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{{short description|British fascist political party founded in 1982}}
{{otheruses}}
{{For|other parties of the same name|British National Party (disambiguation)}}
{{Very long|date=December 2009}}
{{pp-move|small=yes}}
{{pp-vandalism|small=yes}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2014}}
{{use dmy dates|date=May 2023}}
{{Infobox political party {{Infobox political party
| name = British National Party
|country = the United Kingdom
| native_name =
|name_english = British National Party
| native_name_lang =
|name_native =
|logo = ] | logo = File:British National Party.svg
| logo_size = 230px
|leader = ]
| caption =
|chairman =
| colorcode = {{party color|British National Party}}
|secretary_general =
| abbreviation = BNP
|leader1_title = Deputy Chairman
| leader1_title = ]
|leader1_name = ]
| leader1_name = ]
|foundation = 1982
| leader2_title =
|dissolution =
| leader2_name =
|headquarters = ], ]
| founder = ]
|ideology = ]<br />]<!--
| founded = {{start date and age|df=y|7 April 1982}}
--><ref name="bnpelection2004"/><!--
| registered =
--><ref name="thurlow2000"/><!--
| legalised =
--><ref name="autogenerated1996"/><!--
| dissolved =
--><ref name="informaworld.com"/><ref>{{cite book|last=Copsey|first=Nigel |title=Contemporary British Fascism: The British National Party and the Quest for Legitimacy|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|date=September 2009|edition=2nd|accessdate=19 October 2009}}</ref><!--],
| split = {{nowrap|{{hlist|]|]}}}}
--><!--
| predecessor =
--><ref name="bnplondonbomb">{{cite journal|last=Wood|first=C|month=December | year=2008|title=British National Party representations of Muslims in the month after the London bombings: Homogeneity, threat, and the conspiracy tradition |journal=British Journal of Social Psychology|url=http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/bpsoc/bjsp/2008/00000047/00000004/art00009|volume=47|issue=4|accessdate=15 January 2009|doi=10.1348/014466607X264103|page=707|last2=Finlay|first2=W. M. L.}}</ref><!--
| merged =
--><br />]<!--
| successor =
--><ref>Golder, Matt "." ''Comparative Political Studies'' 36.4 (2003): 432-466. DOI: 10.1177/0010414003251176, Retrieved 9 February 2007</ref><ref>Evans, Jocelyn A J. "" ''Comparative European Politics'' 3.1 (2005): 76–101, Retrieved 9 February 2007</ref><!--
| headquarters = ], ], England<ref>{{Cite web |title=View registration: British National Party |url=http://search.electoralcommission.org.uk/English/Registrations/PP3960 |publisher=]}}</ref>
--><br />]<br />]<!--
| newspaper = ''Identity''
--><ref>Bonnett A. "" ''The Journal of Historical Sociology'' 11.3 (1998): 316–40, Retrieved 9 February 2007</ref><!--
| student_wing =
--><ref>Back, Les, Michael Keith, Azra Khan, Kalbir Shukra, and John Solomos "" ''The Political Quarterly'' 73.4 (2002): 445–54, DOI: 10.1111/1467-923X.00499, Retrieved 9 February 2007</ref><!--
| youth_wing = ]
--><ref>Gerstenfeld, Phyllis B., Diana R. Grant, and Chau-Pu Chiang "" ''Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy'' 3.1 (2003): 29-24, DOI :10.1111/j.1530-2415.2003.00013.x, Retrieved 9 February 2007</ref><!--
| womens_wing =
--><br />]
| membership_year = 2015
|position = ]<!-- references for this are in the lead section -->
| membership = {{decrease}} 500<ref name="Independent membership article">{{Cite web |last=Bolton |first=Doug |date=15 April 2015 |title=General Election 2015: The BNP has almost vanished from British politics |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/generalelection/general-election-2015-the-bnp-has-almost-vanished-from-british-politics-10176194.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150417033148/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/generalelection/general-election-2015-the-bnp-has-almost-vanished-from-british-politics-10176194.html |archive-date=17 April 2015 |access-date=19 April 2015 |website=The Independent}}</ref>
|international =
| ideology = {{unbulleted list
|european = ]<ref>{{Cite book | title = BNP in alliance with nationalists | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8356284.stm | publisher = ] | date = 12 November 2009 | accessdate=31 December 2009}}</ref>
|]<ref name="bnpelection2004" /><ref name="informaworld.com">{{Cite journal |last=Copsey |first=Nigel |year=2007 |title=Changing course or changing clothes? Reflections on the ideological evolution of the British National Party 1999–2006 |journal=] |volume=41 |issue=1 |pages=61–82 |doi=10.1080/00313220601118777 |s2cid=145737620|issn = 0031-322X}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Copsey|2004}}</ref><ref name="bnplondonbomb">{{harvnb|Wood|Finlay|2008}}</ref>
|europarl = ]
|]<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bonnett |first=Alastair |year=1998 |title=How the British Working Class Became White: The Symbolic (Re)formation of Racialized Capitalism |journal=] |volume=11 |issue=3 |page=316 |doi=10.1111/1467-6443.00066}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Back |first1=Les |last2=Keith |first2=Michael |last3=Khan |first3=Azra |last4=Shukra |first4=Kalbir |last5=Solomos |first5=John |year=2002 |title=New Labour's White Heart: Politics, Multiculturalism and the Return of Assimilation |journal=] |volume=73 |issue=4 |page=445 |doi=10.1111/1467-923X.00499}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Gerstenfeld |first1=Phyllis B. |last2=Grant |first2=Diana R. |last3=Chiang |first3=Chau-Pu |year=2003 |title=Hate Online: A Content Analysis of Extremist Internet Sites |journal=] |volume=3 |page=29 |doi=10.1111/j.1530-2415.2003.00013.x|s2cid=6763505 }}</ref>
|colours = ], ], ]
|]<ref name="goon">{{Cite journal |last=Golder |first=M. |year=2003 |title=Explaining Variation in the Success of Extreme Right Parties in Western Europe |journal=Comparative Political Studies |volume=36 |issue=4 |page=432 |doi=10.1177/0010414003251176 |s2cid=55841713}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Evans |first=Jocelyn A. J. |date=April 2005 |title=The dynamics of social change in radical right-wing populist party support |journal=] |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=76–101 |citeseerx=10.1.1.199.7394 |doi=10.1057/palgrave.cep.6110050 |s2cid=7805751}}</ref>
|website =
|]{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=7}}
|colorcode = {{British National Party/meta/color}}
|]<ref name="goon" />
|seats1_title = ]
|]{{sfnm|1a1=Szczerbiak|1a2=Taggart|1y=2008|1p=102|2a1=Woodbridge|2y=2011|2p=107}}
|seats1 = {{Infobox political party/seats|0|646|hex=#2222FF}}
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|seats2 = {{Infobox political party/seats|0|724|hex=#2222FF}}
| religion =
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| regional =
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| european = ]{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=88}}
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| international =
|seats4 = {{Infobox political party/seats|1|25|hex=#2222FF}}
| colours = {{color box|Red|border=silver}} ] {{color box|White|border=silver}} ] {{color box|{{party color|British National Party}}|border=silver}} ]
|seats5_title = ]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gwydir.demon.co.uk/uklocalgov/makeup.htm |title=Local Council Political Compositions |author=Keith Edkins |date=30 November 2009 |work= |publisher= |accessdate=2 December 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/flg05.htm |title=The 2005 Local Government Elections in Northern Ireland |author=Nicholas Whyte |date=10 May 2005 |work= |publisher=] |accessdate=2 December 2009}}</ref>
| slogan =
|seats5 = {{Infobox political party/seats|58|21871|hex=#2222FF}}
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| website = {{URL|https://bnp.org.uk}}
| country = the United Kingdom
}} }}
The '''British National Party''' ('''BNP''') is an extremist ] political party formed as a splinter group from the ] by ] in 1982. Until 2009, when it was challenged in the courts on grounds of racial discrimination,<ref>"", ''The Independent'', 16 October 2009.</ref> it restricted membership to people of "] origin".<ref></ref> After a vote by members in a February 2010 extraordinary general meeting the party dropped this policy, with chairman Nick Griffin saying that the party will now "accept anyone as a member providing they agree with us that this country should remain fundamentally British".<ref></ref> The party news membership rules have been ruled as "still indirectly discriminatory".<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8564742.stm</ref>


The '''British National Party''' ('''BNP''') is a ], ] ] in the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in ], ], and is led by ]. A ], it has no elected representatives at any level of ]. The party was founded in 1982, and reached its greatest level of success in the 2000s, when it had over fifty seats in ], one seat on the ], and two ]. It has been largely inactive since 2019.
The BNP seeks to restore the overwhelmingly ] of Britain that existed prior to 1948 through legal means, including "firm but voluntary incentives for immigrants and their descendants to return home",<ref name = "BBC-Rebuilding">British National Party: ''Rebuilding British Democracy'' general election manifesto 2005 online at </ref> and the repeal of anti-discrimination legislation. It believes that there are significant differences between races.<ref name=bnpfaq>, bnp.org.uk, Retrieved on 4 July 2009</ref> The party is ostracised by mainstream political parties in the UK.<ref name="telegraph.co.uk">{{cite web | work=The Daily Telegraph|title=Cameron calls on voters to back anyone but the BNP|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1516510/Cameron-calls-on-voters-to-back-anyone-but-the-BNP.html| accessdate=5 December 2006}}</ref><ref></ref><ref>{{cite web | title = European elections 2009: BNP successes 'horrific' say main parties | url = http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/eu/5474602/European-elections-2009-BNP-successes-horrific-say-main-parties.html | publisher = '']'' | date = 8 June 2009 | accessdate = 22 October 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title = Austerity Britain: Why the far right is finding converts in Barnsley | author = Martin Fletcher | url = http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6268999.ece | publisher = '']'' | date = 12 May 2009 | accessdate = 20 October 2009 | location=London}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title = Documentary exposes racists of far right | url = http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/07/16/1089694567005.html | publisher = '']'' | date = 17 July 2004 | accessdate = 21 October 2009}}</ref>


Taking its name from that of a ], the BNP was created by ] and other former members of the fascist ] (NF). During the 1980s and 1990s, the BNP placed little emphasis on contesting elections, in which it did poorly. Instead, it focused on street marches and rallies, creating the ] paramilitary—its name a coded reference to ] leader ]—to protect its events from ] protesters. A growing 'moderniser' faction was frustrated by Tyndall's leadership, and ousted him in 1999. The new leader ] sought to broaden the BNP's electoral base by presenting a more moderate image, targeting concerns about rising immigration rates, and emphasising localised community campaigns. This resulted in increased electoral growth throughout the 2000s, to the extent that it became the most electorally successful far-right party in British history. Concerns regarding financial mismanagement resulted in Griffin being removed as leader in 2014. By this point, the BNP's membership and vote share had declined dramatically, groups like ] and ] had splintered off, and the ] had supplanted it as the UK's foremost far-right group.
In 2005, at the last ], the party received 0.7% of the popular vote but had no candidates elected to ]. In the 2006 English ] the party doubled its number of seats in ]. The BNP finished fifth in the ] with 5.2% of the popular vote and secured one of the ]'s 25 seats.<ref name="BBC2008">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7219747.stm |publisher=] |date=3 May 2008 |title=Profile: Richard Barnbrook |accessdate=2 October 2008 }}</ref> They won their first county council seats in 2009<ref>Tony Travers: , guardian.co.uk, 5 June 2009</ref> together with two seats in the ].<ref>Wainwright, Martin , guardian.co.uk, 8 June 2009</ref> The party's ] profile has increased recently under its current leader ], a former national organiser of the National Front.<ref>BBC News </ref>
{{TOC limit|3}}


Ideologically positioned on the extreme-right or far-right of British politics, the BNP has been characterised as fascist or ] by ]. Under Tyndall's leadership, it was more specifically regarded as ]. The party is ], and it once espoused the view that only ] should be citizens of the United Kingdom. It calls for an end to non-white migration into the UK. It called initially for the compulsory expulsion of non-whites but, since 1999, it has advocated voluntary removals with financial incentives. It promotes ] and the ], calling for global ] and condemning ]. Under Tyndall, the BNP emphasised ] and ], promoting the ] that ] through both ] and international ]. Under Griffin, the party's focus switched from anti-semitism towards ]. It promotes ], ], and a transformation away from ], while its social policies oppose ], ], and ].
==History==
===Background, National Front outgrowth===
] march from the 1970s. The movement from which the BNP would emerge by 1982.]]
The ''British National Party''{{#tag:ref|The name British National Party had been used in politics previously by four organisations. The two most notable examples were the ] party, created by Mosleyites who eventually became the ] and a group in the ] initiated by ] which became part of the ]. Tyndall was a leading member of the 1960s BNP and a founder of the present party.|group=note}} was founded in 1982 by ], following a split within the ] movement which had occurred two years previously.<ref name="cook">{{harvnb|Cook|2000|p=88}}</ref> At its foundation, they were joined by a faction of the disintergrating ] led by ]. Tyndall had entered the National Front in 1967 with various members of the ] and had become its chairman by the early 1970s.<ref name="twotwofive"/> The decade was a time of unrest in ] and spurred on by the popular reception of ]'s '']'' speech, regarding non-European immigration into British communities, the National Front under Tyndall's leadership had become more successful and known in the public sphere.<ref name="twotwofive">{{harvnb|Robin|1989|p=225}}</ref>


Operating around a highly centralised structure that gave its chair near total control, the BNP built links with far-right parties across Europe and created various sub-groups, including a record label and trade union. The BNP attracted most support from within ] working-class communities in northern and eastern England, particularly among middle-aged and elderly men. A poll in the 2000s suggested that most Britons favoured a ban on the party. It faced much opposition from anti-fascists, religious organisations, the mainstream media, and most politicians, and BNP members were banned from various professions.
After reportedly becoming the third party at the local level in some areas of the United Kingdom,<ref name="twotwoseven">{{harvnb|Robin|1989|p=227}}</ref> the NF began to receive more partisan, hostile coverage in the ], beginning around 1978.<ref name="twotwoseven"/> The party also organised public ] in an attempt to further raise their profile amongst the electorate, though this sometimes led to violent clashes with political opponents.<ref name="twotwoseven"/> The ] ] also set up the ] campaign against the NF.<ref name="twotwoseven"/> After a poor showing at the ], precipitated in no small part by ]'s televised speech stating the ] would implement a "clear end to immigration",<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,948011,00.html|title=Mrs. Thatcher's Bold Gamble|author=] |date=20 February 1978 |accessdate=2 January 2010}}</ref> internal factional division heightened within the NF. This culminated in Tyndall leaving the party and chairman post in 1980,<ref name="betz">{{harvnb|Betz|1998|p=145}}</ref> founding the ''New National Front'' with a faction surrounding him, which became the BNP two years later.<ref>{{harvnb|Barberis|2005|p=191}}</ref>


== History ==
===Tyndall leadership, early years===
{{main|History of the British National Party}}
According to '']'', the politicial magazine edited and produced by Tyndall, the split within the movement was not initially intended to be a permanent one.<ref name="betz"/> Rather he had hoped the BNP and NF would be ], once the factional disputes had calmed—for a time there existed an organisation called the ''Committee for Nationalist Unity''.<ref name="betz"/><ref name="bnpbarb">{{harvnb|Barberis|2005|p=178}}</ref> The only substantial policy difference between the two parties in their 1983 campaign, was that the BNP barred exponents of "]" from high office within the party. This was intended as an attack on ], the ''de facto'' leader of the NF, who had formerly being a close political ally of Tyndall.<ref>{{harvnb|Barberis|2005|p=187}}</ref> During the ] itself, the party obtained the right to show a party politicial broadcast on ], due to fielding 53 candidates.<ref name="eightthree">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/programmes/2001/bnp_special/roots/1979.stm|title=BNP: under the skin, 1979-1983|author=] |date=25 November 2001|accessdate=4 January 2010}}</ref> The broadcast featured chairman Tyndall, flanked by two ]. Much of the footage shown was the ], one of several which ] during the early 1980s; in this case a violent riot between predominantly black local residents and the police.<ref name="harri">{{harvnb|Harrison|1983|p=155}}</ref>{{#tag:ref|According to academic Martin Harrison in ''The British General Election of 1983'', the BNP's broadcast "emphasis was less heavily anti-black than the National Front's". Rather the BNP pointed the finger at the political establishment, arguing that their social engineering, pro-immigration policies had caused violence on Britain's streets and social decay.<ref name="harri"/>|group=note}} All candidates combined, the BNP achieved only 14,621 votes in the general election.<ref name="butler">{{harvnb|Butler|1983|p=345}}</ref> This was significantly less than the NF, who remained the most popular party of the movement.<ref name="butler" />


