Breakthrough Party

It was founded by Alex Mays, a former Labour Party member,[3] in 2021 as a response to the 2020 Labour Party leadership election. The party has 10 core policies listed on their website.[5] The first policy advocates for a "£15 real living wage", the second policy promises to "scrap zero hour contracts and ban 'fire & rehire' practices", the third policy mentions the "renationalisation of the NHS & Social Care", the fourth policy says "build genuinely affordable housing, for need not profit", the fifth policy is to "limit rents to 30% of local income & end no-fault evictions", the sixth policy advocates the introduction of a "universal basic income", the seventh policy promises "publicly owned utilities, transport & broadband", the eighth policy is to "defend the right to protest & stand in solidarity with marginalised communities", the ninth policy aims to "collaborate across borders to build a global Green New Deal" and lastly, the tenth policy of the Breakthrough Party is to "make votes matter with proportional representation".

The party's first appearance on the ballot paper was in the 2021 Chesham and Amersham by-election, where Carla Gregory,[6][7] a charity worker from the local area ran. She received 197 votes, which represents 0.5% of the vote.[8] As of the end of 2021 no candidate has yet stood for the party at any council election or by-election.

Although the party has no councillors on any principal authority, on 16 August 2021, a Labour town councillor on the Keighley Town Council (Woodhouse and Hainworth ward), Samantha Cooper, defected from the Labour Party, becoming the first Breakthrough councillor and elected representative.[9][10][11] On 12 November 2021, it was announced that a second Labour town councillor had defected to the Breakthough Party, Katie Parker of Bury St. Edmunds town council,[12] and on the 16 November 2021 the chair of Thorngumbald Parish Council, Ben Munro, also defected from Labour to Breakthrough.[13]