A new Political Party? Pro-EU or Just Anti-Brexit?

James Chapman's Twitter avi

James Chapman worked for a year for David Davis in the Department for Exiting the EU.  He has recently left, and a couple of days ago caused a storm for suggesting a new political party should he formed to fight against Brexit.

But should this be pro-EU or just anti-Brexit? Does a new party need to be registered, or is there a suitable party already registered?  

In answering these questions, and throughout this blog, 'pro-EU' is taken to be:

• Following the EU vision for the UK to become a state within the United States of Europe
• Adopt the Euro in place of Pound Sterling

Ask people who say they are pro-EU, and they will generally confirm that is their view.  So it is a reasonable working definition.

It can take two months or more to get a party registered and ready for an election.  So an existing party is a distinct advantage given the weakness of the current Government and the possibility of another election sooner rather than later.

There are two key issues in forming a 'pro-EU' party.

Firstly, as shown here, only a small proportion of people who voted Remain are pro-EU.  Most have a degree of euro-scepticism, and indeed some were on the cusp of voting Leave.  So support for a purely pro-EU party amongst Remainers would be small.

Secondly being a member of a political party will require relinquishing membership of any existing party, at least officially.  A pro-EU campaign group, rather than a political party, is better suited to many of the pro-EU supporters.

That leaves very few potential members of a pro-EU party who are both:

• Pro-EU and 
• Prepared to leave their existing party, or otherwise are not currently committed

A cross-party pro-EU campaign group, rather than a political party, would be a far better option. 

To have any degree of support, a new political aparty needs to be anti-Brexit but not pro-EU.  The Just Party fulfils that brief.  As a centrist party, it can command support from current supporters of both the Labour and Conservative parties.  That breadth of support could produce a significant number of MPs in Parliament, as well as a breadth of members and other supporters.

Then it is worth having a political party. The Just Party,  Already registered. Just for you!

Do become an Associate Member, or make a donation towards our campaign, even if you are a member of another political party.