Independent (politician)
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In politics, an independent is a politician who is not affiliated with any political party. In countries with a two-party system, independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between the two parties, or may feel that neither of the two parties adequately represents their viewpoint.
Other independent candidates are associated with a political party and may be former members of it, but are not able to stand under its label. For instance, after being expelled from the Labour Party but before joining the Respect Coalition, British Member of Parliament (MP) George Galloway described himself as "Independent Labour".
A third category of independents are those who may belong to a political party but believe they can gain an advantage by presenting themselves as being independent of it. This was common among Conservative Party candidates in British local government elections in the mid-twentieth century.
Some independents have registered locality-based political parties. UK examples include Independent Kidderminster Hospital and Health Concern, Derwentside Independents and those local residents' or ratepayers' associations that contest elections. They are usually considered independent as they have no alignment in national politics.
In countries where multi-seat, Single Transferrable Vote constituencies exist, independents are more common. The Republic of Ireland has 15 "independents" (9% of the total) in its Dáil, although a number of these align themselves to Fianna Fáil on most issues as "Independent Fianna Fáil". The current President of Ireland is also an independent.
Examples of independent politicians
Canada
Independent politicians have held considerable sway in the Canadian House of Commons over the last couple years as Canada has been governed by successive minority governments with independent MPs holding the balance of power.In the 2004 federal election, Chuck Cadman was elected to federal parliament as an independent MP representing the British Columbia riding of Surrey North. Cadman had previously represented that riding on behalf of the Reform Party of Canada and Canadian Alliance, but after the Canadian Alliance merged with the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada to form the new Conservative Party of Canada in 2003, Cadman lost the nomination to represent the Conservative Party in that riding to Jasbir Singh Cheema. Cadman then stood in the subsequent election as an independent and defeated Cheema, as well as the candidates of other Canadian parties, by a significant margin.
In the spring of 2005, Cadman cast the tying vote in favor of a budget supported by the Liberal Party government of Paul Martin as well as the New Democratic Party (NDP), but opposed by the opposition Conservatives and Bloc Québécois. Two other independents also voted on that budget. Carolyn Parrish, independent MP for Mississauga—Erindale, had recently been kicked out of the Liberal Party for criticizing Prime Minister Martin but nonetheless sided with the Liberals on the budget vote. David Kilgour independent MP for Edmonton—Mill Woods—Beaumont, had previously quit the Liberal caucus and voted with the opposition parties against the budget. The tie vote required the Speaker of the House Peter Milliken to cast the deciding vote, and he did so in favor of the budget, allowing the government to survive.
Cadman was terminally ill with cancer at the time he cast his crucial vote, and he died later in 2005. In the 2006 federal election, his riding was won by NDP candidate Penny Priddy. Neither Parrish nor Kilgour (nor Pat O'Brien, MP for London—Fanshawe, who quit the Liberal Party to sit as an independent after the 2005 budget vote) stood for re-election in 2006. However another independent candidate, Andre Arthur, was elected in the Quebec riding of Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, and was the only independent to win a seat in that election. The overall election was won by the Conservative Party, but with another minority. The combined Conservative and NDP seats in parliament currently amount to 154 out of a total of 308, meaning that if the Conservatives and NDP vote together, Arthur too may find himself holding the balance of power.
United Kingdom
Two independent MPs were elected in the 2005 UK general election: Peter Law (MP for Blaenau Gwent), who died on April 25, 2006, and Richard Taylor, sole MP of the Independent Kidderminster Hospital and Health Concern party (for the Wyre Forest constituency). Dr Richard Taylor's election to Parliament is most notable for the fact that he is the only independent in recent times to have been re-elected for a second term. Since Peter Law's death, the by-election has yielded another independent MP - Dai Davies. News reporter Martin Bell was elected as an Independent MP for Tatton from 1997 to 2001 having stood on an anti-corruption platform.The UK House of Lords includes a large number of independent peers, who call themselves Cross-benchers.
The introduction of directly elected Mayors in several parts of the UK saw the election of independent candidates to run councils in Stoke-on-Trent, Middlesbrough, Bedford, Hartlepool and Mansfield. The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone was originally elected as an independent having run against the official Labour candidate Frank Dobson. He has since been re-admitted to the Labour Party.
Independent candidates frequently stand in parliamentary elections, often with platforms about specific local issues, but usually with little success. A typical example from the 2001 general election was when Aston Villa supporter Ian Robinson stood as an independent candidate in the Sutton Coldfield constituency, in protest at the way chairman Doug Ellis ran the club.
United States
Recent independent candidates for President of the United States include John Anderson in 1980, Ross Perot in 1992 and Ralph Nader in 2004. None of them were successful. Historically, George Washington was the first and only independent President, as he was not affiliated with any party during his two terms.Maine is the only state in American history to have elected an Independent as Governor, having elected James B. Longley in 1974 and Angus King in 1994. King was re-elected Governor by one of the largest margins in state history in 1998.
Representative Bernie Sanders has been elected as an independent member of the United States House of Representatives for Vermont-at-large since 1991. He is currently the only independent to sit in that legislative body. Vermont also elected Jim Jeffords, who became the only independent US Senator when he left the Republican Party in 2001.
Jeffords's change of party status was especially significant because it shifted the Senate composition from 50-50 between the Republicans and Democrats (with a Republican Vice President, Dick Cheney, who would break all ties in favor of the Republicans), to 49 Republicans, 50 Democrats, and one Independent. Jeffords agreed to vote for Democratic control of the Senate in exchange for being appointed chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, and the Democrats held control of the Senate until the Congressional elections in 2002, when the Republicans regained their majority.
Jeffords has announced that he will retire at the end of his current term in January, 2007. Representative Sanders has announced that he intends to run to replace Jeffords as Senator from Vermont in the 2006 election.
In 1971, State Senator Henry Howell of Virginia, a former Democrat, was elected lieutenant governor as an Independent. Two years later, he campaigned for Governor as an Independent, losing the election by only 15,000 votes.
In 2006, there are 14 major Independent candidates for statewide office, including Bernie Sanders. In Alaska, former Republican state legislator Andrew Halcro is running for Governor. In Arkansas, musician and music store owner Rod Bryan is running for Governor. In Maine, real estate developer David John Jones, state legislator Barbara Merrill (formerly a Democrat), and former state legislator John Michael (also a Democrat) have all gained spots on the gubernatorial ballot, while retired college professor Bill Slavick is running for the U.S. Senate. In Massachusetts, wealthy convenience store owner and former Massachusetts Turnpike Authority board member Christy Mihos is running for Governor. In Minnesota, former state Commissioner of Finance Peter Hutchinson is running for Governor as an Independent, and also seeking the endorsement of the Independence Party. In Oregon, State Senator Ben Westlund, elected to office as a Republican, has renounced his party membership and joined the race for Governor as an Independent. In Pennsylvania, anti-incumbent activist and Philadelphia Inquirer "Citizen of the Year" Russ Diamond is seeking the Governor's office. In Alabama, Loretta Nall will be running for Governor as a Libertarian. Finally, in Texas, country music singer and mystery novelist Kinky Friedman and State Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn both received several times the number of signatures needed to place them on the gubernatorial ballot.
A fifteenth candidate, entrepreneur and community activist John Dashler recently dropped out of the race for Governor of Georgia after he was unable to collect 40,000 signatures to gain ballot access.
See also
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