Burning Pink

Last updated

Burning Pink
Founder Roger Hallam
Valerie Brown
Ramon Salgado-Touzon
Benedict McGorty
FoundedJune 2020;3 years ago (2020-06)
Split from Extinction Rebellion
Ideology
Colours  Pink
Website
burningpink.earth

Burning Pink, also known as Beyond Politics and formally registered with the Electoral Commission as The Burning Pink Party, [1] was a British political party with the stated goal of a political revolution by replacing the British government with citizens' assemblies in order to tackle the climate crisis and other political issues. [2] [3] The party was deregistered by the Electoral Commission on 11 November 2022. [1]

Contents

Inception

The party launched in June 2020 with a shoplifting stunt in which members of the party walked out of a Sainsbury's supermarket branch in Camden Town, London with shopping trolleys full of food without paying. [3]

On 25 July 2020, a number of the party members occupied a road around Trafalgar Square in London, holding a banner saying “bring down the government.” [4]

In August, several members of the party were arrested for dousing the party headquarters of the Conservatives, Labour, the Lib Dems and the Green Party in pink paint over their inaction to tackle the climate crisis. [2]

Later that month, five members of the party including Roger Hallam were arrested at their homes for conspiracy to cause criminal damage. They were placed on remand until the end of a planned period of disruption by multiple environmental groups, including Extinction Rebellion. All five members went on immediate hunger strike in protest at their imprisonment. [5]

In January 2021, the group demanded that local councils honour their climate emergency declaration to act on the ecological collapse and social breakdown, or they would begin a nationwide campaign of nonviolent civil disobedience. [6] [7] In their 12 demands, Burning Pink called upon local councils to declare open rebellion against the government. [8] [9] On 15 February, local Burning Pink groups used pink paint to vandalise Norwich City Council and Norfolk County Council, [6] [10] Ipswich Borough Council, [11] Bristol City Hall [12] and Brighton Town Hall. [6] [13]

Party status and name

The party's constitution states "The Party will be registered in Great Britain (excluding Northern Ireland)." [14]

The party's application for registration in the Electoral Commission's register of political parties, to register the name "The Burning Pink Party", to apply to "All of Great Britain", was approved on 7 October 2020. [15]

Beyond Politics Ltd is a company registered at Companies House (no. 12659497), incorporated on 10 June 2020; [16] the party's website says "Burning Pink is a name we trade under to represent Beyond Politics Party Ltd". [17]

Elections contested

Valerie Brown stood as Burning Pink's candidate for the 2021 London mayoral election. [18] [19] Brown launched her campaign on 13 November 2020. [20] Brown finished in 20th place out of 20 candidates, achieving 5,305 votes (0.2%). Rachel Lunnon stood as the party's candidate in the ward of Windmill Hill, Bristol, achieving 90 votes (0.9%). [21] [22] [23] Sue Hagley and Jennifer McCarthy stood as the candidates for the wards of St Margaret's and Westgate respectively in the 2021 Ipswich Borough Council election. [24] [25] Dave Baldwin stood for Oxfordshire County Council for the Hanborough and Minster Lovell Division, [26] and Tina Smith stood for Suffolk County Council for the St Margaret's and Westgate Division. [27]

Date of electionConstituencyCandidateVotes %Position
2021 London mayoral election London-wideValerie Brown5,3050.2%20th (last)
2021 Bristol City Council election Windmill HillRachel Lunnon901.7%9th (last)
2021 Ipswich Borough Council election St Margaret'sSue Hagley781.2%5th (last)
2021 Oxfordshire County Council election Hanborough and Minster LovellDave Baldwin340.9%5th (last)
2021 Suffolk County Council election St Margaret's and WestgateTina Smith1682.1%7th (last)

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Del Naja</span> British musician and graffiti artist (born 1965)

