Talk:Renew Party

Number of seats

We have RS reporting defections to Renew Britain, one each in Wandsworth, Portsmouth and Durham. Looking at the relevant council pages, I can't find any evidence any of these are currently sitting as councillors, as of 10 May 2018, although the relevant pages may not be up to date. Bondegezou (talk) 09:51, 10 May 2018 (UTC)

Cllr John Ferrett describes himself as being in Renew on his Twitter although the Portsmouth council website lists him as just an independent. I think that's sufficient evidence that the party has 1 Councillor. Bondegezou (talk) 21:33, 12 May 2018 (UTC)

Here's a source identifying him as a Renew councillor rather than an independent: https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/politics/ousted-donna-jones-offers-her-congratulations-to-new-leader-of-portsmouth-city-council-1-8498896 Maswimelleu (talk) 14:50, 15 May 2018 (UTC)

The Durham seat is a parish council seat, hence the confusion over that - the info on the article should be reworded possibly to make it clearer. The local government seat is with Portsmouth councillor John Ferrett. Greenleader(2) (talk) 17:30, 15 May 2018 (UTC)

'Centrist' descriptor accurate?

Is the 'centrist' descriptor accurate for the party here? The sources I used under the 'centrist' tag on this article quote the party itself as using this descriptor, as well as news organisation using it in their own terms, but there seems to be some objection to the term somehow. Pretty much every source I've seen on the party describes it as centrist or a 'centre party', and I was under the impression that centrism was Renew's raison d'être. --Bangalamania (talk) 14:56, 6 November 2018 (UTC)

Well, what the party says is clearly not a reliable source and never has been for any political party in Wikipedia. They most certainly do claim that they are in the centre, but we need independent commentators to attribute this. As for the newspapers that have been quoted, The Independent, under the headline "Millions of voters feel politically homeless and would back new centre-ground party, finds poll" is a report on a survey, not the party. Of Renew, it says, and I quote in its entirety:

Earlier this year a new party called Renew was set up aiming to “transform
British politics”, by taking a “people-centred approach” to recruiting candidates
and setting policy.

That's quoting what Renew said and is not a judgement from the paper. Besides, "people-centred" is not the same as centrist at all.

The New Statesman piece talks about "a group of centrist activists" in the subhead, but later on quotes the party member as being "“more centre-right on the economy and centre-left socially”" (indecisive, that). She then writes, "But centrism has gone out of fashion. We’re in an era where “centrist dads” are dismissed online as backward bores..." (not about Renew) and quotes, "“There’s a sense if you say you’re centrist that it’s dry and technocratic, nihilist even,” admits Torrance" (i.e. she's not saying centrist, and, to be accurate, Torrance is not actually saying Renew is centrist himself). She goes on, "The constant churn of new, centrist parties ever since the EU referendum divided the Conservatives and Labour" (still not about Renew). Not much use that. And so on.

I can't access the Financial Times (if you can, please post direct quotes) but I strongly suspect the same. The headline, "New anti-Brexit party hopes to capture UK politics centre ground" does not say it is a centre party - all parties want to capture the centre ground to win - and I'm guessing the article just has quotes from renew about the centre but nothing from an independent observer to say it is in the centre.

All in all, those sources are not sufficient. Elsewhere, the Evening Standard gave no indication of position ("New party aiming to stop Brexit launches tour of UK's towns and universities", 2 Feb 2018), neither did the Belfast Telegraph ("New party aims to persuade voters to ‘reconsider’ Brexit", 2 Feb 2018) nor French Morning London ("Renew Britain, un nouveau parti politique britannique inspiré par Emmanuel Macron", 19 Feb 2018). Or a whole range of French papers that are intrigued by the Macron issue.

On a slightly more positive note, the Daily Express has called it a "fledgling anti-Brexit and centrist party" ("Local elections 2018 candidates: Who is Renew Britain? Full list of political parties", 3 May 2018) and a "Centrist party" ("Remainer party Renew LOSE only council seat but insist ‘demand is there’ to REVERSE Brexit", 5 May 2018). But do we want to rely on the Express for this?

