Chairman John Tait Founded May 2014 (May 2014) | General Secretary Hilton Dawson Local government (England & Wales) 0 / 20,565 | |
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Ideology North East English regionalism | ||
The North East Party (NEP) is a regionalist political party in North East England founded in 2014 by former Labour MP Hilton Dawson. The party campaigns for a better deal for North East England generally and is committed to a devolved assembly in the North East with powers similar to those in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, if approved by a referendum. It says bodies such as the North East Combined Authority do not have a mandate to take on new responsibilities and representatives must be directly-elected. Dawson stepped down as Chair of the party in June 2016 and was replaced by John Tait. Dawson remains active in the party taking on the role of Secretary and Nominating Officer.
Contents
The north east party haswells community party
History
The NEP was founded in May 2014 and is widely seen as a sister party to Yorkshire First. In December 2014, the party—only six months old—won its first council seat at a local by-election for Peterlee Town Council in County Durham. Two months later, the party won a second seat on the council in another by-election. Following on from its local successes, the party contested four parliamentary seats and several council seats in the region at the 2015 UK election.
The party stood candidates in Easington, Newcastle upon Tyne North, Redcar and Stockton North. It failed to win any seats. Its best performance came in Easington where candidate Susan McDonnell received 2.3% of the vote.