Robert Del Naja, also known as 3D, is a British artist, musician, singer and songwriter. He emerged as a graffiti artist and member of the Bristol collective the Wild Bunch, and later as a founding member and sole consistent member of the band Massive Attack, with which he is still active. In 2009, he received the British Academy's Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jonathan Bartley</span> British theologian and former co-leader of the Green Party of England and Wales

Jonathan Charles Bartley is a British politician and was a co-leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, a position he shared with Caroline Lucas from 2016 to 2018, and then, from 2018 to 2021, with Siân Berry. He was the Green Party's national Work and Pensions spokesperson and the party's Parliamentary candidate for Streatham in the 2015 general election. He was the Unite to Remain candidate for Dulwich and West Norwood at the 2019 general election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piers Corbyn</span> British political activist (born 1947)

Piers Richard Corbyn is a British weather forecaster, anti-vaccine activist, conspiracy theorist, and former politician. Corbyn was born in Wiltshire and raised in Shropshire wherein he attended Adams' Grammar School. He was awarded a first class BSc degree in physics from Imperial College London in 1968 and a postgraduate MSc in astrophysics from Queen Mary College, University of London, in 1981. Corbyn was a member of the Labour Party and served as a councillor in the London Borough of Southwark from 1986 to 1990. He is the elder brother of former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, leaving Labour in 2003 due to his opposition to the Iraq War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rupert Read</span> British philosopher (born 1966)

Rupert Read is an academic and a Green Party campaigner, a former spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion, and the current director of the Climate Majority Project. He is the author of several books on Wittgenstein, philosophy, and/or climate change, most recently Why Climate Breakdown Matters, Deep Adaptation: Navigating the Realities of Climate Chaos, and Do You Want to Know the Truth? Until 2023, Read was a reader in philosophy at the University of East Anglia where he was awarded – as Principal Investigator – Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funding for two projects on "natural capital". His other major recent academic focus has been on the precautionary principle, having contributed substantially to work co-authored with Nassim Nicholas Taleb on applying the principle to questions of genetic modification of organisms. In further work, Read has theorised the utility of the precautionary principle in a wide range of areas, including: climate change, the environment, as well as financial and technology sectors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tamsin Omond</span> British author, environmental activist and journalist

Tamsin Omond is a British author, environmental activist and journalist. They have campaigned for the government of the United Kingdom to take action to avoid climate change.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zion Lights</span> British science communicator and environmental activist (born 1984)

Zion Lights is a British author and activist known for her environmental work and science communication.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alex Sobel</span> British Labour Co-op politician

Alexander David Sobel is a British Labour and Co-operative politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Leeds North West since the 2017 general election. He served as Shadow Minister for Nature Recovery and the Domestic Environment from 2021 to 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Extinction Rebellion</span> Environmental pressure group

Extinction Rebellion is a UK-founded global environmental movement, with the stated aim of using nonviolent civil disobedience to compel government action to avoid tipping points in the climate system, biodiversity loss, and the risk of social and ecological collapse. Extinction Rebellion was established in Stroud in May 2018 by Gail Bradbrook, Simon Bramwell, Roger Hallam, Stuart Basden, along with six other co-founders from the campaign group Rising Up!

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gail Bradbrook</span> British scientist and co-founder of Extinction Rebellion

Gail Marie Bradbrook is a British environmental activist and molecular biophysicist who co-founded the environmental social movement Extinction Rebellion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roger Hallam (activist)</span> British environmental activist and co-founder of Extinction Rebellion

Julian Roger Hallam is a British environmental activist, a co-founder of Extinction Rebellion, cooperative federation organisation Radical Routes, the political party Burning Pink,, Just Stop Oil, and Insulate Britain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2021 Bristol City Council election</span> 2021 UK local government election

