The Independent Group of Members of the Legislative Council was a right-wing political party in Kenya.
History Led by Llewellyn Briggs,Richard Hughes (2003) Capricorn: David Stirling's African Campaign, The Radcliffe Press, p180 the Independent Group was a European party that called for ministerial positions to be awarded without consideration for the racial makeup of the cabinet, using the slogan "Merit and Ability",Kenya from Mau Mau to Independence Michael Farquhar effectively seeking to exclude Africans from government.William Ernest Frank Ward (1963) A History of Africa: Egypt and the Sudan. Uganda. Kenya. Tanganyika, Allen & Unwin, p181 It nominated ten candidates for the fourteen European seats in the 1956 general elections, winning eight of them."Results of the General Election in Kenya", East Africa and Rhodesia, 4 October 1956, p150"General Election in Kenya: Comments in the Press", East Africa and Rhodesia, 11 October 1956, p186
In August 1959 Briggs formed the United Party, bringing together the Independent Group with former members of the Federal Independence Party,George Bennett & Carl Gustav Rosberg (1961) The Kenyatta Election: Kenya 1960-1961, Oxford University Press, p16 which had failed to win a seat in the 1956 elections.
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