The Anti Common Market and Free Trade Party was a minor British political party active primarily in the 1970s and 1980s. It was formed to oppose the United Kingdom's membership of the European Economic Community (EEC, commonly referred to at the time as the "Common Market"), which the UK had joined in 1973. The party also advocated for free trade principles.
The party was also known under several alternative names, including the Free Trade Liberal Party and the All Party Anti-Common Market. Among its notable members were Arthur Seldon and Oliver Smedley, both of whom were associated with the free-market think tank the Institute of Economic Affairs.
The party contested a number of parliamentary by-elections across the United Kingdom, though it did not achieve electoral success in terms of winning seats. By-elections it contested included:
- 1967 Walthamstow West by-election
- 1972 Sutton and Cheam by-election
- 1973 Lincoln by-election
- 1977 Saffron Walden by-election
- 1979 South West Hertfordshire by-election
- 1980 Southend East by-election
- 1981 Croydon North West by-election
- 1983 Bermondsey by-election
- 1988 Kensington by-election
The party is considered an early example of organised Euroscepticism in British politics, predating later and more prominent anti-EU parties such as the Referendum Party and the UK Independence Party (UKIP). It is now defunct.
