Philip Proudfoot
Philip Proudfoot is an English political activist and anthropologist. He is the founder of the Northern Independence Party, a minor political party which advocates that Northern England become an independent country. He also lectures at the University of Sussex.
A former member of the Labour Party, Proudfoot founded the NIP in October 2020 in response to dissatisfaction with the "reversion to Blairism" under Keir Starmer's leadership. He told Big Issue North that the centralisation of power in London had also played a part.
On 25 April 2022, the actress Tracy-Ann Oberman said that she had agreed to pay Proudfoot substantial damages after falsely accusing him of antisemitism.
Proudfoot stepped down as leader of the NIP in July 2022 due to "professional commitments". On 19 November 2023, he announced that he had joined the Green Party, citing its support for a ceasefire in Gaza, among other policies.