Volt UK

Volt United Kingdom, commonly known as Volt UK, is a pro-European political party in the United Kingdom. It is the British branch of Volt Europa, a political movement that operates on a European level.

History
Volt UK was founded in London on 6 January 2020, with Philipp Gnatzy as its first leader.

2021 Elections
In the 2021 local elections, the party stood one candidate for election to a local authority, Luís Perdigão in Cubbington & Leek Wootton Ward in Warwickshire. He campaigned in particular for improvements in the transport sector and public transport, in addition to avoiding damage from Brexit.

In London, Volt backed Richard Hewison, Rejoin EU's candidate in the London mayoral election, and the two parties stood a joint list for the London-wide assembly election. Hewison received 1.1% of the mayoral vote, while the two parties received 49,389 votes (1.91%) for the Assembly and thus did not win a seat.

The party also stood in the Scottish Parliament election on a joint list with Renew Scotland.

2022
In May 2022, the party contested the Glasgow City Council election. Volt received 4.1% of the first-preference vote in the Pollokshields ward, falling short of winning one of the four seats.

2023
On 2 August Volt announced Ewan Hoyle as their candidate for the Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election. It is the first time that the party has taken part in national elections. He received 46 votes, 0.15% of the votes cast.

2024
Three Volt UK candidates: Charlotte Blake, Alessandro Gallo, and Marianne Mandujano, were included on the Rejoin EU candidate list for the 2024 London Assembly election on 2 May 2024. Rejoin EU received 2.52% of the vote (62,528 votes), finishing in sixth place and retaining their deposit.

Volt UK stood two candidates in the 2024 general election: Annaliese Cude in Newton Abbot, and Jason Hughes in Stroud.

Ideology and policies
The party supports the 5+1 fundamental challenges (1. Smart state, 2. Economic renaissance, 3. Social equality, 4. Global balance, 5. Citizen empowerment, +1 European reform) defined by Volt Europa. In addition to the pan-European policies of Volt, the British branch has some additional policies including electoral reform, rejoining the EU, action to address climate change, and reform of political campaigns.

Volt Scotland
Volt Scotland is the Scottish branch of Volt UK. It participated in the 2021 Scottish Parliament election with two candidates standing on Renew Scotland's party list. For the Scottish Parliament elections, Volt endorsed a multiple-choice referendum on the issue of Scottish independence like its Renew counterparts. Renew Scotland contested five regions and no constituencies in the election, receiving 493 votes nationwide. The party also stood one candidate at the 2022 Scottish local elections, with their candidate garnering 4.06% of first preference votes in the four-member Pollokshields ward.

Scottish Parliament
Renew Scotland contested in five regions and no constituencies in the 2021 Scottish Parliament election.

2024 general election
The party fielded 2 candidates at the 2024 United Kingdom general election on 4 July 2024, one in Newton Abbot and one in Stroud. The candidates accumulated a total of 267 votes and came last in both constitencies, meaning neither were elected.