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United for Change
FoundedAugust 2018 (officially)
Headquarters5th Floor Orwell House,
16-18 Berners Street,
London,
W1T 3LN[1]
IdeologyCentrism
Political positionCentre
Website
unitedforchange.org.uk
formerly:
www.unitedforchange.uk
www.theunitedparty.org.uk

United for Change (UfC) is a British political movement, founded on a centrist platform.[2][3][4][5] The movement gained attention after fundraising through large donations from philanthropists and donors was reported.[6][7][8] Although only launched in August 2018, it had reportedly been in the process of development for at least a year.[9] It has subsequently been rebranded as the United Party for its launch as a political party.

History

In April 2018, British press reported that former Labour donor Simon Franks had set up a company, the Project One Movement, aimed at potentially forming a political party and fielding candidates at an election.[7] It received commitments of roughly £5 million in funding from founders, and was compared to En Marche! in France.[10][11] In August 2018, United for Change was launched as the political campaign name of the Project One Movement.[12]

In late August 2018, one of the founders of the movement Adam Knight left to set up his own political organisation.[13][14] He later voiced his support for the Liberal Democrats.[15] The founders of United for Change are Simon Franks, Dr Saima Rana, Alex Chesterman OBE, Richard Reed CBE, Ceawlin Thynn, Ryan Wain, James Woolf.[citation needed]

Simon Franks has said he wants to make United for Change a grassroots movement,[16] with the aim of launching United for Change as a registered political party just after Brexit.[17]

As of June 2019, it has reportedly scaled back its ambition to win the next general election as a new party but still seeks to launch fully as a political movement once Brexit is resolved.[18]

References

  1. ^ "United For Change Limited". suite.endole.co.uk. Endole. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
  2. ^ Henley, Peter (8 August 2018). "Who is United for change?". BBC News. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
  3. ^ "The plot to stop Brexit". The Spectator. 25 August 2018. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  4. ^ Dunt, Ian (9 August 2018). "UK could use another centrist party, but not another anti-immigrant one". The Guardian. Opinion. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
  5. ^ Clark, Ross (8 August 2018). "Britain needs a party for the 'gammon' vote (blog)". The Spectator. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  6. ^ Zoe, Williams (8 August 2018). "Being middle-aged is like taking a warm bath – if you remember not to care". The Guardian. Opinion. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  7. ^ a b Savage, Michael (8 April 2018). "New centrist party gets £50m backing to 'break mould' of UK politics". The Observer. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  8. ^ Hughes, Solomon (10 August 2018). "Who's the technocrat behind new "centrist party" United for Change?". Morning Star. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  9. ^ Swinford, Steven (8 April 2018). "Plans for new centrist political party will "end in fiasco", says Lord Hattersley". The Telegraph. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  10. ^ Cole, Matthew (10 April 2018). "A new centrist party for Britain? Good luck with that". The Conversation. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
  11. ^ Crerar, Pippa; Savage, Michael (8 April 2018). "'A daft waste of time': Labour pours scorn on new centrist party". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
  12. ^ "Privacy notice". unitedforchange.uk. United for Change. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
  13. ^ Elliott, Francis (31 August 2018). "New centre party splits before its launch". The Times. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
  14. ^ Gartside, Ben; Payne, Adam (1 September 2018). "Inside 'United for Change,' the new centrist party trying to transform British politics". Business Insider. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
  15. ^ "Centrist party founder says Lib Dems could be 'real force for change'". Sunday Times. 16 September 2018. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  16. ^ "Centre Party United for Change hopes to win party with volunteer army". The Times. 29 December 2018. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
  17. ^ "Tech tycoon Simon Franks seeks 'unknown' to head new political party United for Change". The Sunday Times. 6 January 2019. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
  18. ^ "Whatever happened to 'new centrist party' United for Change?". The Morning Star. 10 June 2019. Retrieved 5 September 2019.

Further reading

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