Leader Dr Alex Ashman | Founded 14 May 2012 Colours Blue | |
![]() | ||
The National Health Action Party (NHA) is a political party in the United Kingdom.
Contents
- History
- Supporters
- Cultural figures
- Policies
- Health
- Political reform
- Economy
- 2015 General Election
- References
The party grew out of the movement opposing the 2012 Health and Social Care Act. It campaigns for renationalisation of the privatized parts of the English National Health Service, reductions in outsourcing as well as improvements to NHS funding, service provision and staffing. Despite focusing on health, the party has a range of policies in areas such as the economy, housing and education. These include opposition to austerity and a call for political reform.
Having stood candidates in local and European parliamentary elections in 2014, the party contested 12 seats in the 2015 general election, coming seventh in England according to the popular vote. Surgical registrar Dr Alex Ashman was elected as the party's leader in December 2016 following the resignation of co-founder Clive Peedell earlier that year.
History
The passage of the Health and Social Care Act in March 2012 prompted the party's co-founder Clive Peedell, a cancer specialist doctor, to co-write an open letter to The Independent alongside esteemed medical signatories. The letter was highly critical of the Liberal Democrats for their role in the passage of the Act and stated that the signatories would "form a coalition of healthcare professionals to take on coalition MPs at the next General election, on the non-party, independent ticket of defending the NHS and acting in the wider public interest". Two months later, on 14 May 2012, Peedell co-founded the NHA Party with retired doctor Richard Taylor, who had twice been elected as MP for Wyre Forest on an 'independent health' component to his local hospital party name. The party officially launched in Westminster in November 2012.
The party first stood in the 2013 Eastleigh by-election, with candidate Dr Iain Maclennan taking 392 votes. The party went on to stand in the 2014 European Parliament elections and the 2015 General Election, taking over 20,000 votes in each. This placed the party seventh in the popular vote in England in the latter. The party's best result to date was the 7,211 votes taken by Dr Richard Taylor in Wyre Forest in 2015.
Party co-founder Dr Clive Peedell resigned the leadership in July 2016, and Dr Paul Hobday was appointed as interim leader. Surgical registrar Dr Alex Ashman was elected as the new permanent party leader in December 2016 and promised to continue the work begun by Drs Peedell and Taylor.
Supporters
As of December 2015 the party has 70,000 followers on Twitter and 23,750 on Facebook.
Cultural figures
Best-selling authors Mark Haddon and Philip Pullman, satirist Armando Iannucci and comedian Rufus Hound. Hound stood as an NHA Party candidate in the London constituency for the 2014 European elections.
Policies
The party has a range of policies on healthcare, political reform, the economy, immigration, housing, education and environmental sustainability.
Health
Political reform
Economy
2015 General Election
The party stood 12 candidates at the United Kingdom general election, 2015. Targeted seats included those of leading proponents of the Health and Social Care Bill such as David Cameron and Jeremy Hunt. The candidates were:
The twelve candidates collected a total of 20,210 votes and saved two deposits, but none won. Their best result came in Wyre Forst, where Dr Richard Taylor (who had previously won the seat twice for the 'Independent Kidderminster Hospital and Health Concern' party) came 4th with 14.6% of the vote.