Volt United Kingdom
AbbreviationVolt UK / Volt
LeaderCharlotte Blake, Carsten Vagani[1]
TreasurerCarsten Vagani[2]
Founded6 January 2020 (2020-01-06)[3]
HeadquartersLondon[3]
IdeologySocial liberalism[4]
Progressivism[5]
Pro-Europeanism[6]
Political positionCentre[7] to centre-left[8]
European affiliationVolt Europa
Colours  Purple
Website
voltuk.eu
National sections of Volt Europa. The borders of the European Union are shown in red.

Volt United Kingdom,[3] commonly known as Volt UK, is a pro-European[9][10][11][12] political party in the United Kingdom. It is the British branch of Volt Europa, a political movement that operates on a European level.

History

Volt UK was founded in London on 6 January 2020, with Philipp Gnatzy as its first leader.[3]

2021 Elections

In the 2021 local elections, the party stood one candidate for election to a local authority, Luis Perdigao in Cubbington & Leek Wootton Ward in Warwickshire.[13] He campaigned in particular for improvements in the transport sector and public transport, in addition to avoiding damage from Brexit.[14]

In London, Volt backed Richard Hewison, Rejoin EU's candidate in the London mayoral election, and the two parties stood a joint list for the London-wide assembly election.[10] Hewison received 1.1% of the mayoral vote,[15] while the two parties received 49,389 votes (1.91%) for the Assembly and thus did not win a seat.[16]

The party also stood in the Scottish Parliament election on a joint list with Renew Scotland.[17]

2022

In May 2022, the party contested the Glasgow City Council election.[18] Volt received 4.1% of the first-preference vote in the Pollokshields ward, falling short of winning one of the four seats.[19]

2023

On 2 August Volt announced Ewan Hoyle as their candidate for the Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election.[20][21] It is the first time that the party has taken part in national elections.[22] He received 46 votes, 0.15% of the votes cast.[23]

Ideology and policies

The party supports the 5+1 fundamental challenges (1. Smart state, 2. Economic renaissance, 3. Social equality, 4. Global balance, 5. Citizen empowerment, +1 European reform) defined by Volt Europa.[24] In addition to the pan-European policies of Volt, the British branch has some additional policies including electoral reform, rejoining the EU, action to address climate change, and reform of political campaigns.[25]

Volt Scotland

Volt Scotland is the Scottish branch of Volt UK. It participated in the 2021 Scottish Parliament election with two candidates standing on Renew Scotland's party list.[26] For the Scottish Parliament elections, Volt endorsed a multiple-choice referendum on the issue of Scottish independence like its Renew counterparts.[27] Renew Scotland contested five regions and no constituencies in the election, receiving 493 votes nationwide.[28][29][30][31][32] The party also stood one candidate at the 2022 Scottish local elections,[33] with their candidate garnering 4.06% of first preference votes in the four-member Pollokshields ward.[34]

Electoral performance

Scottish Parliament

Election Political party Constituency Regional Total seats +/– Government
Vote  % Seats Vote  % Seats
2021 Volt Scotland (as part of Renew Scotland)[26] N/A
0 / 73
 493 (Renew Scotland)[28][29][30][31][32] 0.02% (Renew Scotland)[35]
0 / 56
0 / 129
 New —

Renew Scotland contested in five regions and no constituencies in the 2021 Scottish Parliament election.

References

  1. ↑ "View registration - The Electoral Commission". search.electoralcommission.org.uk. Retrieved 2022-10-11.
  2. ↑ "View registration - The Electoral Commission". search.electoralcommission.org.uk. Retrieved 2022-10-11.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "View registration - The Electoral Commission". search.electoralcommission.org.uk.
  4. ↑ Nordsieck, Wolfram (2019). "European Union". Parties and Elections in Europe. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  5. ↑ Essler, Brett (7 November 2019). "Just Do It: How two SIPA alumni founded a new European political party—and won". School of International and Public Affairs. Columbia University. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  6. ↑ Teffer, Peter (27 May 2019). "'Pan-European' Volt and DieM25 manage one MEP each". EU Observer. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  7. ↑ Boucart, Théo (31 May 2019). "Germany: Faithful Reflection Of European Electoral Tendencies?". The New Federalist. Young European Federalists. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  8. ↑ Forthomme, Claude (28 February 2019). "Volt Europa: An Electric Jolt to Wake Up Europe". Impakter. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  9. ↑ Carey, Declan. "New party starts Britain's campaign to rejoin the European Union". Redaction Politics.
  10. 1 2 Carey, Declan. "Pro-EU party to stand in Scottish elections offering voters an SNP alternative". Redaction Politics.
  11. ↑ Reed, Jonothan. "First political party to commit itself to campaigning for UK to rejoin EU". The New European.
  12. ↑ "Manifesto for Britain". Volt UK. Volt United Kingdom.
  13. ↑ "Election Results". apps.warwickshire.gov.uk. Retrieved 2021-11-11.
  14. ↑ "Volt in Cubbington and Leek Wootton". Volt UK. Retrieved 2021-11-11.
  15. ↑ "Results 2021 | London Elects". www.londonelects.org.uk. Retrieved 2021-11-11.
  16. ↑ "London Assembly (London-wide) results | London Elects". www.londonelects.org.uk. Retrieved 2021-11-11.
  17. ↑ "Scottish Parliament". Volt UK. Retrieved 2021-11-11.
  18. ↑ Sandelands, Drew (2022-04-28). "Pollokshields recovery to be one consideration for Glasgow election voters". GlasgowLive. Retrieved 2022-04-29.
  19. ↑ "Local Election 2022 Full Results". www.glasgow.gov.uk. 2022-05-06. Retrieved 2022-05-10.
  20. ↑ "Vote for Ewan Hoyle and Volt UK in Rutherglen and Hamilton West". Instagram. 2023-08-02. Retrieved 2023-08-19.
  21. ↑ "Scottish Tories accused of 'gutter politics' in Labour trans row". The Herald. 5 August 2023. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  22. ↑ "Ewan Hoyle, Author at Bylines Scotland". Bylines Scotland. Retrieved 2023-08-19.
  23. ↑ "Labour defeats SNP to win Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election". BBC News. Retrieved 2023-10-06.
  24. ↑ "European Policies – Volt Europa".
  25. ↑ "Volt UK – Manifesto for Britain".
  26. 1 2 "Twitter Renew Scotland".
  27. ↑ "Renew Scotland, Our Proposal for Scotland's Future". Renew Scotland. Retrieved 2021-04-05.
  28. 1 2 Glasgow [region], BBC News; retrieved 8 May 2021
  29. 1 2 Lothian [region], BBC News; retrieved 8 May 2021
  30. 1 2 Mid Scotland and Fife [region], BBC News; retrieved 8 May 2021
  31. 1 2 North East Scotland [region], BBC News; retrieved 8 May 2021
  32. 1 2 West of Scotland [region] [sic], BBC News; retrieved 8 May 2021
  33. ↑ "Pollokshields council elections 2022".
  34. ↑ "Declaration of Results (Ward 6, Pollokshields)".
  35. ↑ "Scottish Parliament election 2021". BBC News.
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