The Independent Group for Change, also known as Change UK, was a British centrist, pro-European Union political party, founded in February 2019 and dissolved ten months later, after all its MPs lost their seats at the 2019 general election. Its principal aim was a second withdrawal referendum on European Union membership, in which it would campaign to remain in the EU. On economic issues it expressed a commitment to the social market economy.
In February 2019, seven MPs resigned from the Labour Party to sit as The Independent Group. They were dissatisfied by Labour's leftward political direction under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership, its approach to Brexit and its handling of allegations of antisemitism within the party. They were soon joined by four more MPs, including three from the governing Conservative Party who disliked their party's approach to Brexit and its move rightward. The group registered as a political party under the name Change UK – The Independent Group and appointed former Conservative MP Heidi Allen as their leader before the 2019 European Parliament election.
Following the party's failure to secure any seats in that election, six of its eleven MPs, including Allen, left the party and Anna Soubry took over as leader. Four of the six formed The Independents grouping and two defected to the Liberal Democrats. Later, three of The Independents also joined the Liberal Democrats. In June the party adopted the name The Independent Group for Change following a legal dispute with petition website Change.org. Three of the party's MPs stood for re-election in the 2019 general election. None were re-elected, each losing to candidates from their former parties. On 19 December 2019, Soubry announced the party's dissolution.
History
Formation
The group was founded by MPs Luciana Berger, Ann Coffey, Mike Gapes, Chris Leslie, Gavin Shuker, Angela Smith and Chuka Umunna, who simultaneously announced their resignations from the Labour Party on 18 February 2019. Rather than forming a party, the group were a coalition of officially Independent MPs referring to themselves as The Independent Group. Leslie, Shuker and Smith had previously lost no-confidence motions brought by their Constituency Labour Parties. Berger had two no-confidence motions brought against her but both were withdrawn. Ian Murray planned to resign alongside the others but pulled out shortly before the launch.
The media compared the group to the Gang of Four which split from the Labour Party in order to found the Social Democratic Party in 1981. Four of the seven founding members (Berger, Gapes, Shuker and Leslie) were Labour and Co-operative Party MPs; they left both parties. Announcing the resignations, Berger described Labour as having become "institutionally antisemitic", while Leslie said Labour had been "hijacked by the machine politics of the hard left" and Gapes said he was "furious that the Labour leadership is complicit in facilitating Brexit".
On the day of the group's launch, founding member Angela Smith appeared on the BBC's Politics Live programme, where she said, in a discussion about racism, that: "The recent history of the party I've just left suggested it's not just about being black or a funny tin... you know, a different... from the BAME community". The offending phrase was partially uttered, but it was widely reported to be "funny tinge". Smith apologised shortly afterwards, saying, "I'm very upset that I misspoke so badly." Commentators noted an irony, given the fact that the group had been formed in response to perceived racism.
On 19 February 2019, Joan Ryan announced her departure from the Labour Party, becoming the first MP to join after the group's formation. Ryan had previously lost a vote of no-confidence brought by her constituency party. On 20 February 2019, three Conservative MPs left their party to join the group: Sarah Wollaston, Heidi Allen and Anna Soubry, citing the handling of Brexit by the Prime Minister (including "red lines" which alienated most Remainers); the party's reliance on the European Research Group (a group supporting a no-deal Brexit) and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in passing Brexit-related legislation; what they saw as the takeover of the Conservative Party by "right wing, ... hard-line anti-EU" MPs; and lack of concern from the Conservative Party for the "most vulnerable in society", as reasons for their departure.