===John Tyndall's leadership: 1982–1999===
It was revealed afterwards that Deputy Chairman of the party, Ray Hill, had been working as a ] on behalf of the left-wing magazine '']''; some academics have suggested he acted as a ], to sabotage the early activities of the BNP.<ref name="bnpbarb"/> During the mid-1980s, the party began to develop friendly relations domestically, with organisations such as the NF ]{{#tag:ref|There were overtures at a possible BNP and NF Flag Group reunification as the ''Nationalist Alliance''. It was ] of the NF Flag Group who attempted to engineer this.<ref name="copsey"/> It came to nothing after ], one of the NF Flag Group leaders with ], rejected the possibility explicitly in ''The Flag'' magazine. Wingfield had a long-standing grudge with BNP chairman Tyndall.<ref name="copsey">{{harvnb|Copsey|2004|p=30}}</ref>|group=note}} and the ] (a hard-edge faction of the Conservatives, soon disbanded).<ref name="bnpbarb"/> The BNP also made contacts on the continent, particularly with ] of the radical Odal Group, which succeeded the ].<ref name="bnpbarb"/> A new ] was instigated in 1986, limiting by law opinions people could state in regards to race in the United Kingdom; the state subsequenty convicted party members Tyndall and ] under it that year, on the grounds of "conspiracy to publish material likely to incite racial hatred".<ref>{{harvnb|Szajkowski|2004|p=498}}</ref> While Tyndall was in prison he wrote the part-autobiographical, part-political ''The Eleventh Hour''. ] was the ''de facto'' leader during this time.<ref>{{harvnb|Eriksen|2006|p=99}}</ref> The electoral deposit increased to £500 per candidate in the ], this affected smaller parties especially and so the BNP only stood two candidates.<ref>{{harvnb|Robins|1994|p=236}}</ref>
]s, demonstrating outside a factory.|A ] march from the 1970s, the movement from which the BNP emerged by 1982]]
The British National Party (BNP){{refn|The name British National Party had been used in politics by four organisations,{{sfn|Husbands|1983|p=19}} most notably by the ] which became the ] and by ] initiated by ], which became part of the ]. Tyndall was a leading member of the 1960s BNP and a founder of the present party.|group=note}} was founded by the extreme-right political activist ]. Tyndall had been involved in ] groups since the late 1950s before leading the far-right ] (NF) throughout most of the 1970s. Following an argument with senior party member ], he resigned from the NF in 1980.{{sfnm|1a1=Copsey|1y=2008|1pp=21–23|2a1=Goodwin|2y=2011|2p=24}} In June 1980 Tyndall established a rival, the New National Front (NNF).{{sfn|Copsey|2008|p=23}} At the recommendation of ]—who was secretly an ] spy seeking to sow disharmony among Britain's far-right—Tyndall decided to unite an array of extreme-right groups as a single party.{{sfnm|1a1=Copsey|1y=2008|1pp=24–25|2a1=Trilling|2y=2012|2p=59}} To this end, Tyndall established a Committee for Nationalist Unity (CNU) in January 1982.{{sfn|Copsey|2008|p=25}} In March 1982, the CNU held a conference at the ] in London,{{sfn|Copsey|2008|p=25}} at which 50 far-right activists agreed to the formation of the BNP.{{sfn|Copsey|2008|p=25}}


The BNP was formally launched on 7 April 1982 at a press conference in ].{{sfnm|1a1=Copsey|1y=2008|1p=26|2a1=Goodwin|2y=2011|2p=36}} Led by Tyndall, most of its early members came from the NNF, although others were defectors from the NF, ], ], and ].{{sfnm|1a1=Copsey|1y=2008|1pp=25–26|2a1=Goodwin|2y=2011|2p=36}} Tyndall remarked that there was "scarcely any difference in ideology or policy save in the minutest detail",{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=37}} and most of the BNP's leading activists had formerly been senior NF figures.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=36}} Under Tyndall's leadership the party was neo-Nazi in orientation and engaged in nostalgia for ].{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=37}} It adopted the NF's tactic of holding street marches and rallies, believing that these boosted morale and attracted new recruits.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=43}} Their first march took place in London on ] 1982.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=43}} These marches often involved clashes with anti-fascist protesters and resulted in multiple arrests, helping to cement the BNP's association with political violence and older ] groups in the public eye.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=44}} As a result, BNP organisers began to favour indoor rallies, although street marches continued to be held throughout the mid-to-late 1980s.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=44}}
===Gains at local level, into the 1990s===
]
A report in '']'' during 1988 revealed that Deputy Chairman of the party Richard Edmonds, was involved with a newspaper called the ''"Holocaust" News'', published by the ''Centre for Historical Review''.<ref>{{cite news |url=|title=Holocaust hate sheet alarms British Jews|author=]|date= 6 March 1988|accessdate=4 January 2010}}</ref> The publication claimed that the ] as presented in state-sponsored accounts was an elaborate politically motivated hoax, instead it promoted various papers such as the '']'', the ''Ball Report'' and the '']''.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Herman Brinks |first1= Jan|last2= Rock|first2=Stella |year= |title=Nationalist Myths and Modern Media: Contested Identities in the Age of Globalisation |journal=Tauris Academic Studies |volume= |issue= |pages=14 |url=http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:gVXKqee5J-cJ:www.thecst.org.uk/docs/Holocaust%2520Denial%2520in%2520the%2520UK.pdf+Centre+for+Historical+Review,+PO+Box+446,+London+SE23+2LS&hl=en&gl=uk&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESjZu2C-mklDKHRn3EBTDpTlC02YVEwIyEMqAShfP5HomFdQs4aA8aajGFBtVTj3EtgkEdSb7EpItICbEdbcWqsQO4Kh8QpmPO_a-Ajac1DXqMhAU2f1dgsn_qlkaAYHJmmFRio-&sig=AHIEtbS17M0tvIg7baQxQ0w7o8Lc_xU26Q |doi= }}</ref> The BNP mobilised a ''Rights for Whites'' demonstration in 1989, after an attempt by some English parents in ], to withdraw their children from schools which had experienced high levels of Muslim immigration.<ref>{{cite news |url=|title=Saturday rioting|author=] |date=1 July 1989}}</ref>{{Request quotation|date=January 2010}}{{#tag:ref|During the time that ] of Labour was the ] since the late 1950s, Muslims from ] and ] began to settle the area, at a very high rate.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article4016574.ece|title=
Dewsbury: Kidnap, lynching and a suicide |author=] |date=28 May 2008|accessdate=22 January 2010}}</ref> Including a prominent Dewsbury based community of the strict ] variation of ]<ref name="debdew">{{harvnb|Bhatt|1997|p=118}}</ref> and in 1982, the ], one of the largest in Europe, was built.|group=note}} A thousand people participated in the march; a ], attracting widespread media attention.<ref name="Sykes">{{harvnb|Sykes|2004|p=131}}</ref> Around this time, the party saw a popularity growth in ] and the urban ], and so relocated its bookshop to a heavily fortified headquarters at ], south east London.<ref>{{harvnb|Boothroyd|2001|p=22}}</ref> Following the ], the BNP had established itself as the highest polling party of the nationalist movement, ahead of the NF.<ref name="cook"/> Tyndall who remained leader and ] a devoted activist of the ], were noted candidates who stood during this election.<ref name="twothree">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/programmes/2001/bnp_special/roots/1992.stm|title=BNP: under the skin, 1992-1993|author=] |date=25 November 2001|accessdate=18 January 2010}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Barberis|2005|p=177}}</ref>


{{Quote box|width=25em|align=left|quote=Through the streets now we are marching.<br />Like an army as to war.<br />For the cause of race and nation.<br />With our banners to the fore.<br />Into battle, into battle, into battle BNP!<br />Into battle BNP!|source=— BNP marching song, 1982{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=36}}}}
Following on from this, the BNP with candidate ]—a last minute replacement for ]—won its first ] seat in 1993 from Labour, during a local-by election for the ] in the ].<ref name="cook"/> The seat was won on a ''Rights for Whites'' response basis, in which it was claimed asylum seekers were being favoured for local housing initiatives ahead of the native working-class,<ref name="bnpbarb"/> coupled with the "apparently racially motivated murder of a white youth".<ref name="betztwo">{{harvnb|Betz|1998|p=148}}</ref> In 1991, a security force made up of nationalists drawn from ] firms was created to defend nationalist activists, allegedly in response to a hammer attack at ] Library.<ref name="inde">{{cite news |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/combat-18-memoirs-of-a-streetfighting-man-1142204.html|title=
Combat 18: Memoirs of a street-fighting man |author=] |date=1 February 1998|accessdate=18 January 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.lobster-magazine.co.uk/online/issue30/lob30-10.htm|title= Combat 18 and MI5: some background notes |author=Lobster Magazine|date=1995|accessdate=19 January 2010}}</ref> The force firebombed the headquarters of ] newspaper the '']'' and by 1993 renounced ], transforming into ]<ref>{{harvnb|Gale|2006|p=241}}</ref> paramilitary ].<ref name="inde"/> That same year, the BNP banned membership in the group<ref name="twothree"/> and claimed it was ] infiltrated and "police-ran",<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_7736000/7736870.stm|title=Interview with the British National Party|author=] |date=19 November 2008 |accessdate=19 January 2010}}</ref> working to discredit the party, similar to ] "false flag" operations during the ].{{#tag:ref|Nick Griffin who would later become BNP chairman, stated in ''Spearhead'' during 1999 that; members of Combat 18 had been a faction of the ] some years earlier, from which they were expelled, but never part of the BNP.<ref name="griffinspear">{{cite news |url=http://www.bernardomahoney.com/forthcb/ootdie/articles/sthh.shtml|title=Spearhead |author=] |date=June 1999|accessdate=19 January 2010}}</ref> He claims that "It has been known for some years that MI5 encouraged or even ordered the setting up of C18 in order to disrupt and discredit the BNP after its historic electoral success in Millwall in 1993" and also that "] confirmed the fact that Combat 18 was a state-sponsored 'honeytrap' right from the start (5/4/99)".<ref name="griffinspear"/>|group=note}} It was revealed around this time that another ''Searchlight'' mole, Tim Hepple had infiltrated the BNP, proving controversial in far-left circles.{{#tag:ref|
Hepple was the primary organiser of the Dewsbury incident in 1989.<ref>{{harvnb|Goodrick-Clarke|2003|p=171}}</ref> However, Hepple also worked as a ''Searchlight'' mole amongst the radical left as an "]".<ref name="spunklib"/> According to Larry O'Hara in ''At War with the Truth'', Hepple attempted to get ] to publish works by radical nationalists, with the intention of publishing an expose in ''Searchlight'' that they were "working with fascists"—thus leaving them open to attack from all sides.<ref name="spunklib">{{cite news |url=http://www.spunk.org/texts/antifasc/sp000525.html|title=At War with the Truth: The True Story of Searchlight Agent Tim Hepple|author=Spunk Library |accessdate=20 January 2010}}</ref> This happened to ].<ref name="spunklib"/>|group=note}}
{{Quote box
| quote =There is no doubt that hundreds, probably thousands of Jews were shot to death in Eastern Europe, because they were rightly or wrongly seen as communists or potential partisan supporters. That was awful. But this nonsense about gas chambers is exposed as a total lie.
| source = ], '']'', 1997.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6X8QQwU00Jk|title=Interview with Nick Griffin on The Cook Report |author=] |date=July 1997|accessdate=19 January 2010}}</ref>
| width =30%
| align =left
}}
Political opponents claimed that "racist incidents" occurred around the BNP's headquarters at Welling and instigated a "close down the BNP" march in October 1993.<ref name="welling">{{cite web |url= http://www.dkrenton.co.uk/welling.html|title= Memories of Welling|author=DK Renton |date= |work= |publisher=DKRenton.co.uk |accessdate=22 January 2009}}</ref>{{#tag:ref|The march was organised by the ANL, which was founded<ref>{{harvnb|Barberis|2005|p=141}}</ref> and ran by the ].<ref>{{harvnb|Dearlove|2000|p=108}}</ref> However thousands of people attended the demonstration, in which 2,600 police officers were also deployed.<ref name="hans">{{cite news |url=http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/lords/1993/oct/18/welling-disturbances|title=Welling: Disturbances|author=]|date=18 October 1993 |accessdate=30 January 2010}}</ref> A hardcore element associated with the active membership of SWP and Militant<ref name="swpmilitant"/> refused to accept police instruction to divert the march away from the BNP's headquarters itself, once it had gone past it. In the resulting riot twenty one police, and forty-one demonstrators were injured,<ref name="hans"/> leading to frontpage headlines of ''Masked mob stone police'' in the '']''.<ref name="welling"/><ref name="mailwelling">{{cite news |url=|title=Masked Mob Stone Police: 100 hurt as riot erupts on march|author=] | date=17 October 1993}}</ref>|group=note}} Elements among the demonstration, linked to ] and ] rioted with the police,<ref name="swpmilitant">{{cite news |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/hardleft-violence-hurting-antiracist-organisations-1504398.html|title=Hard-left violence 'hurting anti-racist organisations' |author=]|date= 15 November 1993|accessdate=22 January 2010}}</ref> leading to frontpage news coverage.<ref name="mailwelling"/> In 1995 Welling local council shutdown BNP headquarters.<ref>{{harvnb|Saggar|1998|p=136}}</ref> The same year relations were built up with ]'s ] from the United States.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.buildingdemocracy.org/reports/Beyond_a_Dead_Mans_Deeds_color_web.pdf|title= Beyond A Dead Man's Deeds: The National Alliance After William Pierce|author= |date= |work= Center for New Community|publisher=BuildingDemocracy.org |accessdate=22 January 2009}}</ref> ] joined the party in 1995 and Tyndall allowed him to edit ''Spearhead''. Griffin stated in ''The Rune'', that approved presentations of the Holocaust was a "mixture of Allied wartime propaganda, extremely profitable lie, and latter witch-hysteria".<ref name="guardng"/> Consequently, the state prosecuted him under the Public Order Act at the instigation of ], a ] MP.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.libertarian.co.uk/lapubs/legan/legan029.pdf|title= The British State versus Freedom of Expression: The Case of R. v. Griffin|author= David Botsford|date= |work= |publisher=] |accessdate=24 January 2009}}</ref> During the ], the ascent of ], the BNP's highest results were in the ] and ].<ref>{{harvnb|Eatwell|2004|p=67}}.</ref>


