Frequently asked questions

The Open Party has received seed funding from a UK company: Renewable Energy Partnerships Ltd (REP). It is planned to widen the funding base as the party grows. The public can also donate - see Support pages.

The Open Party is young. It was started in 2023 and now has built up a core team of ten people. The party was first established by Richard Hadwin. Richard is a UK citizen, former Chartered Accountant with a 30 year career in the energy sector. Richard draws on experience working in politics both at Westminster and standing as an independent candidate.

In a word, no. We are not linked in any way to any existing political party, including Labour, Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, Reform, Green Party, Your Party nor any of the other smaller parties.

No, there are no foreign interests either financial, personal, or otherwise in the Open Party.

The Open Party seeks to improve participation and execution of the democratic system in the UK, with the belief that a diverse political system, with fresh thinking from people outside of politics, will deliver materially improved governance.

Beyond the promotion of democracy, the Open Party does not have its own policy agenda. Candidates can stand on their own agenda, not having to forfeit what they believe in in order to adhere to their party's manifesto.

A primary election is an election that takes place shortly before a general election to determine who the candidates shall be. In the UK, candidates are traditionally selected by the party. The Open Party holds primary elections for the public to select their preferred candidates. There is currently a primary election running in the Casnewydd Islwyn constituency in south Wales, ahead of the 2026 Senedd election in May.

The Open Party will be a national party across Great Britain. But right now, we are running our first pilot in in the Casnewydd Islwyn constituency in south Wales, ahead of the 2026 Senedd election in May.

Enabling members of the public with talent and experience from beyond the traditional political party membership to participate in national politics is a pillar of our aims, but they are much broader than that. We seek to improve the democratic process at every stage: Meaningful votes, freedom of speech, accurate representation, powerful representatives, and accountability to voters. See the OP Benefits.

Right now, we are running our first pilot in in the Casnewydd Islwyn constituency in south Wales, ahead of the 2026 Senedd election in May.

Anyone legally eligible to stand in the Senedd elections can stand in the Open Party primary elections. In short, you must be over 18 years old on the day that you are nominated to stand and you must meet the following citizenship criteria: a British citizen, a qualifying Commonwealth citizen, a qualifying foreign citizen or citizen of the Republic of Ireland. You must also be registered to vote in local elections at an address within a Senedd constituency. There are several reasons why you may be disqualified from standing as an MS, and it is your responsibility to ensure you are qualified to stand. The Open Party will support you by providing legal advice, but it is a criminal offence to stand if you are not eligible. Please refer to the Candidate Information Pack for full information.

There are currently two candidates standing in our pilot primary election in Castnewydd Islwyn constituency in south Wales, ahead of the 2026 Senedd elections in May. Longer term, we anticipate between nine and twelve candidates standing in primary elections in each constituency across the UK.

Any registered elector in our pilot Casnewydd Islwyn constituency can currently vote in the primary election.

Candidates' information is posted online. There are answers to voters' questions, debates, mini-manifestos, a candidate match service and as we near the election, there will be 'Question Time'-style live debates and meet the candidate coffee mornings.

Any registered elector in our pilot Casnewydd Islwyn constituency can currently vote in the primary election. Across the rest of the UK, anyone can register to vote in the primary elections online now via openparty.uk. We will contact you when the election goes live in your constituency. You can review the candidates, attend events and vote. If you wish to vote in person or by post, this facility is also offered.

1. A much wider range of people can stand to take part in politics. People from outside political parties. 2. The public gets to select who they want to represent them, rather than a party doing this.

Casnewydd Islwyn was chosen for our first pilot because of the wide-ranging demographic of the constituency.

Open Party candidates may support or enter a government depending on their political ideology. It is their choice. The objective is a rich political ecosystem from which talented individuals can make significant contributions either in support or opposition. Churchill changed political party - twice!

As far as we know the Open Party is a new approach to politics. There are occurrences of independent candidates gathering together, such as the Teals in Australia, but the Open Party is about much more than encouraging independents; it’s objectives are to improve democracy across the board - voter engagement, effective votes, accountability of representatives to voters, free speech, accurate representation, and much more.