The Social Democratic Party had success at the Leeds City Council elections in May, when they secured a third candidate on the authority.
Coun Wayne Dixon and party leader Daniel Whetstone told the YEP that the party is standing candidates in every constituency in Leeds, with 23 candidates across Yorkshire - but that the First Past The Post system can hinder smaller parties.
Coun Wayne Dixon and party leader Daniel Whetstone told the YEP that the party is standing candidates in every constituency in Leeds, with 23 candidates across Yorkshire - but that the First Past The Post system can hinder smaller parties.
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00:00So Councillor Wayne Dixon and Daniel Whetstone, you're members of the SDP, does
00:06the SDP pose a real alternative in Leeds and how successful can you be in a
00:11general election? I think we do, but it might take a bit of a while to break
00:16through. First past the post system holds us back quite a lot I think and we
00:22haven't got the financial clout that a lot of the other parties have so we're
00:26kind of just building from the grassroots up and slowly slowly until we
00:30finally break through hopefully. And which constituencies are you standing in?
00:34We're standing in all the constituencies in Leeds. We had 23
00:38candidates in Yorkshire and we had 122 nationally, but we're covering all of
00:43Leeds and we're laying the foundation now for future success because we're in
00:47for the long haul. We're not just here for today, we understand it's a marathon
00:50not a sprint. Realistically what's the best outcome for the SDP today? We have
00:58pragmatic approach to it and we understand that there are limitations in
01:03place, the finances and the manpower and everything, but there's nothing wrong with
01:07giving the people a democratic option and the closer that we get you know the
01:13more that everyone will pay attention and you know we we're quietly confident
01:17that we'll have a few surprises at this election. Thank you very much.