I've absolutely no doubt that Renew claims to be a centrist party, but until they come up with sufficient proper policies to stand some analysis from a learned and independent source it is not for us to blindly accept that that is their position. Best to leave it blank in the infobox and the article itself, though it is OK to say that Renew "calls itself" or "claims to be" centrist. Emeraude (talk) 17:35, 6 November 2018 (UTC)

Thank you for the thorough review, Emeraude. Reading that, I don't see anyone claiming Renew is anything different. If a party describes itself as X, but other sources call it Y, then we say it is Y. Here, a party describes itself as X and other sources are a bit weak but also go with X rather than anythine else. In that context, I'd be happy for the article to describe the party as X. Bondegezou (talk) 19:07, 6 November 2018 (UTC)

Other sources? Just a rather sloppy report in ther Express is hardly reliable. Emeraude (talk) 09:30, 7 November 2018 (UTC)

And the Financial Times. I can't quote the entire article, but it definitely paints a picture of Renew as a centrist force saying in its own words that Renew is centrist, 'moderate', etc.:

... Chris Coghlan, 36 ... is planning to ramp up promotion next month for Renew, a new party that he hopes will restore centrist fortunes. ... The effort by Mr Coghlan and his co-founder, James Torrance, who stood as an anti-Brexit general election candidate in Kensington, is one of several centrist initiatives currently bubbling away. ... The efforts reflect the frustration of many well-connected Conservative and Labour moderates that the two big parties are abandoning the centre ground. ... Ben Rich, a Liberal Democrat who once worked for Tim Farron, the party's previous leader, expressed doubts that [Renew] and other centrist initiatives would appeal to the country outside prosperous, liberal London. ... Mr Chapman said that, to succeed, a new centrist party would need the defection of a group of MPs and peers from another party ...

-- Bangalamania (talk) 19:46, 7 November 2018 (UTC)

Thanks for that. For our purposes, most of it is just fluff and inconclusive, but "is one of several centrist initiatives" is pretty good as the 'voice' of the FT. And probably more reliable than the Express. Sufficient though? Emeraude (talk) 13:48, 8 November 2018 (UTC)

I personally would argue that it's sufficient, and completely more reliable than the Express (which personally wouldn't use in this article at all). --Bangalamania (talk) 21:43, 8 November 2018 (UTC)

I finally got the full FT article, and that is the only phrase that suggests Renew is centrist (the rest is about other parties' views on centrism and Renew's claims of centrism). So it just about passes muster, but we should really have more than one reliable source. The trouble is, whenever a new party comes along there is an inevitable delay in academics or serious investigative journalists taking an interest and providing a definitive view. However, it may be OK to put it in and delete the others which clearly aren't up to the mark. For what it's worth, my own view is that if Renew ever develops it will be no more "centrist" than Macron - in office, he has been consistently to the right. But this is Wikipedia, and my view is just my view and worth nothing. Emeraude (talk) 15:47, 10 November 2018 (UTC)

Page Headline

Renew Britain as a headline is incorrect. It should be Renew UK (political party) or The Renew Party

The logo in the political party infobox is also out of date. The correct logo is

File:Renew blue.png

Political party logo

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Renew_blue.png

The section on leadership is also incorrect. The party leader is Annabel Mullin. James Torrance and James Clarke are deputy leaders.

I am declaring an intersted in so far as I am a member of The Renew Party. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Rubblebrain (talk • contribs) 17:24, 30 January 2019 (UTC) Rubblebrain (talk) 10:14, 31 January 2019 (UTC)

I have moved the article to a new name, Renew Party, and replaced the logo with an uploaded version. The Renew website lists Mullin as leader and Torrance and Clarke as deputy leaders; a Google News search only flags one potentially reliable source regarding Mullin being leader, which I have added. Paul W (talk) 16:28, 31 January 2019 (UTC)

References

Ideology shift

I've updated the new shift in ideology following the party conference in 2021 and the announcements in 2020. I am for full disclosure paid by the Renew Party, so wanted to make sure my edits were correct and not in any way misrepresentative. Any help is appreciated. Regards Alrenew (talk) 12:56, 5 January 2022 (UTC)

Thank you for noting your conflict of interest. You can suggest edits here first to avoid any issues.

I've trimmed down your edit. Wikipedia edits should focus on secondary coverage of events, e.g. newspaper articles about Renew, rather than on primary sources: see WP:PRIMARY. Lengthier passages of text citing the Renew website etc. are not appropriate. Bondegezou (talk) 18:43, 5 January 2022 (UTC)

I'd like to edit the top line to better represent the current policy of Renew rather than the previous focus on Europe.

The party focuses on the concept of reforming British politics. One of the party's main positions prior to 2019 was to advocate that the UK should be part of the European Union, although it also emphasised investment in education, sustainable development and environmental protection as key values.

Would this be ok? Alrenew (talk) 11:55, 12 January 2022 (UTC)