The Pirate Party UK contested its first election in 2010, standing nine candidates in the 2010 general election. The party also stood candidates in the 2011 Oldham East and Saddleworth and 2012 Manchester Central by-elections. The party also contested several local government elections and the 2011 Scottish Parliament election. The party stood six candidates in the 2015 general election. The highest percentage of votes the party has achieved to date is 7.6% by David A Elston when he stood in the St Athan ward on Vale of Glamorgan Council during the 2017 local elections. In general elections, the party has never received more than one per cent of the vote but briefly had two co-opted community councillors in early 2017, David A Elston in St Athan Community Council, and Kev Young in Parton Parish Council.
General election 2010 The party stood nine candidates in the 2010 general election and received 1,340 votes overall, or about 0.35% of the total votes cast in those constituencies that had Pirate candidates:-
ConstituencyCandidate Votes % Bethnal Green and Bow Alexander van Terheyden 213Election 2010, Bethnal Green & Bow, BBC News 0.4 Bury North Graeme Lambert 131Election 2010, Bury North, BBC News 0.3 Cities of London and Westminster Jack Nunn 90Election 2010, Cities Of London & Westminster, BBC News 0.2 Derby North David Geraghty 170Election 2010, Derby North, BBC News 0.4 Glasgow Central Finlay Archibald 120Election 2010, Glasgow Central, BBC News 0.4 Leicester West Shaun Dyer 113Election 2010, Leicester West, BBC News 0.3 Manchester, Gorton Tim Dobson 236Election 2010, Manchester Gorton, BBC News 0.6 South West Surrey Luke Leighton 94Election 2010, Surrey South West, BBC NewsC 0.2 Worcester Andrew Robinson 173Election 2010, Worcester, BBC News 0.4 Total 1,340 0.35
Mark Sims intended to stand in East Ham but missed the deadline due to the air travel disruption after the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption.
All candidates lost their deposits, with the best performance being 0.62% in Manchester Gorton.
Elections in 2011 Oldham East and Saddleworth by-election (2011)
The Pirate Party fielded Loz Kaye at the Oldham East and Saddleworth by-election in 2011, after Labour's victory in the 2010 election was declared void by the courts, and the incumbent Phil Woolas was removed. The result was 96 votes (0.3%).
Scottish and local elections 2011
Pirate Party UK stood eight regional candidates in two regions in the Scottish Parliament election
Region Candidates Votes % Glasgow1. Finlay Archibald2. Mark Wood3. Asmaa Hounat4. Stuart Murray 581 0.3 West of Scotland1. Rob Harris2. Laura Riach3. Andrew Paliwoda4. Miah Gregory 850 0.3 Total 1,431 0.3
Graeme Lambert also stood in the local election in Bury gaining 3.62% of the vote.
Elections in 2012 Local elections 2012 Pirate Party UK stood six candidates in three regions in the United Kingdom local elections.- They received 551 votes, or 2.26% on average over the 6 wards in which they stood, the best results for the party in an election. In the Manchester Bradford ward the party leader, Loz Kaye, received 5.2% of the vote, the highest the party has achieved in any election to this date.
Constituency Candidate Votes % Edinburgh Meadows/Morningside Phil Hunt 195Elections 2012, Edinburgh Meadows/Morningside , Edinburgh City Council 1.9 Glasgow Anderston Rob Harris 46Elections 2012, Glasgow Anderston , Glasgow City Council 0.2 Glasgow Govan Finlay Archibald 51Elections 2012, Glasgow Govan , Glasgow City Council 0.2 Manchester Ancoats and Clayton Tim Dobson 75Elections 2012, Manchester Ancoats and Clayton , Manchester City Council 3 Manchester Bradford Loz Kaye 127Elections 2012, Manchester Bradford , Manchester City Council 5.2 Manchester City Centre Maria Aretoulaki 57Elections 2012, Manchester City Centre , Manchester City Council 3.1 Total 551 2.25
Manchester Central by-election (2012) Loz Kaye was the Pirate Party's candidate in the Manchester Central by-election on 15 November 2012. He received 1.9% of the vote.
European Parliament election 2014 The Pirate Party announced its intentions to stand candidates in the North West England (European Parliament constituency) for the 2014 European Parliament election on 28 March 2014. Three Pirate Party UK candidates were nominated, Maria Aretoulaki, George Walkden and Jack Allnutt.
The party also adopted a 'common European election programme' in common with other European Pirate Parties, in addition to its existing policies.
The party received 8,957 votes, a 0.5% share in the North West England regional constituency.
