This article is about the UK political party founded and dissolved in 2019. For similarly-named groups, see Independent Group (disambiguation) and Change (disambiguation).
Independent Group for Change
Leader
Anna Soubry (4 June – 19 December 2019)
Heidi Allen (acting) (29 March – 4 June 2019)
Founded
18 February 2019; 5 years ago (2019-02-18)
Registered
15 April 2019; 5 years ago (2019-04-15)[1]
Dissolved
19 December 2019; 4 years ago (2019-12-19)
Split from
Labour Party Conservative Party
Headquarters
521 Terminal House 52 Grosvenor Gardens London SW1W 0AU[1]
Ideology
Centrism Pro-Europeanism[2]
Political position
Centre
European affiliation
European People's Party
European Parliament group
European People's Party
Colours
Black White[3]
Slogan
"Politics is broken. Let's change it."
Seats prior to 2019 general election
5 / 650
Politics of the United Kingdom
Political parties
Elections
Change UK, founded as The Independent Group (TIG) and later The Independent Group for Change, was a British centrist, pro–European Union political party, which lasted for ten months in 2019. Established in February and formally recognized as a party in May, it was dissolved in December after all its MPs lost their seats at that year's general election. Its principal aim was a second withdrawal referendum on European Union membership, in which it would campaign to remain in the EU. On economic issues it expressed a commitment to the social market economy.
The party originated when seven MPs resigned from the Labour Party to sit as The Independent Group. They were dissatisfied by Labour's leftward political direction under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership, its approach to Brexit and its handling of allegations of antisemitism within the party. They were soon joined by four more MPs, including three from the governing Conservative Party who disliked their party's approach to Brexit and its move rightward. The group registered as a political party under the name Change UK – The Independent Group and appointed former Conservative MP Heidi Allen as their leader before May's European Parliament election.
Following the party's failure to secure any seats in that election, six of its eleven MPs, including Allen, left the party and Anna Soubry took over as leader. Four of the six formed The Independents grouping and two defected to the Liberal Democrats. Later, three of The Independents also joined the Liberal Democrats. In June the party adopted the name The Independent Group for Change following a legal dispute with petition website Change.org. Three of the party's MPs stood for re-election in December's general election. None were re-elected, each losing to a candidate from their former parties. On 19 December, Soubry announced the party's dissolution.
^ ab"Registration summary: Change UK – The Independent Group". Electoral Commission. 15 April 2019. Archived from the original on 15 April 2019. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
^Umunna, Chuka (22 April 2019). "Chuka Umunna: This is why our new party will not be forming a 'pro-Remain alliance' for the European elections". The Independent. Archived from the original on 23 April 2019. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
^Change UK – The Independent Group [@TheIndGroup] (23 April 2019). "Hi, black and white are our core colours. Everything else is a variation of our theme" (Tweet). Retrieved 24 April 2019 – via Twitter. black and white are our core colours
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2019. Schofield, Kevin (29 March 2019). "The Independent Group becomes 'ChangeUK' to stand in European elections". PoliticsHome. Retrieved 29 March 2019...
On 4 January 2021, the party's name change to Reform UK was approved by the Electoral Commission. In 2021, Reform UK gained representation in the Scottish...
Climate Change, the Second Report of the 2005–2006 session, produced by the UK Parliament House of Lords Economics Affairs Select Committee. UK Parliament...
lists the election results of ChangeUK in UK parliamentary elections and in elections to the European Parliament. ChangeUK stood in the 2019 European Parliament...
Scottish National Party also improved on their 2014 results; however, ChangeUK failed to win any seats. Compared to the 2014 result, the Labour Party...
February 2019, joining and later serving as acting leader of ChangeUK. She resigned from ChangeUK in June of the same year, and joined the Liberal Democrats...
Nigel Topping, the former CEO of climate change action organization We Mean Business, was appointed the UK Government's High Level Climate Action Champion...
annual emissions by 2.5 million tonnes by 2010, and forms part of the UK's Climate Change Programme.[citation needed] The levy applies to most energy users...
ChangeUK where people sign up to abstain from alcohol for the month of January. The term "Dry January" is a registered trademark with Alcohol Change...
it became the UK's first private university after being granted a royal charter as the University of Buckingham. A major change to UK higher education...
(1 January 2006). Eric Clapton Now & Then. UK: Carlton Books Ltd. p. 144. ISBN 978-1-84442-531-0. "ChangeUK MEP candidates: Who's standing in the 2019...
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge, UK & New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-05799-9.. AR5 Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science...
resigned to form The Independent Group, later ChangeUK, along with six other MPs. Later in 2019, he left ChangeUK and, after a short time as an independent...
trade name the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, is a non-profit organisation set up by former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair. The organisation is...
reduction targets. An independent Committee on Climate Change was created under the Act to provide advice to UK Government on these targets and related policies...
The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 27 July 2019. "Former Labour and ChangeUK MP Chuka Umunna joins the Lib Dems". The Independent. 13 June 2019. Retrieved...
(UK) 2019 general election, 650 members of Parliament (MPs) were elected to the House of Commons – one for each parliamentary constituency. The UK Parliament...
Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved May 30, 2016. ""Change" UK Singles". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 30, 2016. Luther Vandross...
1990 levels. The UK has been successful in keeping its economic growth alongside taking climate change action. Since 1990, the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions...
May 2023. "UK energy in brief 2021". GOV.UK. Retrieved 20 June 2022. "Department of Energy and Climate Change: Annual tables: 'Digest of UK energy statistics'...
United States, Canada, New Zealand, Israel, Taiwan, the UK, and the Philippines. A company called Change Healthcare was established in 2007 and based in Brentwood...
crisis, was a financial crisis that occurred on 16 September 1992 when the UK Government was forced to withdraw sterling from the (first) European Exchange...
Global Information