In its early years, the BNP's involvement in elections was "irregular and intermittent",{{sfn|Copsey|2008|p=39}} and for its first two decades it faced consistent electoral failure.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=9}} It suffered from low finances and few personnel,{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=41}} and its leadership was aware that its electoral viability was weakened by the anti-immigration rhetoric of ] Prime Minister ].{{sfnm|1a1=Copsey|1y=2008|1p=49|2a1=Goodwin|2y=2011|2p=42}} In the ] the BNP stood 54 candidates, although it only campaigned in five seats.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=9}} Although it was able to air its first ], it averaged a vote share of 0.06% in the seats it contested.{{sfnm|1a1=Copsey|1y=2008|1p=31|2a1=Goodwin|2y=2011|2p=41–42}}<ref name="eightthree">{{Cite news |title=1979–1983 |publisher=] |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/programmes/2001/bnp_special/roots/1979.stm |url-status=live |access-date=4 January 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090322033430/http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/programmes/2001/bnp_special/roots/1979.stm |archive-date=22 March 2009 |series=Under the skin of the BNP}}</ref>
===Griffin leadership, identity nationalism===
After the ] raised the electoral ] to £500, the BNP adopted a policy of "very limited involvement" in elections.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=42}} It abstained in the ],{{sfnm|1a1=Copsey|1y=2008|1p=41|2a1=Goodwin|2y=2011|2p=9}} and stood only 13 candidates in the ].{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=9}} In ] the BNP gained one council seat—won by ] in the East London district of ]—after a campaign that played to local whites who were angry at the perceived preferential treatment received by Bangladeshi migrants in ].{{sfnm|1a1=Gable|1y=1995|1p=263|2a1=Copsey|2y=2008|2pp=51, 62–65|3a1=Bottom|3a2=Copus|3y=2011|3p=144|4a1=Goodwin|4y=2011|4p=xii}} Following an anti-BNP campaign launched by local religious groups and the ], it lost this seat during the ].{{sfnm|1a1=Copsey|1y=2008|1p=66|2a1=Goodwin|2y=2011|2pp=xii, 47|3a1=Trilling|3y=2012|3pp=29–32}} In the ], it contested 55 seats and gained an average 1.4% of the vote.{{sfnm|1a1=Sykes|1y=2005|1p=131|2a1=Goodwin|2y=2011|2p=9}}<ref name="copsey73">{{harvnb|Copsey|2004|p=73}}</ref>
By 1999 there had been some internal realignments within the party. Griffin supported by the likes of ], stood against Tyndall for leadership of the BNP in October.<ref name="eatw"/> Griffin won on a ticket of "modernising" the party for the 21st century,<ref name="eatw"/> changing the policy on non-European immigration from mandatory to voluntary ] and a move away from the ] focus, allowing them to stand for election.<ref name="Nationalism and Israel">{{cite web|url=http://www.bnp.org.uk/news_detail.php?newsId=1057|title=Nationalism and Israel |date=28 July 2006 |publisher=British National Party |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20071014195726/http://www.bnp.org.uk/news_detail.php?newsId=1057 |archivedate=14 October 2007}}</ref> Some had felt Tyndall's earlier dalliance with national socialism, would always serve as ammunition for opponents to hold the party back. An intransigent faction left as a result, rejoining the harder-edged NF.<ref name="eatw"/> This change had been spurred on in part, by the continental electoral gains achieved by ]'s ] of France<ref name="cook"/><ref>{{harvnb|Plowright|2006|p=37}}.</ref> and ]'s ] of Austria.<ref>{{harvnb|Ryan|2004|p=88}}.</ref> A more "slick and sophisticated", ] dialectic inherited from the ] was adopted by the BNP, dubbed the "suits not boots" approach. A new monthly newspaper, ''The Voice of Freedom'', was initiated, as well as a journal ''Identity''.<ref name="eatw"/> During the ], ] and ] polled highest for the BNP,<ref name="geed">{{harvnb|Geddes|2002|p=194}}.</ref> a year in which ] occurred earlier.<ref name="geed"/> The BNP claimed in ''Freedom'' that "injustices" underpinned this in Oldham, such as the Home Improvement Grant issuing on average £3,509 to native families, while Pakistanis received £11,336.<ref>{{harvnb|Abbas|2005|p=56}}.</ref> Following ] the BNP made further political capital in this direction.<ref>{{harvnb|Abbas|2005|p=58}}.</ref>


In the early 1990s, the paramilitary group ] (C18){{refn|The "18" in its name is derived from the initials of ].<ref>{{Cite news |title=1992 - 1993 |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/programmes/2001/bnp_special/roots/1992.stm |url-status=live |access-date=26 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180626193632/http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/programmes/2001/bnp_special/roots/1992.stm |archive-date=26 June 2018 |series=Under the skin of the BNP}}</ref> A and H are the first and eighth letters of the ].|group=note}} was formed to protect BNP events from anti-fascists.{{sfnm|1a1=Gable|1y=1995|1p=262|2a1=Sykes|2y=2005|2p=132|3a1=Copsey|3y=2008|3p=66|4a1=Driver|4y=2011|4p=136}} In 1992, C18 carried out attacks on left-wing targets like an ] bookshop and the headquarters of the '']''.{{sfn|Sykes|2005|p=132}} Tyndall was angered by C18's growing influence on the BNP's street activities,{{sfn|Gable|1995|p=263}} and by August 1993, C18 activists were physically clashing with other BNP members.{{sfn|Gable|1995|p=264}} In December 1993, Tyndall issued a bulletin to BNP branches declaring C18 to be a proscribed organisation, furthermore suggesting that it may have been established by agents of the state to discredit the party.{{sfnm|1a1=Gable|1y=1995|1p=267|2a1=Sykes|2y=2005|2pp=135, 136|3a1=Copsey|3y=2008|3pp=67, 68}} To counter the group's influence among militant British nationalists, he secured the American white nationalist militant ] as a guest speaker at the BNP's annual rally in November 1995.{{sfn|Copsey|2008|p=69}}
], present chairman of the BNP and an elected ].]]
At local level the BNP continued to progressively improve their electoral results from 2002—03.<ref name="eatwo"/> Including a strong showing at the ] mayoral election,<ref name="eatwo">{{harvnb|Eatwell|2004|p=75}}.</ref> as well as local council victories in ], ] and Burnley,<ref name="eatwo"/><ref>{{cite news |url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2690555.stm| title=History of the BNP|publisher=BBC News | date=24 January 2003 | accessdate=31 December 2009}}</ref> despite an extensive opposition campaign by the local news media, ], the ] parties and other elements.<ref name="eatwo"/> Scheduled to be aired ahead of the local, London and European elections of June 2004,<ref name="secretag">{{harvnb|Brinks|2006|p=91}}.</ref> the ] colluded with ''Searchlight'' in creating a documentary called ''The Secret Agent''.<ref name="secretag"/> The film featured ] infiltrating the BNP to create an expose. In it Griffin made comments critical of ] and subsequently the state attempted to prosecute him and ]. After the documentary was broadcast ] froze the party's bank accounts.<ref>{{cite news|url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3901621.stm|title=Barclays Bank bans BNP accounts|publisher=BBC News|date=16 July 2004 |accessdate=7 February 2007 }}</ref> The two were eventually acquitted of all charges by 2006.<ref name="cleared">{{cite news|url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bradford/6135060.stm|title=BNP leader cleared of race hate |publisher=BBC News|date= 10 November 2006 | accessdate=31 December 2009}}</ref> The BNP branded the BBC "cockroaches" and claimed it had abused a tax-payer funded institution for politicised ends.<ref name="cleared"/> Following the ] bombings in London, the BNP released fliers with the slogan; "maybe now it's time to start listening to the BNP."<ref name="nowlab">{{cite news|url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/4674675.stm|title=BNP campaign uses bus bomb photo |publisher=BBC News|date= 12 July 2005 | accessdate=25 January 2010}}</ref> Griffin claimed it was the "cost of voting Labour",<ref name="nowlab"/> attacking the government for bringing the United Kingdom into an "illegal" ] and for its immigration policies.<ref name="nowlab"/> ] claimed in 2006, that support for the party stood at up to 7%.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://yougov.com/archives/pdf/omi060101069_1.pdf|title=]|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20061102183815/http://yougov.com/archives/pdf/omi060101069_1.pdf|archivedate=2 November 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1516300/BNP-set-to-win-seats-as-support-surges.html|title=BNP set to win seats as support surges|last=Jones|first=George|date=21 April 2006|publisher=The Daily Telegraph|accessdate=29 September 2009}}</ref> Large gains were made in the ], where the BNP more than doubled its number of councillers,<ref name="double"/> especially in former Labour heartlands.<ref name="guardianpolitics2006">{{cite web|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardianpolitics/story/0,,1768175,00.html|title=BNP rears its head as Labour loses heartland seats|publisher=The Guardian|date=5 May 2006 | accessdate=25 January 2010}}</ref> It became the second party on the ] council.<ref name="double">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4974870.stm|title=BNP doubles number of councillors|publisher=BBC News|date=5 May 2006 | accessdate=31 December 2009}}</ref>


{{Quote box|width=25em|align=right|quote=John Tyndall was both greatest asset and its greatest drawback. His persistence, rock-like reliability and leadership had kept the movement going, but with almost imperceptible growth since its 1982 foundation.|source=— Senior BNP member John Bean{{sfn|Copsey|2008|p=75}} }}
{{Copyedit|date=February 2010}}
{{Recentism|date=February 2010}}
====''The Guardian'''s infiltration====
On 21 December 2006, '']'' revealed that one of its journalists, Ian Cobain, had worked undercover in the BNP for seven months, and had become the party's ] organiser.<ref name="Cobain Inside">, by Ian Cobain, ''The Guardian'', 21 December 2006.</ref><ref> by Ian Cobain, ''The Guardian'', 21 December 2006.</ref> Among the accusations made by the paper was that the BNP used "techniques of secrecy and deception&nbsp;... in its attempt to conceal its activities and intentions from the public". It asserted that the BNP operated with a "network of false identities" and organised rendezvous points to allow members to be directed to "clandestine meetings" elsewhere. Members of the party were directed to avoid "any racist or anti-semitic language in public". Cobain also claimed that the membership in central London had expanded beyond the party's traditional range, now including "dozens of company directors, computing entrepreneurs, bankers and estate agents, and a handful of teachers".<ref name="Cobain Inside" />


In the early 1990s, a "moderniser" faction emerged within the party, favouring a more electorally palatable strategy and an emphasis on building grassroots support to win local elections.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=46}} It was impressed by the electoral gains made by a number of extreme-right parties in continental Europe — such as ]'s ] and ]'s ] — which had been achieved by both switching focus from ] to the perceived cultural incompatibility of different racial groups and by replacing anti-democratic platforms with ] ones.{{sfnm|1a1=Copsey|1y=2008|1p=70|2a1=Goodwin|2y=2011|2pp=48–50}}
In the aftermath of ''The Guardian'''s report, the campaign group ] called for the 'BNP ballerina' ] to be dismissed from the ], with UAF vice-chair ] claiming her views on immigration were "incompatible with a leading arts institution such as the English National Ballet" and that she had "used her position to support a party which fosters division".<ref name="BNP-ballerina-BBC">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6241763.stm|title=Storm grows over 'BNP ballerina'|date=8 January 2006|publisher=BBC News | accessdate=2009-12-31}}</ref> However, Clarke defended her personal political opinion, stating that "the BNP is the only party to take a stand ".<ref name="BNP-ballerina-BBC" />
The modernisers called for community campaigns among the white working-class populations of London's ],{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|pp=46–47}} and Northern England.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=51}} While the modernisers gained some concessions from the party's hard-liners,{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=51}} Tyndall opposed many of their ideas and sought to stem their growing influence.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=53}} In his view, "we should not be looking for ways of applying ideological cosmetic surgery to ourselves in order to make our features more appealing to the public".{{sfn|Copsey|2008|p=45}}


===Nick Griffin's leadership: 1999–2014===
The BNP was investigated by the ] on 12 April 2007 after ''The Guardian'' revealed that senior figures in the BNP had set up a front organisation in an attempt to raise money from sympathisers in the ].<ref> ''The Guardian'', 12 April 2007, Retrieved 14 April 2007</ref>


]
====2007 split====
Terry Farr, a councillor in Epping, resigned to spend more time developing his business after a suspension for writing abusive letters to ].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/essex/4287114.stm|title=BNP letter councillor suspended|date=27 September 2005|work=BBC News | accessdate=2009-12-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/1532030.breaking_news_bnp_councillor_resigns_from_district_council/ |title=BREAKING NEWS - BNP councillor resigns from district council (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series) |publisher=Guardian-series.co.uk |date=10 July 2007 |accessdate=27 February 2009}}</ref> In October 2007, James Lloyd, a BNP councillor, was disqualified from ] for not attending a single meeting in a six month period.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.expressandstar.com/2007/10/16/bnp-man-kicked-out/ |title=BNP man kicked out|work=Express &amp; Star|accessdate=19 September 2008}}</ref> This was attributed to business difficulties following the closure of his pub.{{Citation needed|date=July 2009}}


After the BNP's poor performance at the 1997 general election, opposition to Tyndall's leadership grew.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=53}} The modernisers called the party's first leadership election, and in October 1999 Tyndall was ousted when two-thirds of those voting backed ], who offered an improved administration, financial transparency, and greater support for local branches.{{sfnm|1a1=Copsey|1y=2008|1pp=75–76, 101|2a1=Goodwin|2y=2011|2p=55}} Often characterised as a political chameleon,{{sfn|Griffin|2011|p=201}} Griffin had once been considered a party hardliner before switching allegiance to the modernisers in the late 1990s. In his youth, he had been involved in the NF as well as ]ist groups like ] and the ].{{sfnm|1a1=Griffin|1y=2011|1p=196|2a1=Goodwin|2y=2011|2p=66}} Criticising his predecessors for fuelling the image of the BNP as "thugs, losers and troublemakers",{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=71}} Griffin inaugurated a period of change in the party.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|pp=55–56}}
In December 2007, an internal dispute led to the resignation or expulsion of more than 60 of the party's local and national officials.


Influenced by Le Pen's National Front in France, Griffin sought to widen the BNP's appeal to individuals who were concerned about immigration but had not previously voted for the extreme-right.{{sfnm|1a1=Copsey|1y=2008|1p=123|2a1=Goodwin|2y=2011|2p=67}} The BNP replaced Tyndall's policy of compulsory deportation of non-whites to a voluntary system whereby non-whites would be given financial incentives to emigrate.{{sfnm|1a1=Driver|1y=2011|1p=142|2a1=Goodwin|2y=2011|2p=68}} It downplayed ] and stressed the cultural incompatibility of different racial groups.{{sfnm|1a1=Driver|1y=2011|1p=142|2a1=Goodwin|2y=2011|2p=68}} This emphasis on culture allowed it to foreground ]; following the ] in 2001, it launched a "Campaign Against Islam".{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=68}} It stressed the claim that the BNP was "''not'' a racist party" but an "organised response to anti-white racism".{{sfn|Copsey|2008|p=103}} At the same time Griffin sought to reassure the party's base that these reforms were based on pragmatism and not a change in principle.{{sfnm|1a1=Copsey|1y=2008|1p=102|2a1=Goodwin|2y=2011|2p=68}}
Several of its leading officials, including Councillor Sadie Graham and Kenny Smith (Head of Administration), had pressed for some months for the expulsion of three other senior officials—John Walker (National Treasurer), Dave Hannam (Deputy Treasurer) and Mark Collett (Director of Publicity)—who they accused of having brought the BNP into disrepute (the BNP later accused Graham and Smith of being "]" infiltrators.<ref>{{cite web | title=Nick Griffin's New Year Speech|url= http://www.bnp.org.uk/2007/12/31/%e2%80%9cwe%e2%80%99re-the-ones-who-modernised-the-bnp-%e2%80%93-and-we%e2%80%99re-the-ones-who-intend-to-keep-it-modernised%e2%80%9d-new-year%e2%80%99s-message-from-nick-griffin/|accessdate=14 February 2008}}</ref>) In December, frustrated by the failure of disciplinary proceedings, Graham and Smith launched a ] called "enoughisenoughnick" detailing their complaints against the trio.<ref>{{cite web | title=Enough Is Enough|url=http://enoughisenoughnick.blogspot.com|accessdate=3 January 2008}}</ref> In response, Graham and Smith were swiftly dismissed from their positions by Nick Griffin. During the dispute which followed, members of BNP Security seized a computer from Graham's home; Griffin claimed that they were recovering party property, while Graham claimed that it was her own.


Griffin also sought to shed the BNP's image as a ],{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=67}} by embracing a diverse array of social and economic issues.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=70}} Griffin renamed the party's monthly newspaper from ''British Nationalist'' to ''The Voice of Freedom'', and established a new journal, ''Identity''.{{sfn|Copsey|2008|p=114}} The party developed community-based campaigns,{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=67}} through which it targeted local issues,{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=70}} particularly in those areas with large numbers of skilled white working-class people who were disaffected with the ] government.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=73}} For instance, in ] it campaigned for lower speed limits on housing estates and against the closure of a local swimming bath, while in South Birmingham it targeted pensioners' concerns about youth gangs.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=74}} In 2006, the party urged its activists to carry out local activities like cleaning up children's play areas and removing ] while wearing high-vis jackets emblazoned with the party logo.{{sfnm|1a1=Goodwin|1y=2011|1p=74|2a1=Trilling|2y=2012|2p=134}}
A large number of BNP officials then resigned in support of Smith and Graham or were expelled. These included the head of the Young BNP,<ref name="voiceofchange1">{{cite web |work=Voice of Change website|title=About Voice of Change |month=January | year=2008|url= http://www.voiceofchange.org.uk/about.php|accessdate = 26 January 2008}}</ref> the head of BNP Security Training, the National Fundraiser Bev Scott, the head of the party's merchandising operation Excalibur, the editor of the party's website and 5 out of the 13 regional committees{{Citation needed|date=October 2009}} of the BNP. The leadership of the BNP asserted that the significance of the dispute was exaggerated and that it would quickly blow over.<ref>{{cite web |work=The Guardian|title=BNP at war amid allegations of illegal activity |date=22 December 2007|url= http://politics.guardian.co.uk/farright/story/0,,2231430,00.html|accessdate=3 January 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|work=BBC News|title=BNP divided after leadership row|date=19 December 2007|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7152657.stm|accessdate=3 January 2008}}</ref> In late December 2007, the dissidents began to refer to themselves as the "Real BNP". They claimed that they would stay within the BNP and campaign for a change of leaders.