Elections in 2015 General election 2015 The party had six candidates in the 2015 general election. All the Pirate Party UK candidates standing for election were endorsed by Something New as candidates to vote for in constituencies where it was not standing candidates, with the exception of Mark Chapman due to Something New being in an alliance with a competitor to Chapman.
ConstituencyCandidate Votes % Bridgend David A Elston 106 0.3 Manchester Central Loz Kaye 346 0.8 Manchester Gorton Cris Chesha 181 0.4 Salford and Eccles Sam Clark 183 0.4 Sheffield Central Andy Halsall 113 0.3 Vauxhall Mark Chapman 201 0.4 Total 1,130 0.43
South Lanarkshire, Hamilton South local by-election
The Pirate Party UK's Governor of the Board, Andrew McCallum secured 13 votes, which is a 0.6% vote share.
Elections in 2016 Higher Blackley — Manchester local by-election 2016
The Pirate Party UK's nominations officer, George Walkden stood in a Higher Blackley local by-election, securing 9 votes (0.6% vote share).
St Athan — Vale of Glamorgan Community Council co-option 2016
Shortly after his resignation as deputy leader, the Pirate Party UK's first councillor, David A Elston, joined the St Athan Community Council on 1 March 2016 (St David's Day).-
Local elections 2016
Andreas Habeland stood in the Church Street Westminster local council 2016 election and secured 26 (0.8%) votes.
Rhoose — Vale of Glamorgan local by-election 2016
James Fyfe stood in the Rhoose ward for a seat on the Vale of Glamorgan county council on 30 June 2016 and secured 4 (0.2%) votes.
Parton Parish Council co-option 2016
Kev Young, Independent, joined the Pirate Party UK, stood down and was co-opted back on to the council, which provided the Pirate Party UK with its second councillor and first council chairperson.- He subsequently resigned from the party in early 2017.
Elections in 2017 Local elections 2017
Constituency Candidate Votes % Castleland Nathaniel "Jebediah" Hedges 35 1.5 New Milton Desmond Hjerling 108 2.2 St Athan David A Elston 75 7.6 Total 218 3.8
Elston and Hedges also stood on a town council level. For Flemingston and Eglwys Brewis on the St Athan Community Council where Elston had 125 votes (17.4%) losing his community council seat by less than 50 votes to Labour and Hedges had 41 (1.9%) votes in Castleland on the Barry Town Council, the average vote share being 9.7%.
General election 2017 The Pirate Party stood ten candidates in the 2017 general election, the highest number in the party's history.- Constituency Candidate Votes % Bournemouth West Jason Halsey4180.9Election 2017: Bournemouth West, BBC News. Retrieved 29 May 2017. Cardiff South Jeb Hedges1700.3Election 2017: Cardiff South and Penarth, BBC News. Retrieved 29 May 2017. Eddisbury Morgan Hill1790.3Election 2017: Eddisbury, BBC News. Retrieved 29 May 2017. Gower Jason Winstanley1490.3Election 2017: Gower, BBC News. Retrieved 29 May 2017. Manchester Central Neil Blackburn1920.4Election 2017: Manchester Central, BBC News. Retrieved 29 May 2017. New Forest West Des Hjerling4831.0Election 2017: New Forest West, BBC News. Retrieved 29 May 2017. Norwich North Liam Matthews3400.7Election 2017: Norwich North, BBC News. Retrieved 29 May 2017. Sheffield Central Robert Moran910.2Election 2017: Sheffield Central, BBC News. Retrieved 29 May 2017. Vale of Glamorgan David Elston1270.2Election 2017: Vale of Glamorgan, BBC News. Retrieved 29 May 2017. Vauxhall Mark Chapman1720.3Election 2017: Vauxhall, BBC News. Retrieved 29 May 2017.Total2,3210.46
Elections in 2018 Local elections 2018
Constituency Candidate Votes % Batley West Garry Kitchin 64 1.45 Vassall Mark Chapman 127 1.19 Total 191
Elections in 2019 Local elections 2019
Constituency Candidate Votes % Frimley Green Gavin TP Crump 190SHBC Borough Elections Result: Frimley Green ward, Surrey Heath Borough Council Twitter. Retrieved 28 May 2019. 3.7%
Elections in 2025 Abermaw local by-election 2025
Constituency Candidate Votes % Abermaw Chris Green 11, . Retrieved 06 April 2026. 1.8%
Elections in 2026 Local elections 2026
Constituency Candidate Votes % Burgess Hill North Nathan Griffiths 58 1.2%
References