National Health Action Party
The National Health Action Party is a political party in the United Kingdom.
The party grew out of the movement opposing the 2012 Health and Social Care Act. It campaigns for renationalisation of the privatised parts of the English National Health Service, reductions in outsourcing, and improvements to NHS funding, service provision and staffing. Despite focusing on health, the party has a range of policies in areas such as the economy, housing and education. These include opposition to austerity and a call for political reform.
The party has stood candidates in various elections since 2014, but has not had any elected. Surgical registrar Dr Alex Ashman was elected as the party's leader in December 2016 following the resignation of co-founder Clive Peedell earlier that year.
History
The passage of the Health and Social Care Act in March 2012 prompted the party's co-founder Clive Peedell, a cancer specialist doctor, to co-write an open letter to The Independent alongside esteemed medical signatories. The letter was highly critical of the Liberal Democrats for their role in the passage of the Act and stated that the signatories would "form a coalition of healthcare professionals to take on coalition MPs at the next General Election, on the non-party, independent ticket of defending the NHS and acting in the wider public interest". Two months later, on 14 May 2012, Peedell co-founded the NHA Party with retired doctor Richard Taylor, who had twice been elected as MP for Wyre Forest on an 'independent health' component to his local hospital party name. The party was launched in Westminster in November 2012.The party first stood in the 2013 Eastleigh by-election, with candidate Dr Iain Maclennan taking 392 votes. The party went on to stand in the 2014 European Parliament elections and the 2015 General Election, taking over 20,000 votes in each. This placed the party seventh in the popular vote in England in the latter. The party's best result to date was the 7,211 votes taken by Dr Richard Taylor in Wyre Forest in 2015.
Party co-founder Dr Clive Peedell resigned the leadership in July 2016, and Dr Paul Hobday was appointed as interim leader. Surgical registrar Dr Alex Ashman was elected as the new permanent party leader in December 2016 and promised to continue the work begun by Drs Peedell and Taylor.
Supporters include best-selling authors Mark Haddon and Philip Pullman, satirist Armando Iannucci, science writer Marcus Chown and comedian Rufus Hound. Hound stood as an NHA Party candidate in the London constituency for the 2014 European elections.
Policies
The party has a range of policies on healthcare, political reform, the economy, immigration, housing, education and environmental sustainability.Health
- To reverse privatisation and restore a publicly run NHS that provides universal healthcare.
- To repeal the Health and Social Care Act 2012, remove the internal market and purchaser/provider split, and end use of Private Finance Initiative deals.
- To protect the NHS from involvement in international trade agreements such as TTIP.
- To involve patients and staff in NHS decision processes and reduce reliance on management consultants.
- To improve public health, social care, housing and other matters that affect the nation's health.
- To combat gender inequality in healthcare and the workplace
- To demand a moratorium on hospital re-configurations unless there are evidence-based, clinical reasons with local and staff support and adequate alternatives already in place.
Political reform
- To enact stricter controls on MPs' and Peers' voting when they have a conflict of interest.
- To reform the House of Lords so at least 80% of members are directly elected through single transferable vote, while the remainder are appointed for fixed terms based on expertise in specialist fields
- To review the system of party whips and the practice of voting without attending debate.
- To end the revolving door culture of UK politics.
- To lower the voting age to 16.
- To appoint a commission to investigate a move towards proportional representation.
Economy
- To reject austerity and oppose further public spending cuts.
- To increase spending on key public services and infrastructure with a view to increasing the UK's GDP.
- To ensure taxation is progressive and take actions to reduce tax avoidance and evasion.
- To improve regulation of the financial sector, including separation of the retail and investment arms of banks.
- To introduce a living wage, ban zero-hour contracts and work towards a state of minimal unemployment.
Electoral performance
General election results
| Year | Candidates | Total votes | Average votes per candidate | % of total vote | Average % vote per candidate | Saved Deposits | Number of MPs |
| 2015 | 12 | 20,210 | 1,684 | 0.1 | 3.26 | 2 | 0 |
| 2017 | 5 | 16,119 | 3,224 | 0.1 | 5.64 | 2 | 0 |
2015 general election
The party stood 12 candidates in the 2015 general election. Targeted seats included those of leading proponents of the Health and Social Care Bill such as David Cameron and Jeremy Hunt. The candidates were:| Candidate | Constituency | Votes | % |
| Dave Ash | Sutton and Cheam | 345 | 0.7% |
| Roseanne Edwards | Banbury | 729 | 1.3% |
| Rik Evans | Truro and Falmouth | 526 | 1.0% |
| Rebecca Fox | Camberwell and Peckham | 466 | 0.9% |
| Dr. Bob Gill | Old Bexley and Sidcup | 1,216 | 2.6% |
| Dr. Paul Hobday | Maidstone and The Weald | 583 | 1.2% |
| Karen Howell | Stafford | 1,701 | 3.5% |
| Dr. Louise Irvine | South West Surrey | 4,851 | 8.5% |
| Dr. Clive Peedell | Witney | 616 | 1.1% |
| Dr. Helen Salisbury | Oxford West and Abingdon | 723 | 1.3% |
| Dr. Richard Taylor | Wyre Forest | 7,211 | 14.6% |
| Dr. Carl Walker | East Worthing and Shoreham | 1,243 | 2.5% |
Among the twelve candidates, the party won no seats and only saved two deposits. Their best result came in Wyre Forest, where Dr Taylor came 4th with 14.6% of the vote. Dr Irvine came 4th with 8.5% in South West Surrey.
2017 general election
The party stood five candidates at the 2017 general election. Food blogger and activist Jack Monroe was announced as the NHA Party candidate for Southend West, but withdrew due to ill health. The candidates standing were:| Candidate | Constituency | Votes | % | Change from 2015 |
| Dr Louise Irvine | South West Surrey | 12,093 | 20.0% | 11.5% |
| Dr Carl Walker | East Worthing and Shoreham | 575 | 1.1% | 1.4% |
| Mark Jarnell | South Ribble | 341 | 0.6% | n/a |
| Dr John Dean | Central Devon | 871 | 1.5% | n/a |
| Neal Stote | Redditch | 2,239 | 5% | n/a |
Local election results
European Parliament election results
| Year | London constituency | MEPs elected |
| 2014 | 23,253 | 0 |
By-election results
| Constituency | Date | Candidate | Number of votes | % of votes | Position |
| Eastleigh | 28 February 2013 | Iain Maclennan | 392 | 0.9 | 6th |
| Witney | 20 October 2016 | Helen Salisbury | 433 | 1.1 | 6th |