Griffin believed that ] and a growth in Third World migrants arriving in Britain would result in a BNP government coming to power by 2040.{{sfn|Copsey|2008|p=170}}
In January 2008 the group launched a new website called "Voice of Change—A New Dawn For the British National Party", announcing that "Voice of Change is an ] to assist candidates who wish to stand as independent nationalists in the local elections in May 2008 and in any local by-elections throughout the year." They aim to challenge Nick Griffin's leadership, calling him "tyrannical", "arrogant" and stating that he is surrounded by "yes men". They did not directly disclose any policy differences with Griffin.<ref name="voiceofchange1"/>
The close of the twentieth century produced more favourable conditions for the extreme-right in Britain as a result of increased public concerns about immigration and established Muslim communities coupled with growing dissatisfaction with the established mainstream parties.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|pp=9–10}} In turn, the BNP gained rapidly growing levels of support over the coming years.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=10}} In July 2000, it came second in the ], its best result since 1993.{{sfnm|1a1=Sykes|1y=2005|1p=139|2a1=Trilling|2y=2012|2pp=95–96}} At the ] it gained 16% of the vote in one constituency and over 10% in two others.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=10}} In the ] the BNP gained four councillors, three of whom were in Burnley,{{sfnm|1a1=Sykes|1y=2005|1p=138|2a1=Copsey|2y=2008|2p=144|3a1=Goodwin|3y=2011|3p=11}} where it had capitalised on white anger surrounding the disproportionately high levels of funding being directed to the Asian-dominated Daneshouse ward.{{sfn|Copsey|2008|pp=133–134}} This breakthrough generated public anxieties about the party, with a poll finding that six in ten supported a ban on it.{{sfnm|1a1=Copsey|1y=2008|1p=142|2a1=Goodwin|2y=2011|2p=11}} In the ], the BNP gained 13 additional councillors, including seven more in Burnley; the party received over 100,000 votes in this election.{{sfnm|1a1=Copsey|1y=2008|1pp=124, 145|2a1=Goodwin|2y=2011|2p=11|3a1=Trilling|3y=2012|3p=118}} Concerned that much of its potential vote was going to the ] (UKIP), in 2003 the BNP offered UKIP an electoral pact but was rebuffed.{{sfn|Copsey|2008|p=154}} Griffin then accused UKIP of being a Labour Party scheme to steal the BNP's votes.{{sfn|Copsey|2008|p=155}} It invested much in the campaign for the ], at which it received 800,000 votes but failed to secure a parliamentary seat.{{sfnm|1a1=Copsey|1y=2008|1p=150|2a1=Goodwin|2y=2011|2pp=12–13}} In the ], it secured four more seats, including three in ].{{sfn|Copsey|2008|p=154}}


] on '']'' in 2009]]
The internal democracy of the BNP has been criticised by members for giving too much power to the Chairman and for not being widely available for the membership to consult.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/dewsbury-news/Auty-quits-after-BNP-leadership.4455958.jp |title=Auty quits after BNP leadership bid fails - Yorkshire Evening Post |publisher=Yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk |author=Richard Edwards |date= |accessdate=19 September 2008|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5kKpPK7Qw|archivedate=10 June 2009}}</ref> In 2007 a leadership challenge to Griffin by Colin Auty and previously by Colin Jackson resulted in resignations and expulsions of their supporters and 67 senior activists including many councillors resigning the whip after Councillor Nina Brown claimed that BNP Security had misled her into giving them the key to the home of fellow BNP councillor Sadie Graham in order to ransack it, searching for evidence of her support for Auty's leadership bid.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2007/dec/18/politics.thefarright |title=Spying claims rock BNP &#124; UK news &#124; guardian.co.uk |publisher=guardian.co.uk |author=Matthew Taylor and Hélène Mulholland |date= |accessdate=19 September 2008}}</ref>
For the ], the BNP expanded its number of candidates to 119 and targeted specific regions. Its average vote in the areas it contested rose to 4.3%.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=11}} It gained significantly more support in three seats, achieving 10% in ], 13% in ], and 17% in ].{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=11}} In the ] the party gained 220,000 votes, with 33 additional councillors, having averaged a vote share of 18% in the areas it contested.{{sfnm|1a1=Copsey|1y=2008|1p=167|2a1=Goodwin|2y=2011|2p=12}} In Barking and Dagenham, it saw 12 of its 13 candidates elected to the council.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=2}} At the ], the BNP gained 130,000 votes, reaching the 5% mark and thus gaining an Assembly seat.{{sfnm|1a1=Woodbridge|1y=2010|1p=44|2a1=Goodwin|2y=2011|2p=12}} At the ], the party gained almost 1 million votes, with two of its candidates, Nick Griffin and ], being elected as Members of the European Parliament for ] and ] respectively.{{sfnm|1a1=Copsey|1y=2011|1p=1|2a1=Goodwin|2y=2011|2p=13|3a1=Trilling|3y=2012|3p=152}} That election also saw extreme-right parties winning seats for various other EU member-states.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=13}} This victory marked a major watershed for the party.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=13}} Amid ], Griffin was invited to appear on the ] show '']'' in October 2009, the first time that the BNP had been invited to share a national television platform with mainstream panellists. Griffin's performance was however widely regarded as poor.{{sfnm|1a1=Copsey|1y=2011|1p=4|2a1=Copsey|2a2=Macklin|2y=2011|2pp=86–89|3a1=Goodwin|3y=2011|3p=13|4a1=Trilling|4y=2012|4pp=168–169}}


Despite its success, there was dissent in the party. In 2007 a group of senior members known as the "December rebels" challenged Griffin, calling for internal party democracy and financial transparency, but were expelled.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=93}} In 2008, a group of BNP activists in ] split to form the Democratic Nationalists.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=80}} In November 2008, the BNP membership list was posted to WikiLeaks, after appearing briefly on a weblog.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |date=21 March 2009 |title='BNP membership' officer sacked |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/7956824.stm |url-status=live |access-date=23 March 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090326060319/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/7956824.stm |archive-date=26 March 2009}}</ref> A year later, in October 2009, another list of BNP members was leaked.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Booth |first=Robert |date=20 October 2009 |title=BNP membership list leaked |work=The Guardian |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/oct/20/bnp-membership-list-wikileaks |url-status=live |access-date=20 October 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130130044736/http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/oct/20/bnp-membership-list-wikileaks |archive-date=30 January 2013}}</ref>
In September 2007, Robin Evans, a BNP councillor in Blackburn, walked out of the party, then wrote a letter to his former colleagues denouncing it as a party of drug-dealers and football hooligans. Evans remains a councillor, describing himself as a "national socialist".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1517025/Vote-BNP-and-youre-as-bad-as-they-are.html?mobile=true |title='Vote BNP and you're as bad as they are' - Telegraph |publisher=Telegraph.co.uk |author=Melissa Kite |date= |accessdate=19 September 2009}}</ref>


Eddy Butler then led a challenge to Griffin's leadership, alleging financial corruption, but he had insufficient support.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=94}} The rebels who supported him split into two groups: one section remained as the internal Reform Group, the other left the BNP to form the ].{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=94}}
Another, BNP councillor, Maureen Stowe, in Burnley left the party after being repelled by its racist nature. She told the Guardian. "I became a BNP councillor, like most people who voted for me, by believing their lies".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2004/mar/24/localgovernment|title=Dazed and confused: How did avowed non-racist Maureen Stowe get herself elected as a BNP councillor?|author=Tash Shifrin|work=The Guardian|date=24 March 2004}} - 81k</ref>
By 2010, there was discontent among the party's grassroots, a result of the change to its white-only membership policy and rumours of financial corruption among its leadership.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|pp=13–14}} Some defected to the National Front or left to form parties like the ].{{sfn|Goodwin|2014|p=901}} ] groups like ] had campaigned extensively in Barking to stop the area's locals voting for the BNP.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=14}} At the ], the BNP had hoped to make a breakthrough by gaining a seat in the ], although it failed to achieve this.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|pp=2–3}} It nevertheless gained the fifth largest national vote share, with 1.9% of the vote, representing the most successful electoral performance for an extreme-right party in UK history.{{sfnm|1a1=Goodwin|1y=2011|1p=14|2a1=Goodwin|2y=2014|2p=887}} In the ], it lost all of its councillors in Barking and Dagenham.{{sfnm|1a1=Copsey|1y=2011|1p=3|2a1=Goodwin|2y=2011|2p=3}} Nationally, the party's number of councillors dropped from over fifty to 28.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=3}} Griffin described the results as "disastrous".{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=3}}


====2008 membership list leak==== === Decline: 2014–present ===
In a ], Griffin secured a narrow victory, beating Brons by nine votes of a total of 2,316 votes cast.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Tingle |first=Len |date=27 July 2011 |title=BNP – the disastrous war of the roses |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-14308103 |url-status=live |access-date=15 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171130054411/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-14308103 |archive-date=30 November 2017}}</ref> In October 2012, Brons left the party, leaving Griffin as its sole MEP.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Quinn |first=Ben |date=16 October 2012 |title=BNP divisions exposed as Andrew Brons resigns |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2012/oct/16/bnp-andrew-brons-resigns-mep |url-status=live |access-date=10 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180402213707/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2012/oct/16/bnp-andrew-brons-resigns-mep |archive-date=2 April 2018}}</ref> In the ], the party lost all of its seats and saw its vote share fall dramatically; whereas it gained over 240,000 votes in 2008, this had fallen to under 26,000 by 2012.{{sfn|Goodwin|2014|p=135}} Commenting on the result, the political scientist Matthew Goodwin noted: "Put simply, the BNP's electoral challenge is over."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Goodwin |first=Matthew |date=4 May 2012 |title=The BNP is finished as an electoral force |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/may/04/bnp-local-elections-electoral-force-finished |url-status=live |access-date=10 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180519032306/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/may/04/bnp-local-elections-electoral-force-finished |archive-date=19 May 2018}}</ref> In the ], the BNP candidate came seventh, with 1.3% of first-preference votes, its poorest showing in the London mayoral contest.{{sfn|Goodwin|2014|p=890}} The 2012 election results established that the BNP's steady growth had ended.{{sfn|Goodwin|2014|p=891}} In the ], the BNP fielded 99 candidates but failed to win any council seats, leaving it with only two.<ref>{{Cite web |date=4 May 2014 |title=BNP calls on members to breed more after elections disaster |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/may/04/bnp-members-breed-elections |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180518200907/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/may/04/bnp-members-breed-elections |archive-date=18 May 2018 |access-date=10 June 2018 |website=The Guardian}}</ref>
On 18 November 2008, a membership list was leaked in breach of a court injunction.<ref name=guardian-2008-11-18 /> It contains details of more than 10,000 members,<ref name=guardian-2008-11-18> James Sturcke, Matthew Weaver and Ian Cobain, The Guardian</ref><ref>, Nico Hines, The Times</ref> with the names, home addresses and sometimes telephone numbers and e-mail addresses of BNP members including senior party officials, people aged under 18 (as parts of family membership), teachers, doctors, serving and former members of the military, police and prison officers (since 2004, police officers have faced dismissal if found to be members of the BNP),<ref name=guardian-2008-11-18 /> civil servants and members of the clergy, as well as people asking for discretion, due to employment concerns.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/9808105a-b6a5-11dd-89dd-0000779fd18c.html|title=Probe into officer on BNP list|date=20 November 2008|work=Financial Times|accessdate=12 December 2008}}</ref> At least one of those named had already disavowed his membership.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mattwardman.com/blog/2008/11/18/bnp-membership-list-published-analysis-of-legal-position-for-blogs/|title=BNP Membership List Published: Analysis of Legal Position for Blogs|last=Wardman|first=Matt|work=The Wardman Wire |accessdate=18 November 2008}}</ref> The BNP-backed ] Solidarity has stated that anyone concerned that they will be victimised at work on account of appearing on the list will receive immediate protection upon joining. It has condemned those who are seeking to encourage such harassment and warned bosses that they will face immediate action if they act in breach of ] and/or employment law.<ref name=solidarity19-11-2008>{{cite web|url=http://solidaritytradeunion.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=132&Itemid=27 |title=Solidarity Offer of Union protection |publisher=Solidaritytradeunion.com |date= |accessdate=23 October 2009}}</ref>
Nick Griffin has claimed that any party member dismissed from employment will be able to receive substantial compensation,<ref>{{Dead link|date=December 2008}}</ref> although this has not been the case in any previous court cases. The BNP advised those named on the list to deny their membership and said that they would confirm that in writing if required.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://leejohnbarnes.blogspot.com/2008/11/bnp-fake-membership-list-issues.html |title=Lee John Barnes, BNP Legal Director |publisher=Leejohnbarnes.blogspot.com |date=18 November 2008 |accessdate=23 October 2009}}</ref> The BNP claimed it contained the names of persons who had never been members of the BNP.<ref name="guardian-2008-11-18"/> Lee Barnes claimed that the list had been tampered with and that it was false.<ref></ref>


In June 2013, Griffin visited Syria along with members of Hungarian far-right party ] to meet with government officials, including the Speaker of the Syrian People's Assembly, ], and the Prime Minister ].<ref>{{Cite web |date=11 June 2013 |title=Syria: BNP leader Griffin says opposition dominated by 'jihadi terrorists' |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22860844 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180927113305/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22860844 |archive-date=27 September 2018 |access-date=20 June 2018 |work=BBC News}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=What is BNP leader Nick Griffin doing in Syria? |url=http://www.channel4.com/news/what-is-bnp-leader-nick-griffin-doing-in-syria |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140509155522/http://www.channel4.com/news/what-is-bnp-leader-nick-griffin-doing-in-syria |archive-date=9 May 2014 |website=Channel 4 News|date=11 June 2013 }}</ref> Griffin claims he was influential in the speaker of Syria's Parliament writing an open letter to British MPs urging them to "turn Great Britain from the warpath" by not intervening in the ].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wheeler |first=Brian |date=4 September 2013 |title=BNP's Nick Griffin claims he 'influenced' Syria vote |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-23942041 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181009042432/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-23942041 |archive-date=9 October 2018}}</ref> Griffin lost his European Parliament seat in the ]. The party blamed the ] for its decline, accusing the latter of stealing BNP policies and slogans.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Pitel |first=Laura |date=28 February 2014 |title=Angry BNP accuse UKIP of stealing Love Britain slogan |work=The Times |url=http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/politics/article4019269.ece |url-access=subscription |access-date=30 March 2016}}</ref> In July 2014, Griffin resigned and was succeeded by ] as acting chairman.<ref name="Walker">{{Cite news |date=21 July 2014 |title=Teacher banned for life appointed to replace Nick Griffin as BNP leader |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/jul/21/banned-teacher-adam-walker-british-national-party-leader-nick-griffin-vote-collapses |url-status=live |access-date=22 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160802184146/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/jul/21/banned-teacher-adam-walker-british-national-party-leader-nick-griffin-vote-collapses |archive-date=2 August 2016}}<br />{{Cite web |date=21 July 2014 |title=Nick Griffin deposed for banned schoolteacher as BNP founders |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/nick-griffin-deposed-for-banned-schoolteacher-as-bnp-founders-9619893.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170825020206/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/nick-griffin-deposed-for-banned-schoolteacher-as-bnp-founders-9619893.html |archive-date=25 August 2017 |website=The Independent}}</ref> In October, Griffin was expelled from the party for "trying to cause disunity by deliberately fabricating a state of crisis".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Blundy |first=Rachel |date=1 October 2014 |title=BNP expels former leader Nick Griffin |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/bnp-expels-former-leader-nick-griffin-9768551.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180519032428/https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/bnp-expels-former-leader-nick-griffin-9768551.html |archive-date=19 May 2018 |access-date=3 April 2018 |work=Evening Standard|location=London}}</ref>
People affected by the disclosure include a DJ, Rod Lucas, who was dropped by the ] radio station. He defended his membership as being part of his research, saying that "I am an investigative radio journalist and am a member of over 20 political parties and pressure groups... It doesn't necessarily mean I agree with their views."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/3484612/Rod-Lucas-dropped-by-TalkSPORT-after-BNP-links-emerge.html|title=Rod Lucas dropped by TalkSPORT after BNP links emerge|date=19 November 2008|accessdate=19 November 2008}}</ref> A drama teacher at a prep shool whose name was found on the list was revealed to have been a presenter in BNP videos and to have lectured BNP activists in public speaking, and had been dismissed from a previous position as a result of her BNP membership.<ref>{{Cite news| first = Neil |last=Sears| title = Teacher at prestigious prep school faces probe after her former job with BNP is exposed| work = Daily Mail| accessdate = 12 December 2008| date = 22 November 2008| url = http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1088392/Teacher-prestigious-prep-school-faces-probe-job-BNP-exposed.html}}</ref>


In January 2015, membership of the party numbered 500,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Morris |first=Nigel |date=14 January 2015 |title=Green parties membership 'will overtake Ukip within a week', new research predicts |work=The Independent |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/green-party-membership-will-overtake-ukip-within-a-week-new-research-predicts-9977866.html |url-status=live |access-date=15 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150115011229/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/green-party-membership-will-overtake-ukip-within-a-week-new-research-predicts-9977866.html |archive-date=15 January 2015}}</ref> down from 4,220 in December 2013.<ref name="British National Party page 11">British National Party ''Statement of Accounts Year Ended 31 December 2013'', page 11. Filed with the Electoral Commission (Ref No. ST0009748) on 7 July 2014. Accessed 3 October 2014.</ref> At the ], the BNP fielded eight candidates, down from 338 in 2010. The party's vote share declined 99.7% from its 2010 result.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hooton |first=Christopher |date=8 May 2015 |title=BNP sees 99.7% drop in votes in 2015 general election, party all but wiped out |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/bnp-sees-997-drop-in-votes-party-all-but-wiped-out-10235624.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160123155157/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/bnp-sees-997-drop-in-votes-party-all-but-wiped-out-10235624.html |archive-date=23 January 2016 |access-date=30 December 2015 |website=The Independent}}</ref> In January 2016, the ] de-registered the BNP for failing to pay its annual registration fee of £25. At this time, it was estimated that BNP assets totalled less than £50,000.<ref>{{Cite news |date=8 January 2016 |title=BNP stripped of official status as a political party by the Electoral Commission |work=]|location=London |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/bnp/12089676/BNP-stripped-of-official-status-as-a-political-party-by-the-Electoral-Commission.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180518205353/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/bnp/12089676/BNP-stripped-of-official-status-as-a-political-party-by-the-Electoral-Commission.html |archive-date=18 May 2018}}<br />- {{Cite news |last=Dearden |first=Lizzie |date=8 January 2016 |title=British National Party removed from official register of UK political parties for failing to submit form |work=The Independent |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/british-national-party-removed-from-official-register-of-uk-political-parties-for-failing-to-submit-a6802621.html |url-status=live |access-date=8 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160109024524/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/british-national-party-removed-from-official-register-of-uk-political-parties-for-failing-to-submit-a6802621.html |archive-date=9 January 2016}}</ref> According to the commission, "BNP candidates cannot, at present, use the party's name, descriptions or emblems on the ballot paper at elections."<ref name="electoralcommission">{{Cite web |title=Electoral Commission statement on removal of British National Party from register of political parties |url=http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/i-am-a/journalist/electoral-commission-media-centre/news-releases-donations/electoral-commission-statement-on-removal-of-british-national-party-from-register-of-political-parties |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160111073617/http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/i-am-a/journalist/electoral-commission-media-centre/news-releases-donations/electoral-commission-statement-on-removal-of-british-national-party-from-register-of-political-parties |archive-date=11 January 2016 |access-date=8 January 2016 |website=electoralcommission.org.uk |publisher=The Electoral Commission}}</ref> A month later, the party was re-registered.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wright |first=Paul |date=12 February 2016 |title=BNP 'back from dead' after re-registering with Electoral Commission |url=http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/british-national-party-back-dead-after-re-registering-electoral-commission-1543515 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160408053640/http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/british-national-party-back-dead-after-re-registering-electoral-commission-1543515 |archive-date=8 April 2016 |access-date=30 March 2016 |website=IB Times}}<br />- {{Cite web |last=Allegretti |first=Aubrey |date=27 January 2016 |title=BNP Re-Registers As Political Party – With Pledge To Fight 'Unstainable Housing' |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2016/01/27/bnp-political-party-uk-political-register-re-register_n_9086228.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306001744/http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2016/01/27/bnp-political-party-uk-political-register-re-register_n_9086228.html |archive-date=6 March 2016 |access-date=30 March 2016 |website=Huffington Post UK}}</ref> There were ten BNP candidates at the ].<ref>Democracy Club, ""</ref> At the ], the party's last remaining councillor—] of ]—decided not to stand for re-election, leaving the party without representation at any level of UK government.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Pidd |first=Helen |date=2 May 2018 |title=As the BNP vanishes, do the forces that built it remain? |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/may/02/bnps-last-district-councillor-bows-out-but-insists-party-will-rise-again |access-date=10 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180508040419/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/may/02/bnps-last-district-councillor-bows-out-but-insists-party-will-rise-again |archive-date=8 May 2018}}</ref> The BNP fielded only one candidate, David Furness, at the ] in ], where he came last.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Known candidates for each ballot in the UK Parliament elections |url=https://candidates.democracyclub.org.uk/elections/parl.2019-12-12/ |website=candidates.democracyclub.org.uk |access-date=17 November 2019 |archive-date=31 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191031123547/https://candidates.democracyclub.org.uk/elections/parl.2019-12-12/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
Following an investigation by ] police and the ], two people in Nottinghamshire were arrested in December 2008 for breach of the ] concerning the leak.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/dec/05/bnp-leak-arrests|title=Two held over BNP membership leak|work=The Guardian|date=5 December 2008}}</ref> These were later revealed to be 37-year-old Matthew Single (an unemployed engineer) and his 30-year-old wife Sadie Graham-Single, of ], Nottinghamshire.<ref name="manfined">{{cite news | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/nottinghamshire/8231475.stm | title = Ex-BNP man fined over names leak | accessdate = 5 September 2009 | date = 1 September 2009 | publisher = BBC News | location = United Kingdom | archiveurl = http://www.webcitation.org/5jYzMxUWR | archivedate = 5 September 2009 | quote = A former member of the British National Party has been fined £200 after admitting publishing names and contact details of 10,000 party members online... Judge John Stobart said the fine was "low" because Single was on benefits. A BNP spokesman branded the sentence "an absolute disgrace" and said Single should have been jailed. District Judge Stobart also ordered Single to pay £100 towards the cost of the prosecution... The charges were dropped against Single's wife, Sadie Graham-Single. Single, an unemployed engineer, was accused in November 2008 of leaking the BNP's membership list in an online blog.}}</ref> The former was charged, convicted and fined £200, and was ordered to pay £100 towards the cost of prosecution. The latter had all charges dropped completely. The judge himself said it was "ridiculous" that he could only fine people for such a serious crime, adding: "It came as a surprise to me, as it will to many members of the party, that to do something as foolish and as criminally dangerous as you did will only incur a financial penalty."<ref name="tightenlaws">{{cite news | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8239596.stm | title = Calls to tighten data abuse laws | accessdate = 5 September 2009 | date = 5 September 2009 | publisher = BBC News | location = United Kingdom | archiveurl = http://www.webcitation.org/5jZ0ZdTiC | archivedate = 5 September 2009 | quote = Laws should be tightened to give judges the option to jail people found guilty of serious abuses of personal data, the UK's Information Commissioner has said. Christopher Graham said penalties under the Data Protection Act were "pathetic" and urged tougher laws by next April. His comments came after a judge said it was "ridiculous" he could only fine a former British National Party activist for leaking its membership list online. Mr Graham is preparing a dossier to present his case to ministers.}}</ref>


The BNP has been essentially inactive since 2019, and has not put forward a single candidate in any elections since 2019, with the only evidence of any activity being the occasional post on its website or Twitter account.
The leniency of the fine itself was a reflection of the fact that Single was on ], but was criticised at the time both by a BNP spokesman (who described it as "an absolute disgrace") and by a detective sergeant (who said he was "disappointed" with the outcome).<ref name="manfined" /> In the days that followed, the Information Commissioner ] described the penalties for breaches of the ] as "pathetic", and announced his intention to allow judges to impose tougher penalties.<ref name="tightenlaws" />


== Ideology ==
====British Army immigrant issue====
===Far-right politics, fascism and neo-Nazism===
The BNP is opposed to allowing ] ] the right of settlement in the ]. On 12 May 2009, in a radio broadcast on ]'s '']'', Griffin told presenter ] that on the issue of allowing retired Gurkhas the right to settle in Britain: "We don't think the most overcrowded country in Europe, can realistically say, 'Look, you can all come and all your relatives.{{'"}} Griffin went on to say, "When the Gurkhas signed up—frankly as mercenaries—they expected a pension which would allow them to live well in their own country."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b00kctbm |title=BBC iPlayer |publisher=bbc.co.uk |date= |accessdate=23 October 2009}}</ref><ref name="Daily Mirror">{{cite web|url=http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2009/05/13/bnp-keep-the-gurkhas-out-of-here-115875-21354308/|title=BNP: Keep the Gurkhas out of here |publisher=Daily Mirror|date=13 May 2009|accessdate=17 May 2009}}</ref> Later in the month, Nick Griffin told Sky News if he could swap 100,000 al Qaeda-supporting Muslims for the Gurkhas it "would be a good exchange".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Politics/BNP-Chairman-Nick-Griffin-Pulls-Out-Of-Royal-Garden-Party-Gurkhas-A-Good-Swap-For-Muslims/Article/200905415290010 |title=Sky News BNP |publisher=News.sky.com |date= |accessdate=23 October 2009}}</ref>


]
There has been controversy concerning a statement to the newspaper '']'' by actress ], condemning a leaflet which had allegedly been distributed by BNP candidate Adam Walker with a picture of a dead Gurkha soldier crossed out and attacking her campaign for settlement.{{Citation needed|date=June 2009}} Both Walker and the BNP have condemned this as a forgery, and the BNP have published a statement they attribute to Lumley and the Gurkha Justice Campaign, retracting the criticism.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bnp.org.uk/2009/05/joanna-lumley-and-the-gurkha-justice-campaign-issue-official-reaction-to-lying-sun-smear/|title=Joanna Lumley and the Gurkha Justice Campaign Issue Official Reaction to Lying Sun Smear|date=19 May 2009|publisher=British National Party|accessdate=29 May 2009}}</ref> ''The Sun'' later retracted the allegation and accepted that neither the BNP nor Walker were responsible for the leaflet.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2528210/BNP-election-leaflet-clarification.html|title=BNP election leaflet clarification |publisher=The Sun|date=10 June 2009|accessdate=13 July 2009}}</ref>


Many academic historians and political scientists have described the BNP as a ] party,{{sfnm|1a1=Wood|1a2=Finlay|1y=2008|1p=707|2a1=Driver|2y=2011|2p=132|3a1=Bottom|3a2=Copus|3y=2011|3p=146|4a1=Copsey|4y=2011|4p=1|5a1=Davey|5y=2011|5p=436|6a1=Messina|6y=2011|6p=165|7a1=Trilling|7y=2012|7p=5}} or as an ] party.{{sfnm|1a1=Copsey|1y=2008|1p=1|2a1=Woodbridge|2y=2010|2p=25|3a1=Copsey|3y=2011|3p=1|4a1=Goodwin|4y=2011|4p=xii}} As the political scientist ] used it, the term referred to "a particular form of political ideology that is defined by two anti-constitutional and anti-democratic elements: first, right-wing extremists are ''extremist'' because they reject or undermine the values, procedures and institutions of the democratic constitutional state; and second they are ''right-wing'' because they reject the principle of fundamental human equality".{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=6}}
On 17 May 2009, '']'' wrote that the BNP's leader, Nick Griffin, had branded ], a black ]-born ] recipient of the ] an "immigrant" whose bravery was simply "routine". The ''Telegraph'' alleged that the BNP website called Beharry VC's award of the Victoria Cross "positive discrimination by the ]-mad government".<ref name="Telegraph">{{cite web|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/5336891/BNP-war-hero-Johnson-Beharry-only-got-medal-because-he-is-black.html|title=BNP: war hero Johnson Beharry only got medal because he is black |publisher=Telegraph|date=17 May 2009|accessdate=17 May 2009}}</ref> Beharry was awarded his Victoria Cross in 2005 for action in ], when he returned to his burning armoured personnel carrier three times, under sustained enemy fire, to lift out his wounded comrades from the vehicle.<ref name="Ministry of Defence">{{cite web|url=http://www.operations.mod.uk/telic/ophons05/beharry.htm|title=Private Johnson Gideon Beharry - Victoria Cross |publisher=Ministry of Defence|date=18 March 2005|accessdate=17 May 2009}}</ref> The BNP has denied some of these allegations.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bnp.org.uk/2009/05/johnson-beharry-latest-media-lie-against-bnp/|title=Johnson Beharry: Latest Media Lie against BNP|date=17 May 2009|publisher=British National Party|accessdate=29 September 2009}}</ref>


Various political scientists and historians have described the BNP as being ] in ideology.{{sfnm|1a1=Copsey|1y=2011|1p=7|2a1=Davey|2y=2011|2p=438|3a1=Richardson|3y=2011|3p=39|4a1=Trilling|4y=2012|4p=6}}<ref name="bnpelection2004">{{Cite journal |last=Renton |first=David |date=1 March 2005 |title='A day to make history'? The 2004 elections and the British National Party |journal=] |volume=1 |issue=39 |page=25 |doi=10.1080/00313220500045170 |s2cid=144972650}}</ref><ref name="thurlow2000">{{harvnb|Thurlow|2000}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Copsey |first=Nigel |date=December 1994 |title=Fascism: the ideology of the British National Party |journal=] |volume=14 |issue=3 |pages=101–108 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-9256.1994.tb00008.x |s2cid=143846602}}<br />.<br />- {{Cite news |last=Doward |first=Jamie |date=24 August 2003 |title=Expelled BNP founder plans court battle |work=] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2003/aug/24/uk.thefarright |url-status=live |access-date=13 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130827060932/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2003/aug/24/uk.thefarright |archive-date=27 August 2013}}<br />- {{harvnb|Ignazi|2003}}<br />- {{Cite news |date=15 October 2009 |title=The BNP on Question Time is the wrong party on the wrong programme |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/oct/15/bnp-question-time-bbc-griffin |url-status=live |access-date=13 April 2013 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/5khLyJViZ?url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/oct/15/bnp-question-time-bbc-griffin |archive-date=21 October 2009}}<br />- {{Cite news |date=31 May 2009 |title=David Cameron attacks 'fascist' BNP |work=The Daily Telegraph|location=London |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/5395358/David-Cameron-attacks-fascist-BNP.html |url-status=live |access-date=13 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130812041659/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/5395358/David-Cameron-attacks-fascist-BNP.html |archive-date=12 August 2013}}<br />- {{Cite news |last=Travis |first=Alan |date=16 October 2009 |title=Alan Johnson says BBC should bar 'foul' BNP from Question Time |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/blog/2009/oct/16/alan-johnson-bnp-question-time |url-status=live |access-date=11 December 2016 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/5khMe4g5o?url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/blog/2009/oct/16/alan-johnson-bnp-question-time |archive-date=21 October 2009}}</ref> Others have instead described it as ],{{sfnm|1a1=Copsey|1y=2008|1p=82|2a1=Woodbridge|2y=2010|2p=49|3a1=Messina|3y=2011|3p=175}} a term which the historian Nigel Copsey argued was more exact.{{sfn|Copsey|2008|p=164}} Academic observers—including the historians Copsey, Graham Macklin, and ], and the political theologian Andrew P. Davey—have argued that Nick Griffin's reforms were little more than a cosmetic process to obfuscate the party's fascist roots.{{sfnm|1a1=Copsey|1y=2008|1p=164|2a1=Davey|2y=2011|2p=438|3a1=Griffin|3y=2011|3p=203|4a1=Macklin|4y=2011|4pp=19–20}}<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Copsey |first=Nigel |date=February 2007 |title=Changing course or changing clothes? Reflections on the ideological evolution of the British National Party 1999–2006 |journal=Patterns of Prejudice |volume=41 |issue=1 |pages=61–82 |doi=10.1080/00313220601118777 |s2cid=145737620}}<br />- {{Cite journal |last=Edwards |first=Geraint O. |date=May 2012 |title=A comparative discourse analysis of the construction of 'in-groups' in the 2005 and 2010 Manifestos of the British National Party |url=http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/43917/1/WRRO_43917.pdf |url-status=live |journal=] |volume=23 |issue=3 |pages=245–258 |doi=10.1177/0957926511433477 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140529163950/http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/43917/1/WRRO_43917.pdf |archive-date=29 May 2014 |access-date=29 May 2014 |s2cid=145395375}} <br />- {{Cite journal |last=Rhodes |first=James |date=May 2009 |title=The Banal National Party: the routine nature of legitimacy |journal=Patterns of Prejudice |volume=43 |issue=2 |pages=142–160 |doi=10.1080/00313220902793898 |s2cid=144304296}}<br />- {{harvnb|Gottlieb|Linehan|2004|pp=70–71}}</ref> According to Copsey, under Griffin the BNP was "fascism recalibrated — a form of neo-fascism — to suit contemporary sensibilities".{{sfn|Copsey|2008|p=82}} Macklin noted that despite Griffin's 'modernisation' project, the BNP retained its ideological continuity with earlier fascist groups and thus had not transformed itself into a genuinely "post-fascist" party.{{sfn|Macklin|2011|p=35}} In this it was distinct from parties like the Italian ] of ], which has been credited with successfully shedding its fascist past and becoming post-fascist.{{sfn|Griffin|2011|p=200}}
====Question Time appearance====
{{Main|Question Time British National Party controversy}}
Following the BNP's performance in the 2009 European elections, the BBC controversially changed their policy on the BNP and invited Griffin onto the 22 October 2009 edition of ].


