The New Party was a neoliberal political party in the United Kingdom active between 2003 and 2010. The party described itself as "a party of economic liberalism, political reform and internationalism". It supported a smaller role for the state, a significant reduction in bureaucracy, renegotiation with the European Union and a strengthening of the special relationship with the United States. The party was founded as the Scottish People's Alliance, standing at the 2003 Scottish Parliamentary Elections and receiving 7,718 votes (0.4%). The New Party did not stand in the 2005 general election. History Founding The New Party has its origins in the initiative A New Party for Britain launched in late 2002, at a time when speculation about the possibility of a split in the UK Conservative Party was rife, during the leadership of Iain Duncan Smith. Before the launch, the party announced in January 2003 that it planned to scrap the Scottish Parliament, and it was decried by David McLetchie, the leader of the Scottish Conservatives, as "fascist and undemocratic." The party was officially launched on 14 March 2003, when the party was founded under the name , with funerals businessman Howard Hodgson as its spokesman. The launch was timed to coincide with the Conservative Party Spring Conference the next day in Harrogate. Senior figures included Jenny Ungless, Iain Duncan Smith's former chief of staff, Charlotte Kenyon, a former Conservative Party press officer, and Mark Adams, a former Conservative Party official. The head of policy in Scotland was Bruce Skivington. Scottish Parliament elections The initial policy programme of the party had two main planks: direct democracy, with all legislation subject to popular referendum; and Universal Benefit, a direct payment from the state to every citizen as a replacement for the current benefits system. A reduction of the voting age to 16 was also proposed. Taxes would be cut by 3p. The pledge to scrap the Scottish parliament was dropped, but the party pledged to sell the Holyrood Scottish Parliament Building, and to reduce the number of parliamentarians, in Holyrood, Westminster and an all-elected Lords. Alan Cochrane in the Daily Telegraph commented that "the Scottish People's Alliance appears to offer a mish-mash of policies, which are for the most part half-baked – but not all that more so than many of the offerings from parties of much longer standing. And if they get their act together in time they might