Minor British Institutions: The English Democrats

A minor British institution that would rather be a major English institution, by the looks of it. Obviously they want an English parliament, and they want everyone to speak English, which is either a racist attitude or plain common sense, depending on what you can make of their motives.

Their electoral breakthrough came in Doncaster, where Peter Davies became directly elected mayor. Their best-known supporters are the columnist Garry Bushell, who stood for the party in the 2005 general election in Greenwich and Woolwich, and Fathers4Justice founder Matt O'Connor, who stood for Mayor of London.

The party stands for "English way of life and the values and beliefs of England", though the further back one goes in history the less England becomes a cohesive entity. Arguably there are as many differences between Mancunians and Londoners as there are between the English, Welsh and Scots. Founded in 2002, the party remains some way from national power.