A BLACK Lives Matter group has made an application to become a UK political party, it was revealed today.
The Electoral Commission said it had received a new request to register ‘Black Lives Matter’ as a party.
It’s not yet been granted permission, and will have to go through a process to become an affiliated party which can stand candidates in UK elections.
The website says the group’s proposed descriptions will include:
- Black Lives Matter
- Black Lives Matter/All Lives Matter
- Black Lives Matter for the GLA
- Black Lives Matter Great Britain
- Black Lives Matter (United Kingdom)
- The Black Lives Matter Party
- Black Lives Matter party of Wales
- Black Lives Matter party of Scotland
It says the party – if it gets permission to become one – will exist across all of Great Britain.
The names suggest it will try and set up splinter groups in Wales and Scotland too.
And it may try and contest the London elections next year with the name “Black Lives Matter for the GLA” (Greater London Authority).
Black Lives Matter started as a campaign movement to protest police brutality against black people and to fight racism.
The civil rights group came about in response to extreme police brutality which culminated in the shooting dead of three African-American men in 2013.
The group took off earlier this year when thousands of Black Lives Matter protesters took to the streets to protest against to the shocking death of George Floyd, who died in police custody in Minneapolis, Minnesota in May 2020.
Organisers said the movement’s mission is to “eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities”.
The movement has spread around the world, with pop-up groups springing up in several countries, and huge protests taking place in major cities.
But some splinter groups have turned radical and violent – and critics have disagreed with their hardline stance on race issues.
Black Lives Matter Protestors tore down a statue in Bristol to urge people to “decolonise” monuments in Britain.
The controversial Edward Colston monument was ripped from its plinth using rope as crowds cheered.
Protests also saw several statues in London – including wartime hero PM Winston Churchill – vandalised with spray paint.
Hardline protesters have also urged the police to be defunded after a string of deaths of black people in police custody in the US.
Earlier this month in the US, violence erupted after Black Lives Matter protesters allegedly crashed a pro-Trump rally in Washington, sparking arrests.
Last week minister Government Kemi Badenoch said people need to stop pretending BLM is a “completely wholesome” movement and slammed teachers who push students to learn about their “white privilege” and “decolonise the school curriculum.
In a scorching statement against teachers who politicise kids’ classes, Ms Badenoch said: “We do not want to see teachers teaching their pupils about white privilege and their inherited racial guilt.
“And let me be clear, any school which teaches these elements of political race theory as fact, or which promotes partisan political views such as defunding the police without offering a balanced treatment of opposing views, is breaking the law.”
To register as a party the group will need to fill out an application, and pay a £150 non-refundable fee.
They must have a party constitution, a financial system and submit any logos if they want to use them.
They must also nominate several people to help run the party – including a leader, party chairman, treasurer and nominating officer.