Advance Together

Advance Together (often shortened to Advance) is a British political party. The party is led by Annabel Mullin, a former Liberal Democrat member and parliamentary candidate for Kensington.[3] It was registered with the Electoral Commission on 22 February 2018. Party officials were named as Mullin (leader) and Peter Marshall (nominating officer).[1] It formed an alliance with the Renew Party in late 2018, with Mullin joining the leadership team and for a time becoming leader of Renew.

Advance Together
Founded2017
HeadquartersLondon
SW4 4EY[1]
IdeologySocial liberalism
Subsidiarity
Reformism
Pro-Europeanism
Political positionCentre[2]
Website
www.advancetogether.org.uk

History

The party was founded shortly after the Grenfell Tower fire,[4] with aims for more accountability in the council.[5] The party contested the 2018 local elections in the Borough, winning 2.4% of the vote but failing to win any seats.[6]

In September 2018, the party announced it was forming an alliance with the pro-European and centrist Renew Party, with Annabel Mullin joining their leadership team[7] and serving as leader until June 2019.[8]

The party fielded five candidates at the 2019 general election.[9]

On 4 December 2019, the political web site Guido Fawkes accused the party of looking "more and more like a Lib Dem front than a legitimate political party."[10] Mullin is a director of Sweetspot Strategic Communications Ltd,[11] and the Guido Fawkes article pointed out that the Sweetspot web site states "our objective is to syphon Tory votes to the Lib Dems".[12] The accusation in the article was that Advance Together effectively allowed the Liberal Democrats to bypass spending limits in the five seats being contested by Advance Together at the 2019 general election.

In December 2019, Advance received a £20,000 donation from Our Future Our Choice.[2]

The party was voluntarily deregistered on 1 October 2020.[13]

Election results

In the 2018 local elections the party fielded 14 candidates in 12 wards in Kensington and Chelsea, receiving a total of 2,357 votes, or approximately 2.4% of the total vote.[14]

Elections

2019 general election
Constituency Candidate Votes %
Chipping Barnet John Sheffield 71 0.1[15]
Esher and Walton Kyle Taylor 52 0.1[16]
Hitchin and Harpenden Peter Marshall 101 0.2[17]
Mid Sussex Brett Mortensen 47 0.1[18]
Wokingham Annabel Mullin 80 0.1[19]

References
  1. Registration summary, Electoral Commission. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
  2. Hughes, Solomon (March 13, 2020). "Ofoc, there go the centrists!". Morning Star.
  3. Pippa Crerar (6 November 2017). "Former Lib Dem launches new political party to 'challenge outdated system'". Evening Standard. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
  4. Lucy Fisher (8 November 2017). "Grassroots political party Advance rises from Grenfell disaster". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
  5. Chloe Farand (4 May 2018). "Tories keep hold of Kensington and Chelsea council despite outrage over Grenfell Tower tragedy". The Independent. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
  6. Sophia Sleigh and Sean Morrison (4 May 2018). "Local election results 2018: Conservatives hold Kensington and Chelsea in first election since Grenfell tragedy". Evening Standard. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
  7. "New Alliance of the Renew Party and Advance Together". Renew Party. 20 September 2018. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
  8. @RenewParty (7 June 2019). "@AnnabelMullin will be stepping down as leader" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  9. "UK Parliament elections", Democracy Club. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  10. ""Advance Together" Party Leader "Objective is to Syphon Tory Votes to the Lib Dems"". Guido Fawkes. 4 December 2019. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  11. "Annabel Jean Charlotte MULLIN - Personal Appointments (free information from Companies House)". Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  12. "Sweetspot". Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  13. "Registration summary - Advance Together". The Electoral Commission. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  14. Local council elections 2018 - Results, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
  15. "Chipping Barnet Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. 13 December 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  16. "Esher and Walton Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. 13 December 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  17. "Hitchin and Harpenden Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. 13 December 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  18. "Mid Sussex Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. 13 December 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  19. "Wokingham Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. 13 December 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
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