The 2021 Bristol City Council election took place on 6 May 2021 to elect members of Bristol City Council in England. It coincided with nationwide local elections. Voters in the city also voted for the mayor of Bristol, the mayor of the West of England and for Avon and Somerset's police and crime commissioner. The election was originally due to take place in May 2020, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Extinction Rebellion (XR) is an international "non-violent civil disobedience" movement carrying out demonstrations worldwide to highlight governments' inaction on climate change. Since 2018, Extinction Rebellion has taken a variety of actions in Europe, the US, and rapidly elsewhere in the world, to urge political and economic forces to take action amid the climate crisis. Although, their non-violent disobedience protests are an effort to generate attention around environmental issues, XR activists have become known for civil disobedience and disruptive tactics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Extinction Rebellion Youth</span> Youth environmental pressure group

Extinction Rebellion Youth is the autonomous youth wing of the global environmental movement Extinction Rebellion (XR), made up of activists under the age of 30. It has the stated aim of using nonviolent civil disobedience to compel government action to avoid tipping points in the climate system, biodiversity loss, and the risk of social and ecological collapse. XR Youth was established in the United Kingdom in February 2019 by a collective of young environmental activists from XR. In contrast to the rest of XR, the youth wing is more centred around climate justice and consideration of the Global South and indigenous peoples. As of September 2020, there are over 200 branches globally, including over 80 in the UK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Animal Rising</span> Activist group

Animal Rising is a British animal activist movement with the stated aim of compelling social change towards animal rights and a plant-based food system. They justify their actions with the impact of animal agriculture on climate change, species extinction and ecosystem breakdown.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carla Denyer</span> Co-leader of the Green Party of England and Wales

Carla Suzanne Denyer is a British politician who has served as co-leader of the Green Party of England and Wales alongside Adrian Ramsay since 1 October 2021. She has been a city councillor in Bristol since 2015. She is also noted for her lead role in bringing about Bristol City Council's declaration of a climate emergency in 2018, which was the first in Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022</span> Act of the United Kingdom Parliament

The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that was introduced by the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice. It gives more power to the police, criminal justice, and sentencing legislation, and it encompasses restrictions on "unacceptable" protests, crimes against children, and sentencing limits. It was passed by the Houses of Parliament on 26 April 2022 and received Royal Assent on 28 April 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Code Rood</span> Climate activist network in the Netherlands

Code Rood is a network of climate activists based in the Netherlands. The activists organize large-scale civil disobedience actions in opposition to the fossil fuel industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palestine Action</span> Pro-palestinian protest group

Palestine Action is a pro-Palestinian protest network that uses direct action tactics to shut down and disrupt multinational arms dealers. In particular, the group targets UK-based operations that provide weapons used in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Palestine Action use civil disobedience methods that have resulted in its members being arrested. Their methods include protest, occupation of premises and criminal damage, destruction of property and vandalism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Impossible Rebellion</span> 2021 climate change protests

Impossible Rebellion was a series of nonviolent climate change protests in the United Kingdom organised by Extinction Rebellion (XR), from 23 August 2021 to 4 September 2021. The protests particularly targeted the City of London to raise awareness of the role of the financial sector in climate change. Protesters during the Impossible Rebellion demanded that the UK government cease new investments in the fossil fuel industry. XR also demand that the government declare a climate emergency, reach net zero carbon emissions by 2025 and create a citizens' assembly on climate change.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scientist Rebellion</span> International scientists environmentalist group

Scientist Rebellion is an international scientists' environmentalist group that campaigns for degrowth, climate justice, and more effective climate change mitigation.

