Fledgling political party officially registered ahead of 'all out' council election fight

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

A fledgling political party has been officially registered by the Electoral Commission ahead of this year's local elections.

Middleton Independents Party (MIP) - which believes the town has played the ‘poor relation’ to Rochdale for too long - plans to field 15 candidates across five wards in May.

Rochdale council is holding an ‘all-out’ election this year - rather than the usual third of seats being up for grabs -meaning the chances of a major political shake up are much higher. ‘MIP’ was unsure whether it would be registered in time to contest the election under its own name - or have to stand as individual independents - after just missing the deadline for applications.

However, the Electoral Commission has now confirmed the hyperlocal group has been registered as of March 9, making it a ‘bona fide’ political party. READ MORE : 'We're like Oliver Twist begging for crumbs': Inside the town being 'swallowed up' by its neighbour Co-founder Bernard Wynne said it was ‘brilliant’ news for the town’s newest political movement. “I’m absolutely over the moon,” he said. “It means we can stand under the official party banner rather than as individuals on the ballot paper - so it will be more recognisable.” The party would have fought the election as separate - albeit affiliated - independents had the registration not gone through in time.