Young Independence

Young Independence
Chairman Jamie Ross-McKenzie [1]
Membership Increase 3,500 [2] (30 May 2015)
Ideology Hard Euroscepticism[3][4]
Right-wing populism[5]
Economic liberalism[4]
Conservatism[4]
British unionism[6]
Website
http://www.youngindependence.org.uk

Young Independence (YI) is the youth wing of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) and represents all UKIP members under the age of 30.[7]

History

The wing was formed during the 2007 annual UKIP conference by the then National Executive Committee member Delroy Young. YI was formed to encompass all UKIP members aged thirty-five and under,[8] but is now for those under the age of thirty as the total number of young people in UKIP has grown. A referendum was held during May 2015 to see if the upper age should be lowered from 30 to 25, but this was rejected by 74.2% to 25.8%. With increasing membership, YI started to move towards forming student organisations. However, it faced heavy opposition from the National Union of Students.[9]

Organisation

Young Independence is run by a council of elected members and regional/county chairpersons who are usually elected at the annual UKIP Spring Conference. It has regional chairpersons elected by the membership to oversee its county or regional affairs. It has Branch Chairmen, who represent Young Independence at all local branch events.

UKIP Students

In April 2014, the National Union of Students passed a motion at its National Conference to officially oppose UKIP.[10] In response, on 1 August, UKIP's universities officer, Joseph Jenkins, announced the formation of UKIP Students, a branch of Young Independence dedicated to expanding UKIP's presence in universities, colleges and schools. UKIP Students has its own committee.

Controversies

In 2013, the YI chairman Olly Neville was fired by the party, reportedly for supporting same-sex marriage.[11] YI's treasurer Allrik Birch, election officer Gareth Shanks, Yorkshire chairman Arnie Craven, and the Yorkshire deputy chairwoman Christina Annesley resigned in protest.[12] Other party members have come out in support of same-sex marriage, however, such as the chairman and prospective Parliamentary candidate in Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford, Nathan Garbutt, questioning whether Neville really was removed for supporting the issue at hand: "if he had been removed for favouring gay marriage, the question stands; ‘Why have I not been removed too?’".[13]

Another incident came a few days later when the YI Northwest chairman and prospective Parliamentary candidate for Chester Richard Lowe was 'forced to quit' because of a lack of confidence from the branch over his support for same-sex marriage and other views that 'clashed with UKIP policy'.[14]

References

  1. ↑ https://twitter.com/YIofficial/status/759401647411957760
  2. ↑ http://www.youngindependence.org.uk/
  3. ↑ Robinson, Chris (13 July 2010). Electoral Systems and Voting in the United Kingdom. Edinburgh University Press. p. 203. ISBN 978-0748627509.
  4. 1 2 3 Wolfram Nordsieck. "Parties and Elections in Europe". parties-and-elections.eu.
  5. ↑ Abedi & Lundberg 2009, p. 72; Jones 2011, p. 245; Dolezal 2012, p. 142; Liebert 2012, p. 123.
  6. ↑ Farage, Nigel. "'Ukip offers a new kind of unionism,' claims Ukip's Farage", The Belfast Telegraph, Belfast, 14 September 2015. Retrieved on 19 September 2015.
  7. ↑ Young Independence Constitution
  8. ↑ Charlie Cooper,"There ain’t no party like a Ukip youth party", The Independent, 12 December 2012
  9. ↑ http://thebackbencher.co.uk/nus-officially-opposes-ukip-latest-bill/
  10. ↑ "No to Ukip and yes to free education: NUS conference votes for surprisingly radical policies", The Independent, 14 April 2014
  11. ↑ Sebastian Payne, The most shocking thing about young Ukip supporters: they’re normal, The Spectator, May 24, 2014
    "Ukip youth leader Olly Neville dropped in gay marriage row", Channel 4 News, 9 January 2013
    "UKIP youth chairman sacked after comments on Europe and gay marriage", BBC News, 9 January 2013
    "UKIP removes youth chairman from office for supporting gay rights", Pink News, 9 January 2013
  12. ↑ "Ukip's Olly Neville, Youth Chair, Sacked After Revealing Support For Gay Marriage", The Huffington Post UK, 9 January 2013
  13. ↑ Scott Roberts, "UKIP LGBT chairman: I support same-sex marriage — but it’s not important", Pink News, 15 January 2013
  14. ↑ Jim Green, "UKIP candidate 'forced to quit' over support for gay marriage", Chester First, 14 January 2013
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