Anybody know anything about Harmony Party UK?

[19force8]

I've come across this a couple of times this summer and was wondering if anyone knows more than is available on their website and through Companies House.

Website: Harmony UK | inclusive democratic socialism

Companies House: HARMONY PARTY UK LTD - Overview (free company information from Companies House)

Founded by John Urquhart of Cardiff (a member of the Labour Party in December 2019) in June 2020.

It seems to be a two person band - the above and Ali Wilkin.

Badge has anarcho-syndicalist vibe with a swallow(?) silhouette.

Ambition is to grow to 10k members and contest every seat in 2024.

Is it in any way serious or, as I suspect, just some vanity project?

 

[editor]

They're pretty busy on Twitter

https://twitter.com/HarmonyPartyUK

 

[mx wcfc]

They're pretty busy on Twitter

https://twitter.com/HarmonyPartyUK

They like polls don't they? If I were a cynic, I'd say they are asking people views so that they know what would be popular as Harmony Party policies.

 

[19force8]

They're pretty busy on Twitter

https://twitter.com/HarmonyPartyUK

Yep, from a cursory examination of which I found one more member, so a three person band?

I suppose I was hoping some Cardiff residents might have an idea of who these people are.

Just setting up a new party out of the blue doesn't seem entirely rational to me.

I mean, even Galloway takes the trouble to find an active core to build on.

Also, busy on twitter mostly just means time on hands which I don't have

 

[not a trot]

They like polls don't they? If I were a cynic, I'd say they are asking people views so that they know what would be popular as Harmony Party policies.

Free hairspray.

 

[Mr Moose]

One of their ‘four principles’ runs as follows,

all Consensus of Assemblies and all Party Consensus must seek never to take a decision which will result directly in unavoidable injury to a human being, and must not, through inaction, allow human beings or humanity to come to harm...

So I’m guessing it’s a party for Replicants, Robots, Synths etc.

 

[Plumdaff]

I'm a Cardiff resident, I'm not especially active myself but know a fair few local more active people and have never heard of this. Sorry!

 

[DaveCinzano]

Free hairspray.

Or dildos

 

[nogojones]

I'm Cardiff and totally unaware of him or Ali and never heard the Harmony lot

 

[Streathamite]

Free hairspray.

damn, i was itching to bag that gag!

 

[Dom Traynor]

A quick read of the Harmony Party website suggests they have no real involvement in anything other than maybe Asimov fandom.

 

[19force8]

Sounds pretty much like the astroturf I thought it was

Thanks for your help in confirming

 

[philosophical]

Being busy on twitter is for others on twitter.
Not especially comprehensive.

 

[TheDryhtscipe]

Hullo. I'm the aforementioned John Urquhart.

We're actually a very new political party which had the great fortune to form mid-pandemic (our membership opened June 30th).

Nonetheless we actually have members and supporters nationwide, and are also in the midst of forming satellite parties - albeit independent ones of the UK party - in Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.

You're quite right that the Ethical Kernel in our constitution contains an Asimov reference; when writing it, I joked to a collaborator that Asimov had already written what we were trying to write... And that just stuck. It neatly in very few words establishes core values based in the principles of suffering-focused ethics.

We're "more than a party", and have focuses alongside the ballot route, and as such are currently in the midst of establishing two new unions and supporting the creation of a school uniform cooperative, as well as in the very early stages of supporting the foundation of a Left wing media co-op.

We don't do hairspray, but we are slowly turning up the volume.

People in Cardiff wouldn't know me terribly well yet: I've only lived here two years. Some members of Cardiff UCU may recall me as the one with all the soup, cake, and music at their pickets earlier in the year, however.

You'll see more from us - outside of social media - from November onwards.

 

[Celyn]

"Soup, cake and music" is not a bad set of policies, I suppose.

Nonetheless we actually have members and supporters nationwide, and are also in the midst of forming satellite parties - albeit independent ones of the UK party - in Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.

Is there one for England? Or does "the UK party" mean England party? Any others are "satellite", despite your living in Cardiff?

 

[Doodler]

Harmony Party sounds like the lingerie and sex toy version of an Avon comestics party.

 

[TheDryhtscipe]

"Soup, cake and music" is not a bad set of policies, I suppose.



Is there one for England? Or does "the UK party" mean England party? Any others are "satellite", despite your living in Cardiff?

The UK party will indeed cover England, as this is how our broken democracy currently functions, as the West Lothian question remains unanswered.

The other, independent parties for the other nations will set their own policies and processes without any interaction with the UK party, though there will be a mechanism for all four parties to cooperate. The UK party will however defer to the other parties on decisions relating to the relevant nation - not the other way around as is the case with the current Westminster parties.

Harmony UK's policies will be determined entirely by the membership, via our hybridised consensus/ballot deliberative democratic process - specifically by our Policy Societies. We are not a top-down organisation.

We expect to publish our first manifesto next year at current trajectories, but may manage it sooner if membership growth in the early phase is faster than anticipated. More hands, more speed, due to how we are organised.

 

[TheDryhtscipe]

They like polls don't they? If I were a cynic, I'd say they are asking people views so that they know what would be popular as Harmony Party policies.

Most of our polls have been based out of discussions in our Policy Societies, which are in the process of forming party policy. As mentioned in my prior post, the membership directly writes party policy.

Some polling has been to provoke discussion or discover gaps in our followers' education about socialism, communism, anarchism, and the Left. We're planning a lot of educational material for the Party Library and that means discovering what content is useful.

A few polls have also been submitted by members of the public.

 

[PR1Berske]

"Harmony Party UK" have this week been added to the Register of Political Parties (see View registration - The Electoral Commission ) so can stand for election using their name, not merely "independent"

 

[A380]

Great, just what people opposed to the Tories want, Rudy another way to split the vote!

 

[19force8]

So I took a look at the Harmony Party's Twitter account today talk about not living up to your name.

Sad

 

[BristolEcho]

So I took a look at the Harmony Party's Twitter account today talk about not living up to your name.

Sad

What's it like? I followed them for a bit when I was on there.

 

[19force8]

What's it like? I followed them for a bit when I was on there.

Three months ago krink flagged up this mind numbing Twitter beef:

what's the latest twitter ding-dong about? UAF/Resisting Hate/Louise Raw(? i think she wrote some books?) and something about a pile-on about sending banana emojis to black people. Tweets being deleted so i can't figure out wtf it's about. I'm very, very bored so could do with a distraction.

When I looked today I realised two things:

a) the bloody thing's still going on. Hundreds of tweets a day for three months. Endless, tedious shitstirring.
&
b) Harmony Party and its founder John Urquhart are heavily involved.

They (all) seem to think they're doing important political work.

It's worse than here

 

[steveseagull]

Indeed. I had to go on a mass blocking session on these halfwits as my Twitter timeline had descended into utter tedium.

 

[hitmouse]

Yeah, I had a brief look and instantly regretted it, the whole thing seemed utterly incomprehensible - fuck knows what it was "about", it seemed to just be endless people being outraged at people being outraged at people being outraged at people being outraged... Twitter really does fry brains.

 

[NoXion]

Fuck Twitter. It might be good for hobbies and other special interests, and maybe breaking news, but it really is fucking dogshit for politics and social commentary. I had to log off for the sake of my own mental health.