Pirate Party UK
The Pirate Party UK ( PPUK, Welsh: Môr Plaid - leidr DU) is a political party in the United Kingdom. It is part of the international movement of Pirate Parties.
Political principles
The core concern of the Pirate Party UK are: The end of excessive surveillance of citizens by government and large companies. Ensuring the freedom of speech and freedom of participation in human culture for all members of society. The reform of copyright and patent law, to legalize non-commercial file-sharing with the aim to reduce the excessive length of copyright protection and to prevent patents are used to hinder innovation or to manipulate.
The board of the Pirate Party UK has decided that the party will concentrate until further on these three key points. On 22 March 2010, the party presented its general election manifesto in 2010, which sets out how the party intends to implement its core objectives in the event of their choice.
History
Parallel to the establishment of the Swedish Piratpartiet there were in the UK efforts to start their own Pirate Party. After the success of the Swedish Pirate Party in the European elections of 2009, the interest increased rapidly at a party founded on 30 July 2009 and the party was officially registered. You can thus take part in England, Scotland and Wales elections. After the official registration, membership rose rapidly, there were partial per hour at 100 people in the party.
The first election in which took part in the Pirate Party, was the election to the British House of Commons on 6 May 2010. Overall competed nine candidates for the party in England and Scotland. An initially planned tenth candidate could not submit his registration documents in time by the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull and the resulting impairment of aviation, since he was stuck at this time abroad. None of the candidates could reach a seat. Because of the British electoral system, the party but no hopes for a parliamentary seat made . The candidates reached between 0.2 % and 0.6 % of the vote, the best result of 0.62 % reached Tim Dobson in Manchester Gorton.
On September 26, 2010 Laurence Kaye was elected as the new Chairman of the party. He took over from Andrew Robinson, who had held this office since the party's founding. In the repetition of the general election in the constituency of Oldham East and Saddleworth on 13 January 2011, the party chairman Kaye took 0.3 % for the PPUK. In the Scottish Parliament elections of 2011, the PPUK competed in two regions, reaching 0.3 % of the vote.
In the local elections in 2012 the party joined in Manchester, Glasgow and Edinburgh with a total of six candidates. Overall, the party received 551 votes. The best result was reaching the party leader Loz Kaye with 127 votes, or 5.2 % in the constituency Manchester Bradford.