Citizen Network, Unlock Democracy and Compass are formulating a new Charter – have your say.
Action | 16.09.26
A campaign which aims to create a new Citizens’ Charter was launched at ‘This is the North’, a convention organised by The People’s Powerhouse, and held in Scarborough on Tuesday 15th September 2026.
Grace Barnett, who was at the Convention representing Unlock Democracy, Citizen Network, Compass and a number of other organisations supporting the Charter explained:
“We have chosen ‘This is the North’ as the place to start drawing up the Charter, because the North has a proud tradition of incubating some of history’s most impactful citizens’ initiatives.”
The widely acknowledged leader of the Chartist movement, Feargus O’Connor, who founded the Northern Star newspaper, lived in Leeds, just over an hour’s drive from Scarborough. The Chartist movement’s petitions in the 1830/40s contained ground-breaking demands, including universal (male) suffrage, secret ballots, payments for MPs and equal-sized constituencies.
Ms Barnett added,
“We are aiming to get over 10,000 people to identify their core demands. Then, once the Charter is complete, we will take it to Parliament.”
The launch is the start of a consultative process, with people asked to select 6 core demands from a list of 10:
