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November 24, 2001

CHRISTIAN PEOPLES ALLIANCE STRONGEST MINOR PARTY IN IPSWICH BY-ELECTION IN ENGLAND

By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent
ASSIST News Service

IPSWICH, ENGLAND (ANS) -- The first ever full parliamentary by-election fought by the Christian Peoples Alliance has seen a good performance for the recently formed party of  Christian Democrats.

In Ipswich Nov. 23, CPA candidate Dave Cooper, 54, came fourth, winning more votes than either the Greens or the United Kingdom Independence Party, who both have Members of the European Parliament.

The result was: Labor 11,881, Conservative 7,794, Liberal Democrat 6,146, Christian Peoples Alliance 581, UKIP 276, Green 255, Socialist Alliance 152. The turnout was 40 percent.

The CPA entered elections for the first time last year for the Greater London Authority and won votes from 100,000 people living in the capital, qualifying the party for a seat to the new Assembly under complicated Proportional Representation rules.

Giving his reaction to Dave Cooper's result tonight, CPA Leader Ram Gidoomal said: "Behind the headlines of Labor's victory is a good showing for the Christian Peoples Alliance in the first full by-election we have fought. This has much to do with our excellent candidate, Dave Cooper, who is a well respected local politician in Ipswich.

Gidoomal added:" After a year of fighting elections as Britain's first Christian Democratic party, a picture is beginning to emerge of the CPA matching or outperforming long-established parties such as UKIP, the Greens and the bloc around the Socialist Alliance. With PR being used in more and more elections, this suggests the CPA is well placed to play an important part in the future of British politics. The result is especially remarkable given that our candidate spent the whole campaign in India leading a Tearfund group."

According to a Press Release put out by the CPA, Dave Cooper had previously stood in the 1997 election for the Liberal Democrats in the Suffolk constituency of Bury St Edmunds, winning over 10,000 votes.

A resident for over 30 years in Ipswich, Dave and his wife Jackie raised their two daughters in the town, the release said. Dave was an Ipswich primary school deputy headmaster for over 14 years before becoming the East Anglia Regional Manager for Tearfund, a major Christian relief and development charity.

The release said the CPA has the backing of Christian Democratic parties in Europe, including Holland, Norway, Sweden and Finland and endorsements from leading European Christian Democrat politicians. The CPA scored 3.3 percent in the vote for the London Assembly list, more than the UK Independence Party, the London Socialist Alliance and the British Nationalist Party. In its first council by-election in Newham in March, the CPA polled 34 percent of the vote.

For more information: Ram Gidoomal, CBE, 0208 408 9304 or David Campanale, CPA President on 0208 274 9042. You may also visit www.cpalliance.net
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