Established in February and formally recognized as a party in May, it was dissolved in December after all its MPs lost their seats at that year's general election.

They were dissatisfied by Labour's leftward political direction under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership, its approach to Brexit and its handling of allegations of antisemitism within the party.

The group was founded by MPs Luciana Berger, Ann Coffey, Mike Gapes, Chris Leslie, Gavin Shuker, Angela Smith and Chuka Umunna, after they announced their resignations from the opposition Labour Party on 18 February 2019.

[13][14] On the day TIG launched, Smith appeared on the BBC's Politics Live programme, where she said, in a discussion about racism, that: "The recent history of the party I've just left suggested it's not just about being black or a funny tin... you know, a different... from the BAME community".

[18][19] The following day, Joan Ryan, who had the previous September lost a vote of no-confidence brought by her constituency party,[20][21] announced her departure from Labour, becoming the first MP to join after TIG's formation.

[33][34] In April, the centrist Renew Party, which had formed in 2017 but not won any seats, announced it would be supporting Change UK – The Independent Group in the European elections.

[34] Both had been elected as Conservatives, but were suspended from the party after supporting a motion in the European Parliament saying sufficient progress had not been made in Brexit negotiations to allow trade talks to start.

[38] Change UK announced on 23 April that it would stand a full slate of candidates in Great Britain for the European elections, including Ashworth, writer Rachel Johnson (sister of Conservative MPs Jo and Boris Johnson), former BBC journalist Gavin Esler,[39] former Conservative MPs Stephen Dorrell and Neil Carmichael, former Labour MEP Carole Tongue, former Labour MPs Roger Casale and Jon Owen Jones, former Liberal Democrat MEP Diana Wallis,[40] and Jacek Rostowski, the former deputy Prime Minister of Poland.

condemned the selection of Rostowski for his anti-gay marriage stance, although he was believed to have recanted homophobic remarks made in 2011 and 2013 about same-sex relationships.

[46] In mid-May, David MacDonald, who had earlier replaced Joseph Russo as Change UK's lead candidate in Scotland following the controversy over the latter's tweets, defected from the party and encouraged supporters to vote for the Scottish Liberal Democrats.

[47] In an interview with The Times, the lead candidate in South West England, Rachel Johnson, described the party as a "sinking ship", criticised the leadership structure and said that Change UK was a "terrible" name.

[48] A week later, interim leader Heidi Allen suggested that the party might not exist at the next general election and hinted at the formation of an alliance with the Liberal Democrats.

[49] On 22 May, she said that she and Wollaston had wanted to advise Remain supporters to vote tactically for the Liberal Democrats in the European elections outside of London and South East England, but were overruled by other members.

[59] In an article shortly before the announcement of the resignations, Stephen Bush of the New Statesman described three viewpoints in the party: one group favouring merger with the Liberal Democrats, including Allen and Umunna; another ideologically unsympathetic towards the Liberal Democrats, including Gapes, Leslie, Ryan and Soubry; and a third who supported reverting to being a loose collection of independents which could attract Labour and Conservative defectors who would find it difficult to switch to a rival party.

[61] The Financial Times described a longstanding split between Umunna and Leslie, both of whom had vied to be the leading force within the party, with Allen chosen as interim leader to defuse tensions.

[73] Before the general election in December, the party announced it would only contest Broxtowe, Ilford South and Nottingham East, where Soubry, Gapes and Leslie, respectively, sought re-election.

[79] Soubry announced a week after the election that the management council had agreed to deregister with the Electoral Commission and begin the process of closing down the Independent Group for Change.

[13] Labour MP Ruth George, who had been asked to respond to a Facebook comment suggesting the group's financial backers were "Israelis", replied that "Support from the State of Israel, which supports both Conservative and Labour Friends of Israel of which Luciana was chair is possible and I would not condemn those who suggest it, especially when the group's financial backers are not being revealed".

[94] Former Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said in a radio interview that it was "entirely possible" that the two groups could merge to form a new centrist political party.

[96] In March 2019, it was reported by Business Insider that the Lib Dems and TIG discussed forming an electoral alliance where joint candidates would stand under the same "umbrella".

[97] Cable proposed standing joint candidates with the Greens and Change UK on a common policy of seeking a second referendum on Brexit at the European Parliament elections, but those parties rejected it.

[98] In April, an unverified internal Change UK memo leaked describing their plans to target Liberal Democrat donors and members in an attempt to supplant the larger party.

"[99][100] A week later, Cable said that while Change UK had thrown away opportunities in the European elections by not pooling their strength, they and the Lib Dems had agreed a "non-aggression pact" to discourage "friendly fire".

In March 2019, this structure was changed as the group applied for registration as a political party with Heidi Allen as its leader (on an interim basis until an annual conference could be held).

[110] Specific stated values included a "diverse, mixed social market economy", freedom of the press, environmentalism, devolution, subsidiarity and opposition to Brexit.

[111] Although the party never published a manifesto, it listed eleven "values", including that the government must do "whatever it takes" to protect national security, as Britain is "a great country of which people are rightly proud.

"[113] Shuker said "[we] back well-regulated business but in return we expect them to provide decent, secure and well-paid jobs" and Leslie stressed the group was pro-NATO.

[116] Change UK was supported in its aims by The Independent Group (TIG) Ltd (previously named Gemini A Ltd), a non-trading company started by Shuker and registered in England and Wales.

[145] It is unknown how many of these councillors supported TIG/Change UK, but many gave the same reasons as the MPs: alleged antisemitism in Labour, Corbyn's leadership and Brexit.

[142] Richard Ashworth, an MEP elected as a Conservative in 2014, a European People's Party-affiliated independent since 2018, joined Change UK in April.