References

  1. 1 2 "The Burning Pink Party - View registration". The Electoral Commission. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  2. 1 2 "Seven arrested after paint attacks on party HQs". BBC News. 13 August 2020. Archived from the original on 18 August 2020. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  3. 1 2 Taylor, Diane (25 June 2020). "Extinction Rebellion activists launch UK Beyond Politics party by stealing food". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 3 September 2020. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  4. Burning Pink 💜 [@BespokePanic] (25 July 2020). "BREAKING - Our occupation of Trafalgar Square has moved to the roads. We mean action. Will do what it takes to save our children from climate and ecological hell. Join us: https://t.co/C2q48iBngA https://t.co/QgfkI6fbT2" (Tweet). Retrieved 3 January 2021 via Twitter.
  5. Dearden, Lizzie (26 August 2020). "Extinction Rebellion co-founder among activists arrested ahead of environmental protests". www.independent.co.uk. Archived from the original on 26 August 2020. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  6. 1 2 3 Hardy, Ben (15 February 2021). "Norwich City Hall bronze doors damaged in pink paint protest". Eastern Daily Press. Archived from the original on 15 February 2021. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  7. Peel, Adrian (18 January 2021). "New 'anti-political' party Burning Pink threatens civil disobedience in Cambridge". Cambridge Independent. Archived from the original on 10 May 2021. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  8. Doherty-Cove, Jody (28 January 2021). "Burning Pink demands Brighton rebels against government". Archived from the original on 1 February 2021. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  9. Scialom, Mike (12 February 2021). "What can Burning Pink 'ultimatum' achieve that Extinction Rebellion hasn't?". Cambridge Independent. Archived from the original on 12 February 2021. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  10. Simpson, Abi (16 February 2021). "Two arrested after Burning Pink protest in Norwich". Greatest Hits Radio (Norfolk and North Suffolk). Archived from the original on 16 February 2021. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  11. Sullivan, Oliver (15 February 2021). "Two arrests after politically-inspired graffiti attack on Ipswich Borough Council". Ipswich Star. Archived from the original on 15 February 2021. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  12. Cruse, Beth (15 February 2021). "Two arrested after 'pink paint' thrown at City Hall". BristolLive. Archived from the original on 15 February 2021. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  13. Doherty-Cove, Jody (16 February 2021). "Paint thrown at Town Hall as climate activists start 'campaign of disobedience'". The Argus. Archived from the original on 16 February 2021. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  14. "Constitution". Burning Pink. Archived from the original on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
  15. "Party registration decisions". www.electoralcommission.org.uk. Archived from the original on 14 December 2020. Retrieved 25 December 2020.
  16. "Beyond Politics Party Ltd". Companies House. Archived from the original on 10 May 2021. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  17. "Terms & Conditions". burningpink.org. Archived from the original on 5 October 2020. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  18. "London mayoral race 2021: The candidates who say they will be standing". BBC News. 29 January 2021. Archived from the original on 29 January 2021. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  19. "Valerie Brown for Greater London Authority in the Mayor of London". Who Can I Vote For?. Democracy Club. Archived from the original on 9 February 2021. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  20. Brown, Valerie [@Valerie4London] (13 November 2020). "Londoners have blazed a trail of creativity and innovation which only a few benefit from. I want to see the city in the hands of the people so Londoners can thrive from their talents and be an inspiration to the world for what real democracy looks like #CitizensAssemblies https://t.co/Yxu5WSIsbg" (Tweet). Retrieved 3 January 2021 via Twitter.
  21. "WHO'S RACHEL LUNNON?". The Bristolian. Archived from the original on 17 April 2021. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  22. "Bristol City Council elections 2021: candidate list in full released". Bristol Live. Archived from the original on 16 April 2021. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  23. "Windmill Hill Ward - bristol.gov.uk". www.bristol.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 9 May 2021. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  24. "Statement of the persons nominated for election" (PDF). www.ipswich.gov.uk. Ipswich Borough Council. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  25. Sullivan, Oliver (21 April 2021). "Burning Pink party to field candidates for Ipswich elections". Ipswich Star. Archived from the original on 25 April 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  26. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 May 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  27. https://www.ipswich.gov.uk/sites/www.ipswich.gov.uk/files/statement_of_persons_nominated_and_notice_of_poll_scc.pdf/ Archived 2 May 2021 at the Wayback Machine Statement of Persons Nominated