The Senior Citizens Party was a

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, ...

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 ...

that operated from its foundation in 2004 until it merged with

UKIP 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 Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), member ...

in 2014. It focused on the rights of

senior citizen Old age is the range of ages for people nearing and surpassing life expectancy. People who are of old age are also referred to as: old people, elderly, elders, senior citizens, seniors or older adults. Old age is not a definite biological sta ...

s (people over the age of 50).

History

Foundation

The party was founded in January 2004 by Grahame Leon-Smith and Terry Pattinson. They claim that they had previously been lifelong

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 ...

and Labour Party members respectively, with Leon-Smith serving as a councillor for 6 years, but had become disillusioned by the breaking of the link between

pensions A pension (; ) is a fund into which amounts are paid regularly during an individual's working career, and from which periodic payments are made to support the person's retirement from work. A pension may be either a "defined benefit plan", wher ...

and average earnings by the Conservatives and Labour's failure to restore it. They also campaigned against council tax, proposing a local income tax, and campaign for free personal care for the elderly, free off-peak travel, and free

television licence A television licence or broadcast receiving licence is a payment required in many countries for the reception of television broadcasts or the possession of a television set. In some countries, a licence is also required to own a radio or rece ...

Electoral Activity

The party won 42,861 votes in the South East in the

2004 European Parliament election The 2004 European Parliament election was held between 10 and 13 June 2004 in the 25 member states of the European Union, using varying election days according to local custom. The European Parliamental parties could not be voted for, but elect ...

. The party originally endorsed a "yes" vote in the

2004 North East England devolution referendum The 2004 North East England devolution referendum was an all postal ballot referendum that took place on 4 November 2004 throughout North East England on whether or not to establish an elected assembly for the region. Devolution referendums i ...

, but switched to endorsing "no" due to the plan to abolish two-tier local government in County Durham and Northumberland if the referendum succeeded. They stood candidates against

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 ...

and

Michael Howard Michael Howard, Baron Howard of Lympne (born Michael Hecht; 7 July 1941) is a British politician who was Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom), Leader of the Opposi ...

in the 2005 UK general election. Leon-Smith received 151 votes (0.3%) in Folkestone and Hythe, and Pattinson received 97 votes (0.2%) in

Sedgefield Sedgefield is a market town and civil parish in County Durham, England. It had a population of 4,986 in the 2021 census. It has the only operating racecourse in County Durham. Etymology The name ''Sedgefield'' is of Old English origin. It ...

. In the run up to the 2005 General Election the Senior Citizens Party had meetings discussing an

electoral alliance An electoral alliance (also known as a bipartisan electoral agreement, electoral pact, electoral agreement, electoral coalition or electoral bloc) is an association of political parties or individuals that exists solely to stand in elections. E ...

with the

English Democrats The English Democrats are a right-wing-to-far-right, English nationalist political party active in England. A minor party, it currently has no elected representatives at any level of government. The English Democrats were established in 200 ...

. Leon-Smith and Pattinson stood for the party in the 2006 Runnymede Borough Council election. They both came last, receiving 7.6% and 9% of the vote respectively.

Deregistration and Merger with UKIP

The party was deregistered 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 ...

on 20 April 2010. The accounts filed for their final year as a registered party, 2009, indicate that they had "approximately 4,000 members and associate members". The annual membership fee was £12, but associate members did not pay anything. The ratio of full to associate members was not specified. The Senior Citizens Party merged with

in March 2014, as announced by Leon-Smith at the UKIP conference.

References

External links

Archived Website

Grey panthers
Interview with Leon-Smith on

BBC Breakfast ''BBC Breakfast'' is a British television breakfast news programme, produced by BBC News and broadcast on BBC One every morning from 6:00am. It is also broadcast on the UK feed of BBC News channel on weekends. The simulcast is presented live, ...