Fellowship Party

The Fellowship Party was an environmentalist political party in England from 1955 to 2007. It opposed all weapons as well as nuclear power. Its national petition against nuclear weapons tests contributed to the forming of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.

Fellowship Party
LeaderSidney Fagan
General SecretaryRoy Mallone[1]
Founded11 June 1955 (1955-06-11)[1]
Dissolved20 August 2007 (2007-08-20)
HeadquartersWoolacombe House, 141 Woolacombe Road, Blackheath, London SE3 8QP
IdeologyEnvironmentalism
Pacifism
Christian socialism
Eco-socialism

The party was founded on 11 June 1955, following an independent anti-H Bomb candidature by John Loverseed, a former Common Wealth Party Member of Parliament. Other founding members included Eric Fenner (Battersea South candidate),[2] Ronald Mallone,[3] George Onion and forty pacifists and advocates of total disarmament and common ownership of the means of production, distribution and exchange (socialism).[1]

It contested general elections from 1959 to 1997 and council elections from 1955 to 2002. It stood parliamentary candidates in Woolwich West, Tottenham, Birmingham and Greenwich, in addition to several by-elections. It also contested elections for the Greater London Council and the Inner London Education Authority. It contested elections in Blackheath, Chatham, Lancaster, Leigh, Paddington, Peterborough, West Greenwich and Kidbrooke with Hornfair. The highest vote was 792 (3.6%) for Mallone in Greenwich in 1971.[4]

Life members included Benjamin Britten, Lady Clare Annesley and Stuart Morris. Its presidents included Sidney Hinkes,[5] Donald Swann the composer and stage star,[5] Rowland Hilder the painter and Frank Merrick the composer. Vice-presidents included Leo McKern the actor, scientists Kathleen Lonsdale and Professor Charles Coulson, Benjamin Britten, Sybil Morrison, Sybil Thorndike the actress, Vera Brittain, Dr Albert Belden and Professor Glenn Paige. In elections supporters included Spike Milligan and the Revd Dr Kenneth Greet.

The party continued for many years under Ronald Mallone's direction, based in Blackheath, London.[5] It was registered with the Electoral Commission as the Fellowship Party - Peacemaking, Social Justice and Environmentalist, with a registered emblem of an upright sword cancelled by the cross of St Andrew, until 2007. Its registered leader and nomination officer in 2007 was Sidney Fagan, with Ronald Mallone as Treasurer. It voluntarily de-registered on 20 August 2007.[6]

The Fellowship Party published the hand-duplicated subscription magazine Day by Day for 45 years, until Mallone's death aged 92 in 2009.[3][7]

References
  1. Paige, Glenn D. (2000). "Ron Mallone and the Fellowship Party". In Yeshua Moser-Puangsuwan, Thomas Weber (ed.). Nonviolent intervention across borders: a recurrent vision. Center for Global Nonkilling. ISBN 1-880309-11-4.
  2. F. W. S. Craig, Minor Parties at British Parliamentary Elections
  3. David Wedgwood Benn (25 May 2009). "Ron Mallone: Pacifist campaigner who founded the Fellowship Party". The Independent. Retrieved 5 February 2010.
  4. Boothroyd, David (2001). Politico's guide to the history of British political parties. Politico's. ISBN 1-902301-59-5.
  5. Ronald Mallone (25 June 2005). "The Fellowship Party, Statement of Accounts 2004" (PDF). The Electoral Commission. Retrieved 5 February 2010.
  6. "Renamed or deregisted parties since 2002" (PDF). The Electoral Commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 December 2008. Retrieved 5 February 2010.
  7. "Tribute to Roy Mallone". North London Press. 2 April 2009. Retrieved 10 February 2010.
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