'', "Fraser appeared on a podcast by neo-Nazi group Homeland on which he described COVID-19 as "bogus" and said: "I didn't follow any lockdowns." Georgie Laming, campaign director at charity Hope Not Hate, said: "Niall Fraser and the Scottish Family Party say they're standing up for traditional family values, however the truth is very sinister. We've found they're cosying up to fascist group Homeland".

Electoral history

The SFP fielded two candidates in the 2019 United Kingdom general election: Liam McKechnie won 0.4% of the vote in Dunbartonshire East, and Richard Lucas won 0.7% of the vote in Ross, Skye & Lochaber.
The party contested the 2021 Scottish Parliament election. They then received 2,734 constituency votes and 16,085 list votes, but won no seats. It also contested the 2022 Scottish local elections, fielding 84 candidates and gaining 6,857 first-preference votes (0.4% of the total vote) but again winning no seats.

At the 2024 United Kingdom general election, the party fielded candidates in sixteen constituencies. Their best result was in Na h-Eileanan an Iar, finishing seventh with 2.9% of votes cast and beating the Liberal Democrats into eighth place. They received 5,425 votes in total, finishing 9th overall in vote share in Scotland.

United Kingdom House of Commons

Scottish Parliament

Local elections

References

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2017 establishments in Scotland
Political parties established in 2017
Anti-abortion organisations in the United Kingdom
Christian political parties in the United Kingdom
Christianity in Scotland
Conservative parties in the United Kingdom
LGBTQ rights in Scotland
Antifeminism
Organisations that oppose LGBTQ rights in the United Kingdom
Political parties in Scotland
Right-wing parties in the United Kingdom
Socially conservative parties