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UK Pirate Party Breaks Election Record

Pirate Parties are gaining momentum around the world.

In Germany and Austria Pirates have good chance of entering the national parliament in the next election, and in the UK things are picking up steam as well.

lozIn this weeks local elections Pirate Party leader Loz Kaye picked up 5% of the vote, beating the Lib Dems.

This result in Manchester is a record for the UK Pirates, but not one that is supposed to last long according to the party.

“This is just the start. We would like to thank all the people who got in touch with us and our candidates, our supporters and activists who worked on these elections and especially those people who put their trust in us and chose to vote Pirate,” they write.

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  • Kim Dotcodotuk

    Awsome, great news!

    Sadly, I cannot vote for you but next year I’ll be able to :D

  • Mephitidae

    …meanwhile the politicians in the media industries pocket start to realize that blocking the pirate bay in the UK was a bad move… 

    (hey.. i can dream cant i?)

    • Anonymous

      They’re talking about blocking pr0n, that dream will soon became a dystopian nightmare :(

    • http://www.cheapassfiction.com/ Aelius Blythe

      Well, that’s not a totally unrealistic dream.  Still a lot of people aren’t aware of Pirate politics, and blocking a major site could very well be an unintentionally helpful strategy.  Look at how Pirate Party membership increased in Sweden during the Pirate Bay trial.  Look at how it’s exploded in Germany, a hotbed of copyright lawsuits.  People are waking up who may not have cared, or even been aware of the situation before.  The widening net of censorship is touching more and more people.    Horrible legislation is difficult to watch, but it can actually be helpful by being self-defeating in the long run.

      Oh, and go UK Pirates!

  • Anonymous

    The Pirate Party in this country need more policies than what they currently have; they also need to get more representatives so people can actually vote for them.  

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002639684444 Ryan Smith

       100 policies of perpetual non-action or a few realistically attainable goals which appeal to people of all backgrounds and political parties?

      The latter seems more practical for realizing change.

  • http://abarataraba.wordpress.com/ Guest

    The swarm is growing, evolving.

  • Anyone

    So, do pirates get a seat in the Manchester parliament (or whatever it is called)?

    how does the UK system work?

    • AngryUKresident

      Hiya, they were local council elections.  Sadly, no, PP did not get a seat on the council, but they beat the candidate for the  Liberal democrats who are the 3rd largest party in the UK.  Hopefully this is a positive sign of growth for the party.

  • 45645

    this probably has a lot to do with thepiratebay being blockeed

  • Fejinwales

    It would be great if we had a Pirate Party candidate up here at the top of Rhondda instead of the two useless self-interest seeking candidates we do have, Labour and Plaid (I turned out to vote but wrote ‘No confidence in any of you’ across my ballot paper, showing them I made the effort to turn up but never bothered to vote – it’s better than not turning out at all.

    If we had a PP candidate I’d vote….any takers?

    • h33t

       you do it

      you know what is needed in your district

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Zack-Nelson/1287355169 Zack Nelson

    I wouldn’t mind starting a Pirate Party where I live. I wish America were like countries in Europe, where a fraction of votes means you get a fraction of power. Here only majority voted candidates have a say in anything.

    • Yarrr!

      Check this http://www.pp-international.net/ Maybe there is a pirate party already where you live.

    • Anonymous

      The US has one, we’ve covered them a number of times. http://pirate-party.us

  • Anonymous

    Woo! No pirate party members ran where I live and sadly am too young to stand myself

  • Anonymous

    I would have voted for them but they didn’t have anyone running in Lambeth, London :(

  • Anon

    Expect this to grow worldwide. I wonder if this is how we will overthrow the current corrupt governments?

  • blah

    The Pirate Party need to start fielding more candidates, especially in the general elections. I bet most of the electorate aren’t even aware of the existence of PPUK.

    • Anonymous

      From what I understand, it’s about 2 things
      1) concentration of members. without members to provide support on the ground (doorknocking, running stands, a campaign team etc) there’s no point.
      2) Cost. It costs money to put people up for election in the UK. A general election candidacy costs £500, and if you don’t get 5%, you lose it. Then there’s things like leaflets, signs, etc. costing even more. You need at least £1500 per candidate as a bare minimum. So, are you going to put your hand in your pocket and help out?

  • ndmushroom

    More than 32 thousand votes in Sunday’s elections in Greece, even though the greek PP was only founded in January. Not UK-related, but worth a mention anyway.

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