Last updated: 3 September 2026
Newton-le-Willows Independents takes the privacy and security of personal information seriously.
This Privacy Notice explains how we collect, use, store and protect personal information, including information provided by residents, local businesses, community organisations and other people who choose to receive communications from us.
It also explains your rights under UK data protection law.
1. Who we are
Newton-le-Willows Independents is a registered political party and is the data controller responsible for the personal information covered by this Privacy Notice.
For privacy enquiries, requests concerning your personal information, or to change your communication preferences, please contact:
2. What personal information we may collect
Depending on how you interact with us, we may collect information including:
You are not required to provide us with personal information unless you choose to do so.
3. Business and community updates
Newton-le-Willows Independents may provide an update service for residents, businesses, community organisations and other interested people.
You can choose which types of information you would like to receive.
Council Updates
You may choose to receive useful local information about St Helens Borough Council and other relevant public services.
This may include information about:
We intend Council Updates to provide useful local information rather than general political campaigning.
If you choose Council Updates only, we will not use that subscription to send you general election campaigning, requests for political support or general Newton-le-Willows Independents campaigning material.
Wider Newton-le-Willows Independents Updates
You can separately choose to receive wider communications from Newton-le-Willows Independents.
These may include:
These communications may constitute political direct marketing.
You do not have to receive Wider Newton-le-Willows Independents Updates in order to receive Council Updates.
4. How you can choose to hear from us
Where we offer subscription communications, you can choose separately whether we may contact you by:
Agreeing to receive emails does not automatically mean that you have agreed to receive SMS, text messages or WhatsApp communications.
Likewise, agreeing to receive messages on your mobile does not automatically mean that you have agreed to receive marketing emails.
Where consent is required, we will ask you to take a positive action to give that consent.
We will keep appropriate records showing what you consented to, when you consented and how we obtained your consent.
5. Signing up does not mean you support us
Receiving communications from Newton-le-Willows Independents does not mean that:
We will not categorise someone as a political supporter simply because they have chosen to receive Council Updates or other communications from us.
Political opinions can constitute special category personal data under UK data protection law and will be handled accordingly where we process such information.
6. Our lawful basis for using your information
UK data protection law requires us to have a lawful basis for processing personal information.
Communications you have requested
Where you actively sign up to receive Council Updates or Wider Newton-le-Willows Independents Updates, our primary lawful basis for using your contact details for those communications is: Consent – Article 6(1)(a) UK GDPR.
You can withdraw your consent at any time.
Where a communication constitutes direct marketing by electronic means, we will also comply with the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (PECR).
Enquiries and administration
Where you contact us with a general enquiry or we need to process information for reasonable administrative purposes, we may rely on our legitimate interests where appropriate, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights and interests.
Legal obligations
We may process or retain personal information where this is necessary to comply with a legal obligation applying to us.
7. Where we obtain your information
For the update services covered by this notice, we will normally obtain your information directly from you.
For example, you may:
We will not automatically add you to a mailing list simply because you:
Where appropriate, we may instead invite you to sign up to our update service so that the decision is yours.
8. Councillor casework
Personal information provided to an elected councillor for the purpose of dealing with individual casework will not automatically be added to a Newton-le-Willows Independents mailing list.
Councillor casework and Newton-le-Willows Independents communications are treated as separate activities.
If somebody who has contacted a councillor may benefit from receiving future updates, they may be invited to subscribe separately.
They must make their own choice about whether they wish to do so.
9. St Helens Borough Council
Newton-le-Willows Independents is separate from St Helens Borough Council for data protection purposes.
St Helens Borough Council's privacy notices and policies do not cover personal information independently collected and processed by Newton-le-Willows Independents.
Information provided to St Helens Borough Council will not automatically be obtained by or added to a Newton-le-Willows Independents mailing list.
Likewise, information provided to an elected councillor for casework or information provided directly to Newton-le-Willows Independents will not automatically be supplied to St Helens Borough Council for unrelated purposes.
10. How we organise our communications
We may organise contact information using geographical, communication or subject-based preferences so that we can send people information that is relevant to them.
For example, we may record that somebody is interested in:
These preferences do not indicate that someone supports Newton-le-Willows Independents.
We may also record separately whether a person has chosen:
11. Who has access to your information
Access to personal information will be restricted to authorised people who need access for the relevant purpose.
This may include appropriately authorised:
People given access to personal information are expected to handle it securely and only use it for authorised purposes.
12. Service providers
We may use trusted third-party service providers to help us operate our website and communications.
These may include providers of:
Where another organisation processes personal information on our behalf, we will take appropriate steps to ensure that the information is protected and that appropriate data protection arrangements are in place.
