| For Darwen Party | |
|---|---|
| Leader | Tony Melia |
| Founded | 2007 |
| Headquarters | Duckworth Street, Darwen |
| Ideology | Far Right Localism |
| Political position | n/a |
| International affiliation | n/a |
| European affiliation | n/a |
| European Parliament Group | n/a |
| Official colours | Cyan |
| Website | |
| fordarwen.org.uk | |
| Politics of the United Kingdom Political parties Elections |
|
The For Darwen Party is a small political party with three seats on Blackburn with Darwen Council in England. The party fielded candidates in wards in the small town of Darwen, which lies to the south of Blackburn, with a platform that the views of Darweners are not properly represented in the town hall.
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The party was co founded in 2007 by Tony Melia.,[1] Tony Melia, who had previously stood as a Liberal Democrat candidate against Jack Straw in the 2005 general election in Blackburn. He said he quit the Liberal Democrats to form For Darwen as he was tired of what the Labour-controlled council was doing, particularly with the Darwen Academy, leisure centre, and regeneration.[2] Michael Johnson had originally been elected as a Councillor for the far-right, England First Party.
Councillor Johnson was sacked from For Darwen in March 2008 over "policy differences with party members",he stayed a a member of the coalition, this reduced the number of seats the For Darwen Party held in the coalition.[3]
Despite this setback in the run-up to the elections, For Darwen gained a further three seats in the May 2008 Local Elections,[4] two of them coming in the same wards (Earcroft, Sunnyhurst) as the 2007 elections. The third was in Marsh House ward.
For Darwen stood six candidates in the local election in this year but failed to get any elected.
Cllr Tony Melia stood in the Rossendale and Darwen constituency on behalf of the Impact party (anti-immigration issues), gaining 243 votes (0.5% of votes cast). He remained leader of the For Darwen party throughout.
The party split up the Liberal Democrat/Conservative ruling coalition when two of their councillors moved over to different political parties . Trevor Maxfield moved over to the Labour Party and is standing in Earcroft as a prospective Labour candidate.
BLACKBURN WITH DARWEN COUNCIL. Earcroft, Anthony Meleady, up for re-election in 2012. Marsh House, Phil Jones, up for re-election in 2012. Sunnyhurst, Andrew Graham, up for re-election in 2012.
DARWEN TOWN COUNCIL.
For Darwen also have five (5) of the thirteen (13) councillors on the town Council.