The Centre for Women & Democracy (CFWD) has been in touch with the Independent Network. They are currently undertaking election analysis as part of their remit and are keen to include independent candidates.

The Centre for Women and Democracy is an independent non-partisan body based in Leeds which works on democratic participation and representation at all levels.

Each year CFWD publishes election analysis which examines the fortunes of both the political parties and independent candidates. It is currently developing a major piece of work on the forthcoming General Election, and is collecting and collating candidate lists for each constituency. CFWD’s election project will include a specific section on independent candidates.

They are therefore trying to build up a picture of where independents are standing, but are finding this difficult because many candidates choose not to announce their intentions too far ahead of the election itself.

A spokesperson for the CFWD says, “Unlike party candidates, independents are self-selecting, often standing as a result of requests from community members and in response to specific sets of circumstances, issues or campaigns. Historically few have been elected, and this means that relatively little work has been done in this field.”

The information the CFWD need is very simple – just the candidate’s name and constituency in which they are standing. They will not be including names in any published material.

If you are intending to be a candidate in the 2010 general election they would be grateful if you could let them know – email them at olivia@cfwd.org.uk or contact them through their website.