The anti-fascist activist ] referred to the BNP as a "Nazi organisation",{{sfn|Gable|1995|p=262}} while the ] published leaflets describing the BNP as the "British Nazi Party".{{sfn|Copsey|2008|p=61}} Copsey suggested that while the BNP under Tyndall could be described as neo-Nazi, it was not "crudely mimetic" of the original German Nazism.{{sfn|Copsey|2008|p=98}} Davey characterised the BNP as a "populist ethno-nationalist" party.{{sfn|Davey|2011|p=435}}
==Structure==
The chairman of the BNP has final say in all policy matters.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20070629010001/http://www.bnp.org.uk/resources/constitution_8ed.pdf |title=BNP Constitution Section 3 |format=PDF |date= |accessdate=23 October 2009}}</ref> There are then fifteen further members of the 'party leadership', who have responsibility for various areas of its operations. These executive positions work alongside the Advisory Council, the party's senior policy body. This group meets at least three times a year. Its role is to "inspect the party's accounts, ensuring proper conduct of the party's finances, and to act as a forum for the party's leadership to discuss vital issues and carve out the party's agenda".<ref name = "BNP-Party"> Retrieved 3 October 2008</ref> The ''Trafalgar Club'' is the party's fundraising arm.<ref>, BNP website, Retrieved 7 February 2008</ref>


{{Quote box|width=25em|align=left|quote=The smart modernized veneer... is superficial; the core of the Party remains ideologically fascist, and this was nowhere more apparent than in the BNP manifesto for the 2010 General Election, which returned to a clutch of traditional fascist themes including the bond of blood, homeland, the decadence of contemporary culture, a nostalgia for folk traditions and heritage, and an emphasis on stricter discipline in education and society. During the election campaign anti-Semitism, racism and neo-Nazi sympathies were identified on candidates' social network sites.|source=— Political theologian Andrew P. Davey, 2011{{sfn|Davey|2011|p=438}}}}
The party is organised on a regional basis, with 12 regions, based upon the ] constituencies within the UK,<ref name = "BNP-Party"/> each with an organiser.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bnp.org.uk/organisation/regions.htm |title=British National Party - Chairman Nick Griffin - Working to secure a future for British children |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20070101160507/http://www.bnp.org.uk/organisation/regions.htm |archivedate=1 January 2007}}</ref> The party also organises four groups that deal with specific areas of activity i.e. Land and People (which deals with rural affairs), Pensioners' Awareness Group, the Friends of European Nationalism (a ]-based organisation) and the Ethnic Liaison Committee, which co-ordinates work with non-whites.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bnp.org.uk/organisation/circles.htm|title=Circles and Associations |publisher=British National Party |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20071015092439/http://www.bnp.org.uk/organisation/circles.htm |archivedate=15 October 2007}}</ref> The BNP also has 16 specifically defined party officials, with the current holders of the major offices being as follows:
* Chairman – ]
* Deputy Chairman – ]
* Director of Administration – ''vacant''
* National Treasurer – ]
* Legal Director – ]
* Editor of ''Identity'' – ]
* Editor of ''Voice of Freedom'' – ]
* Head of Publicity – ]
* Head of Young BNP – ]


In his writings, Griffin acknowledged that much of his 'modernisation' was an attempt to hide the BNP's core ideology behind more electorally palatable policies.{{sfn|Richardson|2011|pp=39–40}} Like the National Front, the BNP's private discourse differed from its public one,{{sfn|Wood|Finlay|2008|pp=708–709}} with Griffin stating that "Of course we must teach the truth to the hardcore... when it comes to influencing the public, forget about racial differences, genetics, Zionism, historical revisionism and so on... we must at all times present them with an image of moderate reasonableness".{{sfnm|1a1=Wood|1a2=Finlay|1y=2008|1p=708|2a1=Davey|2y=2011|2p=439}} The BNP has eschewed the labels "fascist" and "Nazi", stating that it is neither. In its 1992 electoral manifesto, it said that "Fascism was Italian. Nazism was German. We are British. We will do things our own way; we will not copy foreigners".{{sfn|Copsey|2008|p=76}} In 2009, Griffin that the term "fascism" was simply "a smear that comes from the far left"; he added that the term should be reserved for groups that engaged in "political violence" and desired a state that "should impose its will on people", claiming that it was the anti-fascist group ]—and not the BNP—who were the real fascists.<ref>{{Cite web |date=12 July 2009 |title=Sink a couple of boats |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/andrew_marr_show/8146456.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160327052302/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/andrew_marr_show/8146456.stm |archive-date=27 March 2016 |access-date=10 June 2016 |work=BBC News}}</ref> More broadly, many on Britain's extreme-right sought to avoid the term "British fascism" because of its electorally unpalatable connotations, utilising "British nationalism" in its place.{{sfn|Copsey|2008|pp=76–77}}
In addition ] is "head of the BNP's education and training department"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.searchlightmagazine.com/index.php?link=hate_factory |title=Article in Searchlight Magazine |publisher=Searchlightmagazine.com |date= |accessdate=23 October 2009}}</ref> and "editor of the BNP's website".<ref>{{cite web|http://www.searchlightmagazine.com/index.php?link=template&story=239|title=searchlight magazine September 2008 |publisher=searchlightmagazine.com|date=12 September 2008 |accessdate=31 October 2009}}</ref>

After Griffin took control of the party, it made increasing use of ] themes in order to emphasise its "British" credentials.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=70}} In its published material, the party made appeals to the idea of Britain and Britishness in a manner not dissimilar to mainstream political parties.{{sfn|Richardson|2011|p=41}} In this material it has also made prominent use of the ] and the colours red, white, and blue.{{sfn|Richardson|2011|p=42}} Roger Griffin noted that the terms "Britain" and "England" appear "confusingly interchangeable" in BNP literature,{{sfn|Griffin|2011|p=190}} while Copsey has pointed out that the BNP's form of British nationalism is "Anglo-centric".{{sfn|Copsey|2008|p=163}} The party employed militaristic rhetoric under both Tyndall and Griffin's leadership; under the latter for example its published material spoke of a "war without uniforms" and a "war for our survival as a people".{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=165}} Tyndall described the BNP as a revolutionary party,{{sfn|Copsey|2011|p=82}} calling it a "guerrilla army operating in occupied territory".{{sfn|Copsey|2008|p=83}}

===Ethnic nationalism and biological racism===
{{update|section|date=March 2023}}
{{Quote box|width=25em|align=right|quote=The British National Party exists to secure a future for the indigenous peoples of these islands in the North Atlantic which have been our homeland for a millennia.|source=— The BNP, 2005{{sfn|Wood|Finlay|2008|p=707}} }}
The BNP adheres to ] ideas,{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=8}} displaying an obsession with the perceived differences of racial groups.{{sfn|Richardson|2011|p=48}} Both Tyndall and Griffin believed that there was a biologically distinct white-skinned "British race" which was one branch of a wider ],{{sfn|Copsey|2008|pp=88, 163}} a view akin to those of earlier fascists such as Hitler and ].{{sfn|Copsey|2008|p=88}}

The BNP adheres to an ideology of ].{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=7}} It promotes the idea that not all citizens of the United Kingdom belong to the British nation.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=7}} Instead, it states that the nation only belongs to "the English, Scots, Irish and Welsh along with the limited numbers of peoples of European descent, who have arrived centuries or decades ago and who have fully integrated into our society".{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=7}} This is a group that Griffin referred to as the "home people" or "the folk".{{sfn|Griffin|2011|p=191}} According to Tyndall, "The BNP is a racial nationalist party which believes in Britain for the British, that is to say racial separatism."{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=37}} Richard Edmonds in 1993 told '']'''s ] that "we are 100% racist".<ref>Quoted in Gabriel, John ''Whitewash: Radicalized Politics and the Media'', Routledge, 1998, p.158</ref> The BNP does not regard UK citizens who are not ethnic white Europeans as "British", and party literature calls on supporters to avoid referring to such individuals as "Black Britons" or "Asian Britons", instead describing them as "racial foreigners".{{sfn|Richardson|2011|p=49}}

]
Tyndall believed the white British and the broader Nordic race to be superior to other races;{{sfn|Copsey|2008|p=88}} under his leadership, the BNP promoted ] claims in support of ].{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=38}} Following Griffin's ascendency to power in the party, it officially repudiated racial supremacism and insisted that no racial group was superior or inferior to another.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=67}} Instead it foregrounded an "]" racial separatism, claiming that different racial groups had to be kept separate and distinct for their own preservation, maintaining that global ethno-cultural diversity was something to be protected.{{sfnm|1a1=Copsey|1y=2008|1p=160|2a1=Goodwin|2y=2011|2p=67}} This switch in focus owed much to the discourse of the French ] movement which had emerged within France's extreme-right during the 1960s.{{sfn|Copsey|2008|p=160}}
At the same time the BNP switched focus from openly promoting biological racism to stressing what it perceived as the ].{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=68}} It placed great focus on opposing what it referred to as "]",{{sfn|Rhodes|2011|p=62}} characterising this as a form of "]",{{sfn|Copsey|2008|p=160}} and stating that it promoted the interests of non-whites at the expense of the white British population.{{sfn|Rhodes|2011|p=64}} However, internal documents produced and circulated under Griffin's leadership demonstrated that—despite the shift in its public statements—it remained privately committed to biological racist ideas.{{sfn|Richardson|2011|p=49}}

The party emphasises what it sees as the need to protect the racial purity of the white British.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=8}} It condemns ] and "race mixing", stating that this is a threat to the British race.{{sfnm|1a1=Goodwin|1y=2011|1p=38|2a1=Richardson|2y=2011|2p=48}} Tyndall said that he "felt deeply sorry for the child of a mixed marriage" but had "no sympathy whatsoever for the parents".{{sfn|Copsey|2008|pp=89–90}} Griffin similarly stated that mixed-race children were "the most tragic victims of enforced multi-racism", and that the party would not "accept miscegenation as moral or normal ... we never will".{{sfn|Sutton|Perry|2009|p=91}} In its 1983 election manifesto, the BNP stated that "family size is a private matter" but still called for white Britons who are "of intelligent, healthy and industrious stock" to have large families and thus raise the white British birth-rate.{{sfn|Durham|1995|p=283}} The encouragement of high birth rates among white British families continued under Griffin's leadership.{{sfn|Trilling|2012|p=85}}

Under Tyndall's leadership, the BNP promoted ], calling for the forced sterilisation of those with genetically transmittable disabilities.{{sfnm|1a1=Copsey|1y=2008|1p=90|2a1=Goodwin|2y=2011|2p=38}} In party literature, it talked of improving the British 'racial stock' by removing "inferior strains within the indigenous races of the British Isles".{{sfnm|1a1=Durham|1y=1998|1pp=131–132|2a1=Goodwin|2y=2011|2p=38}} Tyndall argued that medical professionals should be responsible for determining whom to sterilise, while a lowering of welfare benefits would discourage breeding among those he deemed to be genetic inferiors.{{sfn|Durham|1998|pp=131–132}} In his magazine ''Spearhead'', Tyndall also stated that "the gas chamber system" should be used to eliminate "sub-human elements", "perverts", and "asocials" from British society.{{sfn|Griffin|2011|p=190}}

===Anti-immigration and repatriation===
{{Quote box|width=25em|align=right|quote=Immigration into Britain by non-Europeans... should be terminated forthwith, and we should organise a massive programme of repatriation and resettlement overseas of those peoples of non-European origin already resident in this country.|source=— The BNP's first policy on repatriation, 1982{{sfn|Copsey|2008|p=32}} }}
Opposition to immigration has been central to the BNP's political platform.{{sfn|Davey|2011|p=440}} It has engaged in ] campaigns which emphasise the idea that immigrants and ethnic minorities are both different from, and a threat to, the white British and white Irish populations.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|pp=7, 39}} In its campaign material it presented non-whites both as a source of crime in the UK, and as a socio-economic threat to the white British population by taking jobs, housing, and welfare away from them. It engaged in ], calling for white Britons to be prioritised by the UK's welfare state.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=40}} Party literature included such as claims as that the BNP was the only party which could "do anything effective about the swamping of Britain by the Third World" or "lead the native peoples of Britain in our version of the New Crusade that must be organised if Europe is not to sink under the Islamic yoke".{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=164}}

Much of its published material made claims about a forthcoming ] and promoted the ] about ].{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|pp=39–40}} In a 2009 radio interview, Griffin referred to this as a "bloodless genocide".{{sfn|Rhodes|2011|p=64}} It presents the idea that white Britons are engaged in a battle against their own extinction as a racial group.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=158}} It reiterated a sense of urgency about the situation, claiming that both high immigration rates and high birth rates among ethnic minorities were a threat to the white British.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|pp=161–162}} In 2010, it for instance was promoting the idea that at current levels, "indigenous Britons" would be a minority within the UK by 2060.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=157}}

{{Quote box|width=25em|align=left|quote=The immigrant communities in Britain are... colonies filled with colonists. They are alien islands inside our towns and cities with their own laws and cultures. They will never integrate as they did not come here to integrate, but to re-create their own cultures in our country. The fact is that the only solution to Multi-Culturalism is not some asinine and bogus attempt to impose British cultural values on immigrants, but simply to commence repatriating them.|source=— Lee Barnes, senior BNP leader, 2005{{sfn|Wood|Finlay|2008|p=720}} }}

The BNP calls for the non-white population of Britain to either be reduced in size or removed from the country altogether.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=7}} Under Tyndall's leadership, it promoted the compulsory removal of non-whites from the UK, stating that under a BNP government they would be "repatriated" to their countries of origin.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=39}} In the early 1990s it produced stickers with the slogan "Our Final Solution: Repatriation".{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=39}} Tyndall understood this to be a two-stage process that would take ten to twenty years, with some non-whites initially leaving willingly and the others then being forcibly deported.{{sfn|Copsey|2008|p=89}} During the 1990s, party modernisers suggested that the BNP move away from a policy of compulsory repatriation and toward a voluntary system, whereby non-white persons would be offered financial incentives to leave the UK.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|pp=47–48}} This idea, adopted from ], was deemed more electorally palatable.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|pp=47–48}}

When Griffin took control of the party, the policy of voluntary repatriation was officially adopted, with the party suggesting that this could be financed through the use of the UK's pre-existing ].{{sfnm|1a1=Sykes|1y=2005|1p=136|2a1=Copsey|2y=2008|2p=104|3a1=Goodwin|3y=2011|3p=68}} It stated that any non-whites who refused to leave would be stripped of their British citizenship and categorised as "permanent guests", while continuing to be offered incentives to emigrate.{{sfn|Sykes|2005|p=136}} Griffin's BNP also stressed its support for an immediate halt to non-white immigration into Britain and for the deportation of any migrants illegally in the country.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=68}} Speaking on the ]'s '']'' in 2009, Griffin declared that, unlike Tyndall, he "does not want all-white UK" because "nobody out there wants it or would pay for it".<ref>{{Cite web |date=12 July 2009 |title=BNP 'does not want all-white UK' |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8146585.stm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170711171456/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8146585.stm |archive-date=11 July 2017 |access-date=10 June 2018 |work=BBC News}}</ref>

===Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia===

{{Quote box|width=25em|align=right|quote=My experience as a campaigner against the multi-racial idea in Britain and in favour of our country's centuries-old tradition of racial homogeneity has brought home to me beyond any doubt the fact that Jews are to be found at the forefront of opposition to British racial self-preservation.|source=— Tyndall's belief that a Jewish conspiracy was behind multiracial Britain{{sfn|Tyndall|1988|pp=106–107}} }}

Under Tyndall's leadership, the BNP was openly ].{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|pp=38–39}} From ], Tyndall had inherited a belief that there was a global conspiracy of Jews bent on world domination, viewing the '']'' as genuine evidence for this.{{sfn|Copsey|2008|p=91}} He believed that Jews were responsible for both ] and international finance capitalism and that they were responsible for undermining the British Empire and the British race.{{sfn|Copsey|2008|p=91}} He believed that both democratic government and immigration into Europe were parts of the Jewish conspiracy to weaken other races.{{sfn|Copsey|2008|p=89}} In an early edition of ''Spearhead'' published in the 1960s, Tyndall wrote that "if Britain were to become Jew-clean she would have no nigger neighbours to worry about... It is the Jews who are our misfortune: T-h-e J-e-w-s. Do you hear me? THE JEWS?"{{sfnm|1a1=Billig|1y=1978|1p=128|2a1=Richardson|2y=2011|2p=53}} Tyndall added ] to the anti-Semitic beliefs inherited from Chesterton, believing that ] was a hoax created by the Jews to gain sympathy for themselves and thus aid their plot for world domination.{{sfnm|1a1=Gable|1y=1995|1p=267|2a1=Copsey|2y=2008|2p=92|3a1=Goodwin|3y=2011|3p=39}} Among those to endorse such anti-Semitic conspiracy theories was Griffin, who promoted them in his 1997 pamphlet, '']''{{sfn|Richardson|2011|p=53}} Griffin also engaged in Holocaust denial, publishing articles promoting such ideas in ''The Rune'', a magazine produced by the ] BNP. In 1998, these articles resulted in Griffin being convicted of ].{{sfnm|1a1=Griffin|1y=2011|1p=197|2a1=Macklin|2y=2011|2p=26|3a1=Richardson|3y=2011|3p=52|4a1=Trilling|4y=2012|4p=75}}

When Griffin took power, he sought to banish overt anti-Semitic discourse from the party.{{sfn|Macklin|2011|p=26}} He informed party members that "we can get away with criticising Zionists, but any criticism of Jews is likely to be legal and political suicide".{{sfn|Trilling|2012|p=85}} In 2006, he complained that the "obsession" that many BNP members had with "the Jews" was "insane and politically disastrous".{{sfn|Macklin|2011|p=25}} In 2004, the party selected a Jewish candidate, Pat Richardson, to stand for it during local council elections, something Tyndall lambasted as a "gimmick".{{sfn|Woodbridge|2010|p=42}} References to Jews in BNP literature were often coded to hide the party's electorally unpalatable anti-Semitic ideas.{{sfn|Richardson|2011|p=53}} For instance, the term "]" was often used in party literature as a euphemism for "Jews".{{sfnm|1a1=Goodwin|1y=2011|1p=39|2a1=Richardson|2y=2011|2p=53}} As noted by Macklin, Griffin still framed many of his arguments "within the parameters of recognizably anti-Semitic discourse".{{sfn|Macklin|2011|p=36}} The BNP's literature is replete with references to a conspiratorial group who have sought to suppress nationalist sentiment among the British population, who have encouraged immigration and mixed-race relationships, and who are promoting the ] of the country.{{sfn|Richardson|2011|p=52}} This group is likely a reference to the Jews, being an old fascist canard.{{sfn|Richardson|2011|pp=52–53}}

Sectors of the extreme-right were highly critical of Griffin's softening on the subject of the Jews, claiming that he had "sold out" to the ']'.{{sfn|Woodbridge|2011|p=118}} In 2006, John Bean, editor of ''Identity'', included an article in which he reassured BNP members that the party had not "sold out to the Jews" or "embraced Zionism" but that it remained "committed to fighting... subversive Jews".{{sfn|Copsey|Macklin|2011|p=94}} Under Griffin, the BNP's website linked to other web pages that explicitly portrayed immigration as part of a Jewish conspiracy,{{sfn|Richardson|2011|pp=53–54}} while it also sold books that promoted Holocaust denial.{{sfn|Richardson|2011|pp=54–55}} In 2004, secretly filmed footage was captured in which Griffin was seen claiming that "the Jews simply bought the West, in terms of press and so on, for their own political ends".{{sfn|Richardson|2011|p=52}}

]
Copsey noted that a "culture of anti-Semitism" still pervaded the BNP.{{sfn|Copsey|2008|p=162}} In 2004, a London activist told reporters that "most of us hate Jews",{{sfn|Copsey|2008|p=162}} while a Scottish BNP group was observed making ]s while shouting "Auschwitz".{{sfn|Copsey|2008|p=162}} The party's ] candidate compared the ] to ], while their ] candidate stated her refusal to buy from "the ]s that run ]".{{sfn|Richardson|2011|pp=50–51}} In 2009, a BNP councillor from ] resigned from the party, complaining that it still contained Holocaust deniers and Nazi sympathisers.{{sfn|Macklin|Virchow|2011|p=220}}

Griffin informed BNP members that rather than "bang on" about the Jews—which would be deemed extremist and prove electorally unpopular—their party should focus on criticising ], an issue that would be more resonant among the British public.{{sfn|Copsey|Macklin|2011|p=85}} After Griffin took over, the party increasingly embraced an Islamophobic stance, launching a "Campaign Against Islam" in September 2001.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=68}} In ''Islam: A Threat to Us All'', a leaflet distributed to London households in 2007, the BNP claimed that it would stand up to both ] and "the threat that 'mainstream' Islam poses to our British culture".{{sfn|Woodbridge|2010|p=41}} In contrast to the mainstream British view that the actions of militant ] — such as those who perpetrated the ] —a re not representative of mainstream Islam, the BNP insists that they are.{{sfn|Wood|Finlay|2008|p=710}} In some of its literature it presents the view that every Muslim in Britain is a threat to the country.{{sfn|Wood|Finlay|2008|p=721}} Griffin referred to Islam as an "evil, wicked faith",{{sfn|Copsey|2008|p=166}} and elsewhere publicly described it as a "cancer" that needed to be removed from Europe through "chemotherapy".{{sfn|Trilling|2012|p=143}}

The BNP has called for the prohibition of immigration from Muslim countries and for the banning of the ], ] meat, and the building of new ]s in the UK.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=69}} It also called for the immediate deportation of radical ] preachers from the country.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=69}} In 2005, the party stated that its primary issue of concern was the "growth of fundamentalist-militant Islam in the UK and its ever-increasing threat to Western civilization and our implicit values".{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=69}} To broaden its anti-Islamic agenda, Griffin's BNP made overtures to the UK's Hindu, Sikh, and Jewish communities; Griffin's claim that Jews can make "good allies" in the fight against Islam caused controversy within the international far-right.{{sfn|Woodbridge|2010|pp=41–42}}

===Government===
Tyndall believed that liberal democracy was damaging to British society, claiming that liberalism was a "doctrine of decay and degeneration".{{sfn|Copsey|2008|p=83}} Under Tyndall, the party sought to dismantle the UK's liberal democratic system of parliamentary governance, although was vague about what it sought to replace this system with.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=40}} In his 1988 work ''The Eleventh Hour'', Tyndall wrote of the need for "an utter rejection of liberalism and a dedication to the resurgence of authority".{{sfn|Griffin|2011|p=190}} Tyndall's BNP perceived itself as a revolutionary force that would bring about a ] in Britain, entailing a radical transformation of society.{{sfn|Copsey|2008|p=84}} It proposed a state in which the Prime Minister would have full executive powers, and would be elected directly by the population for an indefinite period of time.{{sfn|Copsey|2008|p=85}} This Prime Minister could be dismissed from office in a further election that could be called if Parliament produced a ] in them.{{sfn|Copsey|2008|p=85}} It stated that rather than having political parties, candidates standing for election to the parliament would be independent.{{sfn|Copsey|2008|pp=85–86}} During the period of Griffin's leadership, the party downplayed its anti-democratic themes and instead foregrounded ] ones.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|pp=69–70}} Its campaign material called for the devolution of greater powers to local communities, the reestablishment of ], and the introduction of citizens' initiative referendums based on those used in Switzerland.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=70}}

]
The BNP has adopted a hard Eurosceptic platform from its foundation.{{sfn|Szczerbiak|Taggart|2008|p=102}} Under Tyndall's leadership, the BNP had overt anti-Europeanist tendencies.{{sfn|Woodbridge|2011|p=107}} Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, he maintained the party's opposition to the ].{{sfn|Woodbridge|2011|p=108}} Antagonism toward what became the ] was retained under Griffin's leadership, which called for the UK to leave the Union.{{sfnm|1a1=Sykes|1y=2005|1p=136|2a1=Woodbridge|2y=2011|2p=108}} One of ]'s biggest donors during the ] referendum was former BNP member Gladys Bramall,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Waterson |first=Jim |date=21 June 2016 |title=Former BNP Member Has Given £600,000 To Vote Leave |work=BuzzFeed |url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/jimwaterson/vote-leave-donor |url-status=live |access-date=18 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170115034420/https://www.buzzfeed.com/jimwaterson/vote-leave-donor |archive-date=15 January 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Syal |first=Rajeev |date=21 June 2016 |title=Vote Leave gets big donation from former BNP member on leaked list |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jun/21/vote-leave-gets-big-donation-from-gladys-bramall-former-bnp-member-leaked-list |url-status=live |access-date=18 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221141135/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jun/21/vote-leave-gets-big-donation-from-gladys-bramall-former-bnp-member-leaked-list |archive-date=21 December 2016}}</ref> and the party has claimed that its anti-Establishment rhetoric "created the road" to Britain's ] the European Union.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Edwards |first=Phil |date=30 June 2016 |title=How the BNP Created the Road to Brexit |work=British National Party |url=https://www.bnp.org.uk/news/national/how-bnp-created-road-brexit |url-status=dead |access-date=18 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220213741/https://www.bnp.org.uk/news/national/how-bnp-created-road-brexit |archive-date=20 December 2016}}</ref>

Tyndall suggested replacing the EEC with a trading association among the "White Commonwealth", namely countries like Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.{{sfn|Copsey|2008|p=95}} Tyndall held ] views and was sympathetic to the re-establishment of the British Empire through the recolonization of parts of Africa.{{sfnm|1a1=Sykes|1y=2005|1p=116|2a1=Copsey|2y=2008|2p=96}} However, officially the BNP had no plans to re-establish the British Empire or secure dominion over non-white nations.{{sfnm|1a1=Sykes|1y=2005|1p=144|2a1=Copsey|2y=2008|2p=95}} In the 2000s, it called for an immediate military withdrawal from both the ] and the ].{{sfn|Trilling|2012|p=131}} During his appearance on ''Question Time'', regarding the Iraq War, Griffin described the war as "illegal", saying, "We shouldn't have gone into Iraq, we must never go into ], we should leave them alone."<ref name=":0" /> It has advocated ending overseas aid to provide economic support within the UK and to finance the voluntary repatriation of legal immigrants.<ref name="routledge" />

Under Tyndall, the BNP rejected both ] and ], stating that they were bogus because they caused division among the wider "British race".{{sfn|Copsey|2008|p=88}} Tyndall also led the BNP in support of ], for instance by holding public demonstrations against the ] party ],{{sfn|Durham|2012|p=207}} and endorsing Ulster loyalist paramilitaries.{{sfn|Gable|1995|p=267}} Under Griffin, the BNP continued to support Ulster's membership of the United Kingdom, calling for the crushing of the ] and the scrapping of the ].{{sfn|Durham|2012|p=207}} Griffin later expressed the view that "the only solution that could possibly be acceptable to loyalists and republicans alike" would be the reintegration of the Irish Republic into the United Kingdom, which would be reorganised along ] lines.{{sfn|Durham|2012|p=208}} However, while retaining the party's commitment to Ulster loyalism, under Griffin the importance of the issue was downplayed, something that was criticised by Tyndall loyalists.{{sfn|Durham|2012|p=208}}


==Policies==
{{Nationalism sidebar}}
===Economic policy=== ===Economic policy===
The economic policy of the party has developed over time. From the 1990s the party reflected ] and ], although in comparison with other radical nationalist parties, the BNP focuses less on ].<ref name="routledge">{{harvnb|Davies|2002|p=149}}.</ref> The BNP would prefer economics to be driven by the interests of the nation and state, rather than the other way around.<ref name="routledge" /> It has called for British ownership of its own industries and resources as well as the "subordination of the power of the City to the power of the government".<ref name="routledge" /> It has also promoted the regeneration of farming in the United Kingdom, with the object of achieving maximum ] in food production.<ref name="routledge" /> Presently the United Kingdom is the fifth highest donor of ]—the BNP has advocated ending this to greater aid the needy at home and finance immigrants who volunteer to be ].<ref name="routledge" />


Tyndall described his approach to the economy as "National Economics",{{sfn|Copsey|2008|p=94}} expressing the view that "politics must lead, and not be led by, economic forces".{{sfn|Copsey|2008|p=93}} His approach rejected ] because it did not serve "the national interest", although still saw advantages in a ] system, looking favourably on individual enterprise.{{sfn|Copsey|2008|pp=94–95}} He called on capitalist elements to be combined with ] ones, with the government playing a role in planning the economy.{{sfn|Copsey|2008|p=95}} He promoted the idea of the UK becoming an ] which was economically self-sufficient, with domestic production protected from foreign competition.{{sfn|Copsey|2008|p=95}} This attitude was heavily informed by the ] system that had been introduced in ]'s Fascist Italy.{{sfn|Copsey|2008|p=96}}
In 2002, the party criticised corporatism due to the "mixture of big capitalism and state control", claiming to be more favourable to the "] tradition established by home-grown thinkers" favouring small, privately owned business.<ref name="eatw">{{harvnb|Eatwell|2004|p=69}}.</ref> In its 2005 manifesto, the BNP declared its opposition to "], ], ] and ]".<ref name="bbcmanifesto">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/BNP_uk_manifesto.pdf|publisher=BBC.co.uk|title=BNP General Election Manifesto 2005|accessdate=19 October 2009}}</ref> The BNP rejects the notion of ] and "submitting to the dictates of the international marketplace" which "has no loyalty to this country".<ref name="bbcmanifesto" /> The BNP has claimed that it is possible for a national economy to thrive outside of the ] model, pointing to 21st century examples such as ], ] and ].<ref name="bbcmanifesto" /> In the manifesto the BNP claims that while immigration increases the ] due to providing cheap labour, it decreases the ]—the latter of which the BNP claims, as economic nationalists, is most representative of the economic well-being of British people and the figure they would strive to improve.<ref name="bbcmanifesto" />


