On Friday 8th February 2019 we received confirmation from the Electoral Commission that the application to register Horwich and Blackrod First Independents (H&BFI) had been approved, and the party is now on the Great Britain register of political parties.
Horwich & Blackrod First Independents (HBFI) are a completely independent organisation, bringing together the drive and passion of existing independent councillors and prospective independent councillors who share our goals and aspirations. That goal is to make Horwich and Blackrod an even better place to live and work for everyone.
Horwich & Blackrod First Independents will have one principle, ‘the best interests of Horwich and Blackrod come first’. There will be no whip, no party boss, no national party interference or allegiance, our elected representatives will be bound by the core principles of our constitution, selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership and answerable to the people they represent.
This is a major moment in Horwich and Blackrod, for the first time in our histories there is a hyper local independent party representing the interests of our towns which people can get behind, join and influence. Independent Horwich and Blackrod town councillors are committed to working together to strengthen our town councils. At a borough level any HBFI councillor will work with town councils to share information and use that position to ensure fair funding for our part of the borough.
Usually it would take 4-6 weeks to register a party, our application has taken the Electoral Commission 6 months. We would like to thank them for their due diligence and extend an olive branch to the other applicant to get in touch. We are grateful and inspired by the number of people who wrote to the Electoral Commission to support our application and would like to place on record our thanks to our friends at Farnworth & Kearsley First for the help and support they have provided.
There are groups like ours springing up all over the country, because at a local level, councils have been dominated by councillors who place party politics ahead of local interests. That has to change and Independents are the only people who can do and are willing to do that.
Horwich & Blackrod First Independents will soon be releasing details of public meetings, contact details and how you can get involved. You can email us at: contact@hbfi.org.uk