History
From Pirate Party UK Wiki
This page takes the full history from the wikipedia page on the party, so that as it gets condensed there, we still have a full version available here.
First Year
Following the The Pirate Bay trial, a large surge in Pirate Party interest occurred around the world, and in the UK a website and forum for a party in the country was formed in the weeks following the trial, and after the success of the Swedish Pirate Party in the summer 2009 European Election there was a sudden growth of Pirate Party organisations across Europe and elsewhere, notably in Germany and France, and forum membership soared. The official formation of the Pirate Party in the UK followed shortly after the European Elections, and the Pirate Party UK was officially registered on 30 July 2009.
In August, it was claimed that Pirate Party UK was undergoing rapid growth similar to one the Swedish Pirate Party had enjoyed in early 2009. It was reported that they had been flooded by enquiries and at its peak around 100 people an hour were signing up to become party members. Donations had been coming in so fast that PayPal was concerned they were a fraudulent site.
On August 22, 2009, one of the Party Officers, John McKeown, resigned from his post after he made a blog post that caused controversy and debate upon party policy. He felt that as he was elected prior to official formation of the party, when there were fewer members, he could not safely say he represented the majority view of the party.
In December, 2009, the party voted to accept Peter Liddell as the new Party Treasurer, and John Barron was voted Nominating Officer, as well as ratifying several other positions within the party in November.
On 23 January, 2010, the party opened voting to its members for the internal party elections for NEC members. It was announced on 1 February 2010 that the party members had voted to retain the current executive members.
Following a membership vote, on March 22, 2010, Pirate Party UK announced its first manifesto, for the 2010 UK Election. The manifesto held policies relating to the three core policies of Copyright & Patent Reform, Privacy, and Freedom of Speech. In it, inter alia, the party advocated the reduction of copyright terms, the legalisation of format shifting, and non-commercial file-sharing; government funding to replace drug patents; review of CCTV usage; and reform of libel law, following the recommendations of the Libel Reform Campaign.
On March 30, 2010, the party declared its intent to stand 10 candidates across England and Scotland, however to do so, further party funding is required. On April 27, 2010, the party announced that it had 9 official candidates on the ballot papers, as Mark Sims had missed the deadline due to the air travel disruption after the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption.