English Democrats
The English Democrats is an English civic nationalist political party led by solicitor Robin Tilbrook. The Party states that they are England’s answer to the Scottish National Party and to the Welsh Plaid Cymru.
The English Democrats were launched in 2002 and are the only significant campaigning English nationalist Party. They campaigned for St George’s Day to be England’s National holiday; for Parry's Jerusalem to be England’s National Anthem; to leave properly and fully the EU; for an end to mass immigration; for the Cross of St George flag to be flown on all public buildings in England; and they supported a YES vote for Scottish Independence.
Following growing political devolution in the United Kingdom, which saw the creation of the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Assembly, and the Northern Ireland Assembly, the party's founders called for a separate English Parliament. The party had previously called for England to become an independent state.[1]
Contents
Elections
The English Democrats’ greatest electoral successes to date include:- in the 2004 European Union elections they had 130,056 votes; winning the Directly Elected Executive Mayoralty of Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council in 2009, and also the 2012 mayoralty referendum; in the 2009 EU election they gained 279,801 votes after a total EU campaign spend of less than £25,000; they won the 2012 referendum which gave Salford City an Elected Mayor; in 2012 they also saved all their deposits in the Police Commissioner elections and came second in South Yorkshire; and in the 2014 EU elections they had 126,024 votes. In the 2015 UK General Election they had the 8th largest contingent of candidates in England. In the October 2016 Batley & Spen Westminster parliamentary by-election they came second and easily beat all three big British national parties. In the 2017 Greater Manchester Mayoral election they came fifth, beating the UKIP, and beating the Greens in all but two boroughs.
In the 2018 South Yorkshire Mayoral election they had 14,547 votes and saved their deposit and with a minimal campaign budget achieving 12.8% of the First Preference votes in Doncaster, Yorkshire. In the 2021 Police Commissioner election in Essex they received 42,831 (10%) First Preference votes, plus probably the same again Second Preference votes for by far the lowest campaign spending of all the candidates.
In the May 2023 local elections they had a councillor elected in Lincolnshire and stood candidates in the May 2024 Police Commissioner elections in Lincolnshire, West Mercia, and the South East, in which they said they were the foremost party on law and order issues.
In the United Kingdom General Election held on 4 July 2024 The English Democrats Party stood in the following constituencies in England:
- Shrewsbury and Atcham – Christopher Bovill
- East Grinstead & Uckfield – William Highton
- Leigh and Atherton – Craig Alan Buckley
- Bolton West – Patrick McGrath
- Makerfield – Thomas Bryer
- Dover and Deal – Stephen Laws
- Bradford South – Thérèse Hirst
- Newark – Matthew Darrington
- Brentwood and Ongar – Robin Tilbrook
- Boston and Skegness – David Dickason
- Great Yarmouth – Catherine Blaiklock
- Bury South – Stephen Morris
- Dunstable & Leighton Buzzard – Antonio Vitellio
- Barnsley South – Maxine Spencer
- Barnsley North – Janus Polenceusz
Other
Robin Tilbrook addressed the 2013 annual conference[2] and the 2023 annual dinner of the Traditional Britain Group.[3]
In early 2023 Tilbrook successfully represented one of the rape victims of the Pakistani national grooming gangs abuse scandals in England, securing for her a record £425,000 damages in a 'landmark' legal win against her rapist. Tilbrook stated outside the High Court in London: “We have broken the ice with this case. Hundreds of rapists have been convicted during the national grooming gangs catastrophe and they could all now face civil litigation for the damage they have caused. These survivors have been let down by every British institution sworn to protect them, from local authorities, to the police, the courts and the government. But with our landmark case, we have shown that survivors can take justice into their own hands and give their rapists more of the punishment they deserve.”[4]
Gregory Lauder-Frost, a Vice-President of the Traditional Britain Group (TBG), addressed the English Democrats Spring Conference on Saturday 16 March 2023 on some of the aims and objectives of the TBG.
