Libertarianism in the United Kingdom

Libertarianism in the United Kingdom is an increasingly influential political ideology and movement, [cite web |url=http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/jason_walsh/2006/04/libertarianism_left_behind.html |title=Libertarianism limited |accessdate=2008-02-26 |last=Walsh |first=Jason |date=7 April 2006 |publisher=The Guardian ] reflecting the prominence of libertarianism in the United States.

Most prominent libertarian politicians are in the Conservative Party, where libertarianism has formed a significant part, particularly since Margaret Thatcher's premiership. Under Iain Duncan Smith's leadership of the party, dissatisfaction with the direction of the party led to talk of a split, with the secession of some members of the libertarian faction and the creation of a separate libertarian party. [cite news |first=Benedict |last=Brogan |title=Young Tories talk of split unless party is reformed |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1404283/Young-Tories-talk-of-split-unless-party-is-reformed.html |publisher=The Daily Telegraph |date=12 August 2002 |accessdate=2008-07-15 ] However, this did not materialise.

Nonetheless, smaller parties have attempted to attract libertarians. The United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) has attempted to break out of its image as a single-issue party by developing into a more rounded libertarian party, with it being construed as an attempt to outflank the Conservatives on economic issues. [cite web |url=http://conservativehome.blogs.com/torydiary/2006/01/ukip_prepare_to.html |title=UKIP prepare to attack Tories from libertarian right |accessdate=2008-02-26 |last=Montgomerie |first=Tim |authorlink=Tim Montgomerie |date=15 January 2006 |publisher=ConservativeHome ]

Libertarian Party

The Libertarian Party is a political party in the United Kingdom that promotes libertarian policies [cite web |url=http://lpuk.org/ |title=The UK Libertarian Party - Welcome |accessdate=2008-06-15 |last= |first= |date= |publisher=] . It was founded on 1 January 2008 under the leadership of Patrick Vessey who registered with the Electoral Commission on 21 November 2007 [cite web |url=http://registers.electoralcommission.org.uk/regulatory-issues/regpoliticalparties.cfm?frmGB=1&frmPartyID=804&frmType=partydetail |title=Register of Political Parties Libertarian Party |accessdate=2008-07-15 |last= |first= |date= |publisher=] . The party has attracted particular interest in the blogosphere. The party's first policy announcement, to scrap income tax, came on 3 March 2008.

The Libertarian Party intended to run a candidate, blogger and management consultant Ian Parker-Joseph, in the Henley by-election on 26 June 2008, marking the party's electoral debut.cite news |title= New party for fight Henley seat |publisher=Thame News |url=http://www.thamenews.net/readmore.asp?Content_ID=3399& |accessdate=2008-06-06 ] , but he did not in fact stand [cite web |url=http://ianpj4mp.blogspot.com/2008/06/henley-on-thames-by-election-withdrawal.html |title=Henley-on-Thames by-election withdrawal |accessdate=2008-06-12 |last=Parker-Joseph |first=Ian |date=2008-06-11 |publisher=] . Alex Singleton has criticized the Libertarian Party on the grounds that minor parties can't win, and accuses the U. S. Libertarian Party of "undermining liberty." [cite web
last=Singleton
first=Alex
authorlink=Alex Singleton
url=http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/politics/threelinewhip/may/how-libertarians-undermine-liberty.html
title=How Libertarians undermine liberty
publisher="Daily Telegraph"
accessdate=2008-06-09] On 17 September 2008 Patrick Vessey resigned as party leader and was replaced by Ian Parker-Joseph [cite web |url=http://lpuk.blogspot.com/2008/09/libertarian-party-leadership.html |title=Libertarian Party Leadership |accessdate=2008-09-20 |date=2008-09-17 |publisher=] .

Prominent libertarians

Prominent British libertarians have included:
* Richard Branson (born 1950), [cite web |url=http://www.theadvocates.org/celebrities/richard-branson.html |title=Richard Branson - Libertarian |accessdate=2008-02-28 |last= |first= |date= |publisher=Advocates for Self Government ] businessman
* Alan Duncan (born 1957), [cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/2163663.stm |title=Alan Duncan |accessdate=2008-02-28 |last= |first= |date=16 October 2002 |publisher=BBC News ] Conservative politician
* Daniel Hannan (born 1971), Conservative politician
* Friedrich Hayek (1899 – 1992), [cite web |url=http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/bios/Hayek.html |title=Friedrich August Hayek |accessdate=2008-02-28 |last= |first= |date= |publisher=Library of Economics and Liberty ] economist and author
* Lembit Öpik (born 1965), [cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/2121896.stm |title=Lembit Opik |accessdate=2008-02-28 |last= |first= |date=16 October 2002 |publisher=BBC News ] Liberal Democrat politician
* Herbert Spencer (1820 – 1903), [cite web |url=http://www.nyu.edu/projects/sciabarra/essays/spencer.htm |title=The First Libertarian |accessdate=2008-02-28 |last=Sciabarra |first=Chris Matthew |date=August 1999 |publisher=Liberty ] philosopher
* Tom Stoppard (born 1937), [cite web |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2006/06/11/do1107.xml |title=Sir Tom Stoppard |accessdate=2008-02-28 |last=Langley |first=William |date=11 June 2006 |publisher=The Daily Telegraph ] playwright
* Chris Tame (1949 – 2006), [cite web |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1515017/Chris-Tame.html |title=Chris Tame |accessdate=2008-07-15 |last= |first= |date=7 April 2006 |publisher=The Daily Telegraph ] leader of the Libertarian Alliance
* Lemmy (born Ian Fraser Kilmister, 1945), an English singer and bass guitarist. Founding member of the heavy metal band Motörhead, considers himself to be a libertarian or anarchist, cite web | last = Eddy | first = Chuck | title = Damage Case: Lemmy and Motörhead | work = Motörhead Forever | date = 1997 | url = http://www.motorhead.ru/art11damagecase.htm | accessdate =2007-02-09] cite web | last = Dalton | first = Stephen | title = The Oldest Rocker in Town | date = 2007| url = http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article1893238.ece | accessdate =2008-08-13] saying that "government causes more problems than it solves". [cite web | last = Samudrala | first = Ram | title = Born to Raise Hell | date = October 29, 1996 | url = http://www.ram.org/music/articles/lemmyinterview.html | accessdate =2007-02-09]

David Davis

On 12 June 2008, in a surprise and controversial move, British politician David Davis who is the Conservative Party Member of Parliament for the constituency of Haltemprice and Howden, announced his intention to resign as a Member of Parliament, and was immediately replaced as Shadow Home Secretary. This was in order to force a by-election in his seat, for which he intended to seek re-election by mounting a specific campaign designed to provoke wider public debate about the perceived erosion of civil liberties in the United Kingdom. Following his formal resignation as an MP on 18 June 2008, [citeweb|url=http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/newsroom_and_speeches/press/2008/press_63_08.cfm|title=Three Hundreds Of Chiltern|publisher=HM Treasury|accessdate=2008-07-07] he officially became the Conservative candidate in the resulting by-election and won it on 10 July 2008.

Footnotes