CHANGE UK has been forced to change its official party name again after it was threatened with legal action.
The centrist, pro-EU party, which was formed just four months ago, has applied to the Electoral Commission to be renamed The Independent Group for Change.
The party was formerly known as The Independent Group.
The latest name change follows complaints from the lawyers of petition organisation Change.org.
They disputed Change UK’s right to register with the Electoral Commission and threatened to sue each of the party’s MPs personally.
The complaint was made shortly before the European Parliament elections in which Change UK won no seats and just 3.4% of the popular vote.
READ MORE: Change UK in crisis as half of its MPs quit the party
A statement from the party read: “With no time left to register a new party name to contest the elections, our leadership at the time felt we had no option but to sign a legal agreement preventing the permanent use of the name Change UK once the campaign was over.
“We are now legally obliged to make a formal application to the Electoral Commission, to amend our name by June 15, so today we are applying to register ourselves as ‘The Independent Group for Change’ and will await the Electoral Commission’s decision.”
Change UK — I am not making this up — have changed their name again.
— Thomas Colson (@tpgcolson) June 13, 2019
They now wish to be called "The Independent Group for Change." pic.twitter.com/u4bi0zLsLF
The Independent Group was launched on February 18 this year by seven MPs who had quit Labour and four more, including three Tories, who quickly became known as the Tiggers.
In April, the group's registration with the Electoral Commission as a political party named Change UK was accepted, though its logo was rejected, in part for the inclusion of a hashtag.
The name change comes as a fresh blow to the party after the disastrous EU election showing.
The group subsequently split, with six MPs returning to sit as independents and just five remaining in the party.
Former Tory Anna Soubry was elected as the new leader and is supported by Chris Leslie, Mike Gapes, Joan Ryan and Ann Coffey.
The party statement continued: “We remain determined as a party to tackle the big issues facing the country.
“Preventing a disastrous no-deal Brexit and fixing Britain’s broken politics remain our absolute focus as we begin to build our new policy platform.”
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