An independent or nonpartisan politician is an individual politician not affiliated to any political party. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent.

• Independents may support policies which are different from those of the major political parties.
• In some parts of the world electors may have a tradition of electing independents, so standing for a political party is a disadvantage.
• In some countries (including Russia) a political party can only be registered if it has a huge number of members in more than one region, but in certain regions only a minority of electors support the major parties.
• In some countries (including Kuwait), political parties are unlawful and all candidates thus stand as independents.