Islamic Party of Britain

Islamic Party of Britain
Leader	David Musa Pidcock
Founded	September 1989 (September 1989)
Dissolved	2006 (2006)
Headquarters	Milton Keynes
Ideology	Islamism
Political position	Third position
European affiliation	none
European Parliament group	none
Colours	Green
Website
http://www.islamicparty.com
Politics of the United Kingdom Political parties Elections

The Islamic Party of Britain is a defunct political party in the United Kingdom that was active from its formation in 1989 until 2006. The IPB was opposed to both capitalism and communism. David Musa Pidcock, a Sheffield man who converted from Roman Catholicism to Islam while working as an engineer in Saudi Arabia, founded and led the party. The IPB published a quarterly magazine entitled Common Sense.

The party entered the 1992 general election, standing three unsuccessful candidates in the constituencies of Bradford, a city with a large Muslim minority, and one in London constituency Streatham.

Founding

The Islamic Party of Britain was founded in September 1989, by Muslims who had grown dissatisfied with the Labour party, a party that traditionally gains the support of Muslims in Britain. Many Muslims were unhappy with the Atheism of Neil Kinnock, the Labour leader, and wanted a party that would cater specifically for the needs of Muslims. Many also felt that both Labour and the Conservatives had not done enough to help Muslims in the controversy over Salman Rushdie's book The Satanic Verses'. The party was founded at the London Central Mosque

Performance

The Islamic Party never achieved a seat in either house of Parliament. Pidcock represented the party in the Bradford North by-election, 1990, earning 800 votes (2.2%), finishing fourth of ten candidates.

In the 1992 General Election, the party stood candidates in each of the three constituencies in the City of Bradford. All of them finished last, with Pidcock in Bradford West doing the best, with 471 votes (0.96%). It also stood a candidate in Streatham, coming fifth of seven.

Relations with other parties

In its first year, Pidcock claimed that his party was planning co-operation with the ecologist Green Party.

Members of the party have supported the Respect Party; one of their leading members, home affairs spokesman Mohammad Naseem, stood for and funded the party.

Policies

The party believed in equal treatment under the law regardless of an individual's status, income or ethnicity. The IPB argued that religion is the most important thing in life. It called for reform of the British banking system to make it interest-free and Islamic, and for increased trade with the Islamic world. At one time, the party answered questions sent in by readers. When answering one question, the party argued that homosexuality needed treatment, was not to be tolerated and that homosexuals should be put to death for a "public display of lewdness", a policy that was condemned by Peter Tatchell.

See also

• People's Justice Party (UK)