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Britain's smallest parties: Meet the Young People's Party

Here’s what you need to know.
Here’s what you need to know.

The Young People’s Party is one of a host a smaller parties trying to make themselves heard in the run-up to the General Election.

We spoke to Mark Wadsworth, 51, ex-Ukip member and treasurer of the YPP, about how the party came into being and what its policies are.

What does the YPP stand for?

Mark WadsworthMark Wadsworth updated the group photo in Young People’s Party (UK).

The party’s flagship policy is to introduce taxes on land ownership and to lower income and corporation tax to 20% for all, scrapping taxes including stamp duty, inheritance and council taxes.

But its more striking policies include legalising, regulating and taxing brothel ownership, fox hunting and drugs and changing prison sentences from time served to achievements made.

“Rents, in particular land rent, can only arise as a result of the efforts and activities of the whole of society,” Wadsworth said. “Therefore those rents belong to the whole of society and that is what governments should be collecting on behalf of society.”

When was the party set up and where is it standing?

The YPP was established in April 2012 as a result of friends talking about policy online and in the pub. It fielded three candidates in the last general election, and will do the same this time – in Epping Forest, Cities of London & Westminster and the City of Durham. They range in age between 32 and 47.The group has 24 official members and a Facebook following of exactly 100 people.Wadsworth said the party’s low membership is because “our target audience, the people paying far too much tax and far too much rent, at the bottom of the career ladder, simply do not have enough money or time or energy left to do much political stuff in the evenings and weekends”.Why the focus on young people?Wadsworth said the party decided on the name because most of the people the group’s policies appealed to were young.He said older voters believe they would lose out under YPP policies because “in practice most people over 50 have got their snouts in one trough or another”.

He added: “Most of them would not (lose out), but having discussed our ideas with loads of people, we found that the over-50s told us we were ‘commies’ and hated our ideas, and younger people quite liked them on the whole.

“Hence the party name – we might as well come out fighting and wind up the people who are going to hate us anyway.”

What are the party’s chances in the election?

Thomas Hall (Jason Killbourn/YPP)
Thomas Hall, YPP Parliamentary candidate for Epping Forest (Jason Killbourn/YPP)

Wadsworth said the role of his and other smaller parties is to “offer an alternative and keep the Big Two honest”.

The party is pragmatic about its chances in this and future elections. “Look at the Green Party or Ukip, they have had pretty much no electoral success, however they give people the chance to vote for something outside the mainstream,” says Wadsworth.

Ben Weenen YPP parliamentary candidate for Cities of London & Westminster (Jason Killbourn/YPP)
Ben Weenen, YPP parliamentary candidate for Cities of London & Westminster (Jason Killbourn/YPP)

“Once the big two start losing enough votes to the Greens or Ukip in marginal constituencies or losing the votes of a whole demographic, they will adapt their policies and manifestos a bit to win them back.

“So the Greens and Ukip have had far more influence than a simple count of MPs would suggest.”