We will not sell your personal information to third parties.
We will not provide our mailing lists to another political party or unrelated organisation for their own direct marketing purposes.
13. International Transfers
Some technology or communications providers may process or store personal information outside the United Kingdom.
Where personal information is transferred internationally, we will ensure that an appropriate lawful transfer mechanism or safeguard is used where required by UK data protection law.
14. How long we keep your information
We will not keep personal information for longer than is reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected.
Active subscriptions
If you have subscribed to communications, we will ordinarily retain your contact details while you remain subscribed.
We will review mailing-list information periodically and, where appropriate, seek to ensure that contact information and communication preferences remain accurate.
We aim to review active subscription records at least every 24 months.
Enquiries
Information relating to general enquiries will be retained only for as long as reasonably necessary to deal with the enquiry and any appropriate subsequent record-keeping requirements.
Unsubscribing and suppression records
If you unsubscribe or object to receiving direct marketing, we may retain a limited record of this request on a suppression list.
This is necessary so that we can remember and respect your request and avoid inadvertently adding you back to communications that you have asked not to receive.
A suppression record will normally contain only the information reasonably necessary to identify you and record your preference.
We will retain suppression information for as long as reasonably necessary to ensure that your opt-out continues to be respected.
15. Changing your preferences
You can change your communication choices at any time.
For example, you can:
Where available, you can use the preference-management or unsubscribe options contained within our communications.
Alternatively, contact: Privacy@PolitePolitics.co.uk
16. Withdrawing consent
Where we rely on your consent, you can withdraw that consent at any time.
It should be as easy to withdraw your consent as it was to give it.
Withdrawing your consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing that took place before you withdrew it.
To withdraw consent, use the unsubscribe facility provided in our communications or contact: Privacy@PolitePolitics.co.uk
17. Your right to object to direct marketing
You have an absolute right to object at any time to your personal information being used for direct marketing.
If you tell us that you do not want us to use your personal information for direct marketing, we will stop using it for that purpose.
You do not need to provide a reason.
You can object by using an unsubscribe facility contained in our communications or by contacting: Privacy@PolitePolitics.co.uk
18. Your other data protection rights
Depending on the circumstances and the lawful basis on which we process your information, you may have rights including:
Right to be informed
You have the right to understand how your personal information is collected and used.
Right of access
You can ask us for a copy of personal information we hold about you.
Right to rectification
You can ask us to correct information that is inaccurate or incomplete.
Right to erasure
In certain circumstances, you can ask us to delete personal information we hold about you.
Right to restrict processing
In certain circumstances, you can ask us to restrict the way in which we use your information.
Right to object
You may have the right to object to certain processing.
Your right to object to the use of your personal information for direct marketing is absolute.
Right to data portability
Where applicable, you may have the right to receive certain information you provided to us in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format.
Right to withdraw consent
Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time.
To exercise any of these rights, please contact: Privacy@PolitePolitics.co.uk
We may need to take reasonable steps to confirm your identity before responding to a request.
19. Automated decision making and profiling
We do not use subscription to our Business and Community Updates service to make decisions about people based solely on automated processing that have legal or similarly significant effects.
We will not automatically infer that somebody holds a particular political opinion merely because they:
20. Security
We take reasonable organisational and technical measures to protect personal information against:
Access to personal information will be limited to people who reasonably require it for an authorised purpose.
21. Changes to our registered name, descriptions or branding
Newton-le-Willows Independents may change its registered party name, registered descriptions or public branding.
If our name or branding changes but the same organisation remains responsible for your personal information, we will update this Privacy Notice to make the change clear.
We may also rename geographical or local communication lists to reflect registered party descriptions or branding.
A change of name or branding will not be used as an opportunity to materially expand the purposes for which we use your information.
If we wish to use information for a materially different purpose that is not compatible with the choices you originally made, we will provide appropriate information and, where required, seek fresh consent.
22. Changes to this Privacy Notice
We may update this Privacy Notice from time to time to reflect changes in:
The latest version will be available at: PolitePolitics.co.uk/Privacy
Where a change materially affects the way we use existing subscribers' personal information, we will take appropriate steps to bring that change to their attention.
23. Complaints
If you have a concern about how Newton-le-Willows Independents has collected or used your personal information, we would encourage you to contact us first so that we can investigate.
Email: Privacy@PolitePolitics.co.uk
You also have the right to complain to the UK's independent data protection regulator, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).
Information about making a complaint is available at: ico.org.uk
24. Contact us
For questions about this Privacy Notice, your personal information, your communication preferences or your data protection rights, please contact:
Newton-le-Willows Independents