The Swale Independents are a local

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, ...

based in the

borough of Swale Swale is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Kent, England. The council is based in Sittingbourne, the borough's largest town. The borough also contains the towns o ...

. It was founded in 2018 by the former leader of

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 ...

on Swale Borough Council, Mike Baldock. They sit together with one

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

on Swale Borough Council as "The Swale Independents Alliance".

History

At the 2019 Swale Borough Council election, the party elected 10 councillors. After the election, a "rainbow coalition" of the Swale Independents, Labour, Liberal Democrats, independents, and the Greens, was formed. This ended 17 years of

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 ...

control of the council. In 2020, the party's leader, Mike Baldock, faced criticism for opposing new houses being built, despite being a

landlord A landlord is the owner of property such as a house, apartment, condominium, land, or real estate that is rented or leased to an individual or business, known as a tenant (also called a ''lessee'' or ''renter''). The term landlord appli ...

who owns three houses, and an acre of land, worth £1 million in total. At the 2021 Kent County Council election, Baldock won a seat, becoming the party's sole representative on the council. From April 2022 to May 2023, Baldock served as Swale Borough Council's leader. At the 2023 Swale Borough Council election, the party won 11 council seats. Afterwards, they formed another coalition with Labour and the Greens. In December 2023, Baldock resigned as deputy leader of Swale Borough Council, after a disagreement with the Labour group. He returned to the role just two weeks later. In March 2024, Baldock was selected as the party's candidate for

Sittingbourne and Sheppey Sittingbourne and Sheppey is a constituency in Kent represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since the 2024 general election by Kevin McKenna, a Labour politician and qualified nurse. Boundaries 1997–2010: The Borough of Sw ...

in the

2024 general election This is a list of elections that were held in 2024. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. * 2024 United Nations Security Council election * 2024 national electoral calendar * 2024 local electo ...

. He came fourth with 7.9% of the vote. In February 2025, four borough councillors left the party to join

Reform UK Reform UK is a right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. Nigel Farage has been Leader of Reform UK and Richard Tice deputy leader since 2024. It has five members of Parliament (MPs) in the House of Commons and one membe ...

, citing their fear that the UK is "heading for a Labour-run dictatorship". Mike Baldock called the move "a huge betrayal of the people who voted for them" and suggested that the defectors should resign and contest by-elections as Reform candidates.

Principles

The party supports Swale Borough Council changing from a cabinet system to a committee structure. It opposes

whipping Flagellation (Latin , 'whip'), flogging or whipping is the act of beating the human body with special implements such as whips, rods, switches, the cat o' nine tails, the sjambok, the knout, etc. Typically, flogging has been imposed on ...

and the prioritisation of

partisan Partisan(s) or The Partisan(s) may refer to: Military * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line ** Francs-tireurs et partisans, communist-led French anti-fascist resistance against Nazi Germany during WWII ** Ital ...

interests over local people.

References

External links

* Locally based political parties in England Politics of Swale Political parties established in 2018 2018 establishments in England {{UK-party-stub