Standing in the Wales Assembly Election, May 2021

The Democrats and Veterans Direct Democracy Party is looking for 40 members to stand as candidates in the May 2021 Wales Assembly Election.

Beginning in early summer 2020, or as soon as the government eases lockdown restrictions put in place in response to the perceived threat of the coronavirus, the Party will begin campaigning in support of candidates. Our Party Leader and Chairman are committed to touring Wales extensively, in support of as many committed candidates throughout Wales as logistics allow them to reach.

A "First" For the Party

The Wales Assembly Election represents the first major national effort of the Party to stand candidates for election in its own name. Previously, as a new party that would not be expected to achieve national name recognition within its first few years of development, in national first-past-the-post elections and by-elections, we have deemed it inadvisable to stand under our own banner while the fight for Brexit continued to be waged, and to do so would have split the pro-Brexit vote.

In previous national elections our membership voted in favour of a proposal put forward by the party leadership to support candidates and parties that were well recognised in their constituencies, or to stand as independent candidates where our own activists were better known than our party, or else to stand for pro-Brexit parties that enjoyed better recognition than either our own party or than they themselves would have enjoyed had they stood as Independents.

In this latter capacity, we have enjoyed very credible results that testify to our methods and commitment - with campaigns run by our party activists having scored 1st and 2nd place results nationally for the Brexit Party in the December 2019 General Election, where we helped to achieve 30% and 29% in two neighbouring constituencies in England; in Barnsley Central and Barnsley East.

Why We're Finally Standing in our Own Name

So now, with the Wales Assembly Elections having a proportional representation basis, and with the mission being accomplished of electing a government that has no choice but to execute the will of the majority of the country who voted to leave the European Union, we are now ready to turn the focus of our attention to fighting to transfer decision making powers from an uncaring political elite to the people of Britain. And in this particular case, we're beginning with Wales - where we believe the people have had enough of being governed with nothing more than lip-service paid by their political class to what the voters actually want for Wales.

As Britain's Direct Democracy Party we believe quite confidently that, God willing, May 2021 will see the very first Direct Democracy candidates elected to positions of national representation. But in order to achieve this outcome we will need the national party membership to rally together behind this important aim. And if we achieve this aim and serve faithfully within the Wales Assembly, we believe that public appetite will grow nationally for Direct Democracy and that it will not be long before we send our first Direct Democracy candidates to Westminster to begin the process of starting the political revolution that Britain so desperately needs.

It is difficult to overstate the long-term tactical value of the Wales Assembly Elections as a highly effective means of giving impetus to the incredibly valuable objective of eventually replacing our failed system of so-called "representative democracy" with a new cleaner, fairer, more just and democractic system of government that wrests power away from anti-British globalists and multi-national vested interests, and places it into the hands of the people who are the rightful holders of that power - the electorate of the world's oldest parliamentary democracy; the people of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Who is Legally Eligible to Stand?

If you're thinking of standing please read the Candidate Guidance Notes.

Party Requirements to Stand

In order to be considered by the party to be eligible to stand we ask that prospective candidates be able to demonstrate a sufficiently strong connection with the region in which their chosen constituency is located, as would enable them to argue convincingly to their electorate that they had a genuine commitment in fighting for that constituency's interests.

1. Constituency Candidate Procedure

  1. Must be a party member. There is no historic continuous membership requirement to be eligible. Candidates are required to be members on the day of their application.
  2. Must supply their own £500 deposit. However, candidates who do not have the financial means to pay their own deposit are encouraged to recruit new members to the party and supply their names to the treasurer. Where requested, all membership fees received from these new members will be credited (less service-provider handling charges) towards the candidate's £500 deposit.

    For instance, where a prospective candidate recruited 15 standard and 10 concessionary members to the party - all of which paid their annual fees upfront - the candidate would be left with only some £50 to find from their own pockets. Where these new members pay for membership by subscription, all subscription payments made until Monday 5th April 2021 by all new members recruited by the candidate would be summed and this total value would be deducted from the £500 due for the deposit payment. Since some members will pay membership fees by monthly subscription rather than annually upfront it is therefore an advantage to begin recruiting new members as early as possible. And remember, to campaign effectively, you will need activists to work with you knocking on doors and delivering leaflets and to be the lifeblood of your new party branch.

    Candidates should note that the party leadership views the ability to inspire others with enthusiasm to join the fight in replacing our current failed system of so-called representative democracy with direct democracy, to simultaneously be effective in gaining new members and equally to be an evidence of a candidate's competence in championing the agenda of our party, and therefore to serve effectively as an Assembly Member.

  3. Candidates will be appointed on a first-come-first-served basis, with the first suitably qualified eligible candidate to provide a 10% downpayment on their deposit (ie. £50) being appointed, no earlier than 7 days after the latter of the following two events: an email being sent to current members and a post being created on DV Connect, both of which will link to this candidate application procedure.

    Where a candidate decides to withdraw their candidacy, this £50 downpayment will be refunded to the applicant, provided they supply their decision to withdraw in writing no later than 7th March 2021. Where notice to withdraw is received later than this time, the downpayment will be retained by the party and credited towards general campaign funds, together with any membership fees of any members recruited by the (former) candidate. Where the downpayment is paid later than 7th March 2021, no refund will be payable in the event of the candidate's decision to withdraw. Note: where a candidate obtains 5% of the constituency vote, the share of the deposit contributed by the candidate will be returned to the candidate. The share contributed by membership fee payments from members recruited by the candidate will be returned to party funds.

2. Regional List Candidate Procedure

  1. Must be an approved constituency candidate (except where the candidate already occupies a party leadership role by virtue of which he or she is expected to travel away from his or her constituency to support the campaign efforts of other constituency candidates).
  2. Candidate is required to produce a 300-500 word profile, photograph, and 2-10 minute video to appear on the candidate voting area of the Party's website.
  3. Party members will vote to determine the regional list order.
  4. If voted into first place on the regional list, candidate must supply a £500 deposit on the same basis as 1.2 above. Where they are unable to do this, the next highest ranked candidate who is able to provide the £500 deposit will move into 1st place on the list, and the 1st place ranked candidate will move into 2nd place on the list.

    Note: since election rules require that a separate £500 deposit is payable to stand as a constituency candidate and a further £500 deposit is payable to enter regional list candidates, the 1st place ranked regional list candidate will be required to supply or fund through membership recruitments, a total of £1,000 to cover both deposits. Where the party obtains 5% of the regional vote, the share of the deposit contributed by the candidate will be returned to the candidate. The share contributed by membership fee payments from members recruited by the candidate will be returned to party funds.

Apply to Stand

Please complete the form and await contact from the party leadership with reference to your £50 deposit downpayment.

Constituency and Regional List Availability

Please refer to the map below. Select your constituency region on the left hand side fly-out menu. Click on your constituency to a) see the list of names of current applicants (if constituency is solid grey), or b) to see the name of the approved candidate (if constituency is solid green).

  • Solid grey means we have an pllicant but it is not too late for you to apply and compete
  • Solid green means that we already have an approved candidate and it is too late to apply for that constituency (unless the candidate withdraws, in which case that constituency's colour will revert to grey)

If you have applied to stand in your constituency and your name does not appear on the map below under your constituency within 7 days of your application, please email us or call us on the number listed at the bottom of each page of this website.