A number of senior members, including Griffin and ], had ] leanings, having been influenced by ] and ].{{sfnm|1a1=Gable|1y=1995|1p=267|2a1=Macklin|2y=2011|2p=27}} Under Griffin's leadership, the BNP promoted ] and ].{{sfn|Rhodes|2011|p=63}} Its economic policies reflect a vague commitment to distributist economics, ethno-socialism, and ].{{sfn|Macklin|2011b|p=229}} The BNP maintains a policy of ] and ], although in comparison with other far-right nationalist parties, the BNP focuses less on ].<ref name="routledge">{{harvnb|Davies|2002|p=149}}</ref> It has called for British ownership of its own industries and resources and the "subordination of the power of the City to the power of the government".<ref name="routledge" /> It has promoted the regeneration of farming in the United Kingdom, with the object of achieving maximum ] in food production.<ref name="routledge" /> In 2002, the party criticised corporatism as a "mixture of big capitalism and state control", saying it favoured a "] tradition established by home-grown thinkers" favouring small business.<ref name="eatw">{{harvnb|Eatwell|2004|p=69}}.</ref> The BNP has also called for the ] of the ]s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nationalisation of the railways |url=http://www.bnp.org.uk/news/national/bnp-ukip-how-we-are-different |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160905194906/http://www.bnp.org.uk/news/national/bnp-ukip-how-we-are-different |archive-date=5 September 2016}}</ref> The BNP, in its 2010 manifesto, called for Britain to emulate the ''tiger states'' of East Asia, such as ] and ].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://general-election-2010.co.uk/bnp-manifesto-2010-general-election/bnp-manifesto-2010-the-economy-putting-britain-back-on-the-road-to-recovery/ |title=The Economy: Putting Britain Back on the Road to Recovery |publisher=BNP |date=2010 |access-date=14 June 2024 |archive-date=14 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240614094222/https://general-election-2010.co.uk/bnp-manifesto-2010-general-election/bnp-manifesto-2010-the-economy-putting-britain-back-on-the-road-to-recovery/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
The manifesto states that the United Kingdom has a much higher level of ] between rich and poor, when compared to neighbouring first world countries. Though the party has recognised "old-style socialist methods" of simply taxing income away from the rich "turned out to have harmful effects", it would instead seek "non-destructive means to reduce income inequality".<ref name="bbcmanifesto" /> Central to the BNP's economic policies are greater ] and the establishment of ]. The party advocates the provision of extra resources for "especially gifted children" and the reversal of closures of special needs schools.<ref name="bbcmanifesto" /> It has proposed that repossessed homes should become council houses, to prevent these being sold off cheaply to undercut private sellers, and to provide housing for those who need it.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bnp.org.uk/2008/09/repossessions-should-become-council-houses/ |title=Repossessions should become council houses |publisher=BNP.org.uk |accessdate=2 February 2019 |date=16 September 2008 |author=Martin Wingfield}}</ref> It has been supported by nationalist trade union ].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.solidaritytradeunion.net/news-mainmenu-52/132-19112008-bnp-membership-list-leak|title= BNP membership list leak |publisher=SolidarityTradeUnion.net|accessdate=3 February 2010 |date=19 November 2009 |author=}}</ref>
===Social and cultural policy===
The BNP proposes to reintroduce ], and to make ] available for ]s, ] and murderers.<ref name="bbcmanifesto" /> In addition to increasing military defence spending, the BNP plans to reintroduce compulsory national service. The BNP proposes that men should keep a rifle and ammunition in their homes.<ref name="bbcmanifesto" /> It proposes "to end ] in ] by welcoming Eire{{sic}} as well as Ulster as equal partners in a federation of the nations of the British Isles".<ref>, BNP Website, Retrieved 4 October 2008</ref>


When it comes to ], the BNP refers to itself as the "real green party", stating that the ] engages in "watermelon" politics by being green (environmentalist) on the outside but red (leftist) on the inside.{{sfn|Macklin|2011b|p=230}} Influenced by the ], it framed its arguments regarding environmentalism in an anti-immigration manner, talking about the need for 'sustainability'.{{sfn|Macklin|2011b|p=230}} It engages in ], with Griffin claiming that global warming is a hoax orchestrated by those trying to establish the ].{{sfn|Macklin|2011b|p=230}}
The party supports animal welfare (such as the banning of ] and ] slaughtering and the phasing out of factory farming) and environmental policies, supporting ] in its fight against Japanese whaling ships and the RSPCA's campaign against the docking of dogs' tails.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4670574.stm |title=Profile: Nick Griffin |publisher=BBC News |date=10 November 2006 |accessdate=21 September 2008 }}</ref>
====Racial and immigration policies====
At its founding, the BNP was explicitly racist. In October 1990, the BNP was described by the ] committee on ] and xenophobia as an "openly Nazi party&nbsp;... whose leadership have serious criminal convictions{{sic}}".<ref name="bnputs">{{cite news | title = BNP: under the skin | author = | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/programmes/2001/bnp_special/roots/1984.stm | publisher = BBC | date = | accessdate = 4 June 2007}}</ref> When asked in 1993 if the BNP was racist, its deputy leader ] said, "We are 100 per cent racist, yes".<ref name="bnputs"/> Founder John Tyndall proclaimed that "'']'' is my bible".<ref> ''The Observer'', 24 August 2003, Retrieved 5 February 2008</ref> When ] became chairman in 1999, the party began to change its stance with regard to racial issues. Griffin claims to have repudiated racism, instead espousing what he calls "]". He claims that his core ideology is "concern for the well-being of the English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish ethnic nations that compose the United Kingdom".


===Social issues===
The BNP requires that all members must be members of the "Indigenous Caucasian" racial group.<ref name="Constitution">{{cite web | work=Constitution of the British National Party|title=BNP|publisher=British National Party|url=http://www.bnp.org.uk/resources/constitution_8ed.pdf|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20061129055638/http://www.bnp.org.uk/resources/constitution_8ed.pdf|archivedate=29 November 2006| accessdate=13 February 2008|format=PDF}}</ref> The party does not regard non-white people as being British, even if they have been born in the UK and are naturalised British citizens. Instead, Griffin has stated that "non-Europeans who stay", while protected by British law, "will be regarded as permanent guests".<ref name=racereality>Griffin, Nick Retrieved 3 October 2008</ref>
{{update|section|date=May 2022}}


{{Quote box|width=25em|align=right|quote=There is only one political party that Christians can support without betraying the Lord Jesus Christ. This Party is opposed to abortion and the teaching of homosexuality to children. This Party supports the institution of marriage and the traditional family... This Party is opposed to political correctness and the creeping Islamification of Britain.|source=— A 2010 BNP leaflet distributed to Christian leaders{{sfn|Davey|2011|p=442}} }}
The party has stated that it does not consider the ], ] or ] religions to have a significantly detrimental or threatening effect, having several members with Jewish ancestry, but does not accept practising Sikhs or Hindus as culturally or ethnically British.<ref name=Blake2005>{{cite web |url=http://www.bnp.org.uk/news_detail.php?newsId=390 |title="Asians" in Britain: A personal message from the BNP's webeditor |last=Blake |first=Steve |date=12 July 2005 |publisher=British National Party |quote=ndigenous Britons, Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims and the many other ethnic and culturally different groups.... |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20071014195804/http://www.bnp.org.uk/news_detail.php?newsId=390 |archivedate=14 October 2007}}</ref> In pursuit of the policy, the BNP has previously worked with extremists from the Sikh and Hindu communities in an anti-Islamic campaign<ref> ''The Observer'', 23 December 2001, Retrieved 7 February 2008</ref> and actively tried to win Jewish votes.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/apr/10/thefarright.race|title=BNP seeks to bury antisemitism and gain Jewish votes in Islamophobic campaign|work=]|date=10 April 2008|accessdate=22 April 2008|first=Matthew|last=Taylor}}</ref>


The BNP ] to ] and has pledged that—if in government—it would introduce financial incentives to encourage women to leave employment and become housewives.{{sfnm|1a1=Durham|1y=1995|1pp=284–285|2a1=Durham|2y=1998|2pp=150, 152|3a1=Copsey|3y=2008|3p=87|4a1=Macklin|4y=2011b|4p=229}} It would also seek to discourage children being born out of wedlock.{{sfn|Durham|1998|p=160}} It has stated that it would criminalise ], except in cases where the child has been conceived as a result of rape, the mother's life is threatened, or the child will be disabled.{{sfnm|1a1=Durham|1y=1998|1pp=142–143|2a1=Copsey|2y=2008|2pp=90–91|3a1=Macklin|3y=2011b|3p=229}} There are nevertheless circumstances where it has altered this anti-abortion stance; an article in ''British Nationalist'' stated that a white woman bearing the child of a black man should "abort the pregnancy... for the good of society".{{sfn|Durham|1998|p=144}} More widely, the party censures inter-racial sex and accuses the British media of encouraging inter-racial relationships.{{sfn|Durham|1998|pp=161–164}}
The BNP is opposed to mixed-race relationships on the stated ground that racial differences must be preserved; the party said that "when whites take partners from other ethnic groups, a white family line that stretches back into deep pre-history is destroyed."<ref name="bnpfaq"/> Nick Griffin stated: "...while the BNP is not racist, it must not become multi-racist either. Our fundamental determination to secure a future for white children is restated, and an area of uncertainty is addressed and a position which is both principled and politically realistic is firmly established. We don't hate anyone, especially the mixed race children who are the most tragic victims of enforced multi-racism, but that does not mean that we accept ] as moral or normal. We do not and we never will".<ref name=racereality/>


Under Tyndall, the BNP called for the re-criminalisation of homosexual activity.{{sfnm|1a1=Durham|1y=1998|1p=156|2a1=Copsey|2y=2008|2p=90}} Following Griffin's takeover, it moderated its policy on ].{{sfn|Sykes|2005|p=136}} However, it opposed the 2004 ] of ]s for same-sex couples.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=70}} During his 2009 ''Question Time'' appearance, Griffin described the sight of two men kissing as "for a lot of us (Christians)... really creepy".{{sfn|Copsey|Macklin|2011|p=88}} The party has also condemned the availability of ]; its 1992 manifesto stated that the BNP would give the "pedlars of this filth... the criminal status that they deserve".{{sfn|Durham|1998|p=160}} The BNP promoted the reintroduction of ],{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=70}} and the sterilisation of some criminals.{{sfn|Copsey|2008|p=90}} It also called for the reintroduction of ] in the UK,{{sfn|Sykes|2005|p=137}} adding that on completion of this service adults would be permitted to keep their standard issue ].{{sfn|Copsey|2008|p=159}}
The party does however have a half-], half-] councillor in ].<ref> ''BBC News''</ref><ref> ''Guardian Unlimited'', 10 December 2006, Retrieved 5 February 2008</ref> In 2006, ], a grandson of an ] refugee (also of partial ] ancestry), was chosen as a council candidate in ]. ], the BNP's first councillor in Birmingham, has denied claims made by her stepmother, Glenys, that Sharon is mixed race; her black father, Radwell Ebanks, having been born in Jamaica.<ref>''BNP councillor denies that her father is black'' The Express 19 June 2006; Tom Price</ref> BNP member ] has a mixed-race daughter by a Cuban-Chinese dancer.<ref>''The art-school liberal who now won't allow blacks in his party,'' ]; 1 June 2008</ref>


According to the academic Steven Woodbridge, the BNP had a "rather ambivalent attitude toward Christian belief and religious themes in general" during most of its history,{{sfn|Woodbridge|2010|p=25}} but under Griffin's modernisation the party increasingly utilised Christian terminology and themes in its discourse.{{sfn|Woodbridge|2010|pp=25, 26}} Various members of the party presented themselves as "true Christians",{{sfn|Woodbridge|2010|p=25}} and defenders of the faith, with key ideologues stating that the religion has been "betrayed" and "sold out" by mainstream clergy and the British establishment.{{sfn|Woodbridge|2010|p=26}} British Christianity, the BNP said, was under threat from Islam, ], multiculturalism, and "]".{{sfn|Woodbridge|2010|p=26}} On analysing the BNP's use of Christianity, Davey argued that the party's emphasis was not on Christian faith itself, but on the inheritance of European Christian culture.{{sfn|Davey|2011|p=442}}
The BNP supported ] lecturer ], who was suspended from his post after stating that the ] "has demonstrated to me beyond any reasonable doubt there is a persistent gap in average black and white average intelligence".<ref>Joe Priestley, , BNP Website, 3 April 2006, Retrieved 3 October 2008</ref><ref>{{cite news
| last = Halpin
| first = Tony
| title = Lecturer is suspended for 'racist' IQ claims
| work = The Times
| date= 24 March 2006
| url = http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/student/news/article694940.ece
| accessdate = 13 August 2007 | location=London}}</ref> Ellis called the BNP "a bit too socialist" for his liking and described himself as "an unrepentant ]" who would support "humane" repatriation.<ref> ''The Observer'', 5 March 2006, Retrieved 5 February 2008</ref> In April 2006, ] confronted the party's national press officer, ] (it has been claimed that this is a pseudonym for ]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legalspring.com/articles/uk-legal/20040603/905449_BNPs-spokesman-Stua.html |title=BNP's spokesman Stuart Russell: peaceful protesters are all "fascists" |publisher=Legalspring.com |date= |accessdate=27 February 2009}}</ref>) with a tape of a telephone conversation the previous year. On the tape, Russell could be heard to say that "the black kids are going to grow up dysfunctional, low IQ, low achievers that drain our welfare benefits and the prison system and probably go and mug you."<ref>{{cite web|author=27 April 2006 |url=http://youtube.com/watch?v=BRKk2K3fMk0 |title=Youtube.com |publisher=Youtube.com |date=27 April 2006 |accessdate=23 October 2009}}</ref> He responded: "If I thought I was going to be recorded&nbsp;... I would not have used such intemperate language, but let’s be honest about it, the facts are there".<ref> ''The Sunday Times'', 30 April 2006, Retrieved 5 February 2008</ref>


The BNP long considered the mainstream media to be one of its major impediments to electoral success.{{sfn|Copsey|Macklin|2011|p=92}} Tyndall said that the media represents a "state above the state" which was committed to the "left-liberal" goals of ], liberal democracy, and racial integration.{{sfn|Copsey|Macklin|2011|p=92}} The party has said that the mainstream media has given disproportionate coverage to the achievements of ethnic minority sportsmen and to the victims of anti-black racism while ignoring white victims of racial prejudice and the BNP's activities.{{sfn|Copsey|Macklin|2011|p=93}} Both Tyndall and Griffin have said that the mainstream media is controlled by Jews, who use it for their own devices; the latter promoted this idea in his ''Who are the Mind Benders?''{{sfn|Copsey|Macklin|2011|pp=92–93}} Griffin has described the BBC as "a thoroughly unpleasant, ultra-leftist establishment".{{sfn|Copsey|Macklin|2011|p=89}} The BNP has stated that if it took power, it would end "the dictatorship of the media over free debate".{{sfn|Copsey|Macklin|2011|p=95}} It said that it would introduce a law prohibiting the media from disseminating falsehoods about an individual or organisation for financial or political gain,{{sfn|Copsey|Macklin|2011|p=94}} and that it would ban the media from promoting racial integration.{{sfn|Copsey|Macklin|2011|p=95}}
====Anti-Islam focus====
BNP policy pledges to protect ],{{sfn|Copsey|2008|p=159}} as part of which it would repeal all laws banning racial or religious hate speech.{{sfn|Copsey|2008|p=159}} It would repeal the ] and withdraw from the ].<ref name="bbcmanifesto">{{Cite news |title=BNP General Election Manifesto 2005 |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/BNP_uk_manifesto.pdf |url-status=live |access-date=13 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170807132131/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/BNP_uk_manifesto.pdf |archive-date=7 August 2017}}</ref>
The party states that "The BNP has moved on in recent years, casting off the leg-irons of conspiracy theories and the thinly veiled anti-semitism which has held this party back for two decades. The real enemies of the British people are home grown Anglo-Saxon Celtic liberal-leftists&nbsp;... and the Crescent Horde—the endless wave of Islamics who are flocking to our shores to bring our island nations into the embrace of their barbaric desert religion".<ref name="Nationalism and Israel"/>


==Support==
Consequently, the party has shifted allegiance in conflicts involving ]. Its head of legal affairs, Lee Barnes, wrote on the party's website about the ]: "As a Nationalist I can say that I support Israel 100% in their dispute with ]. In fact, I hope they wipe Hezbollah off the ] map and bomb them until they leave large greasy craters in the cities where their Islamic extremist cantons of terror once stood."<ref>Lee Barnes , BNP Website, 28 July 2006, Retrieved 3 October 2008</ref>


===Finances===
Nick Griffin has made it clear that this shift in emphasis is designed to increase the party's appeal. On one occasion, he stated, "We should be positioning ourselves to take advantage for our own political ends of the growing wave of public hostility to Islam currently being whipped up by the mass media".<ref>Nick Griffin BNP Website, 21 March 2006, Retrieved 3 October 2008</ref> In a speech to local party activists in Burnley in March 2006, he said:
{{bquote|We bang on about Islam. Why? Because to the ordinary public out there it's the thing they can understand. It's the thing the newspaper editors sell newspapers with. If we were to attack some other ethnic group—some people say we should attack the Jews... But&nbsp;... we've got to get to power. And if that was an issue we chose to bang on about when the press don't talk about it&nbsp;... the public would just think we were barking mad. They'd just think oh, you're attacking Jews just because you want to attack Jews. You're attacking this group of powerful Zionists just because you want to take poor Manny Cohen the tailor and shove him in a gas chamber. That's what the public would think. It wouldn't get us anywhere other than stepping backwards. It would lock us in a little box; the public would think "extremist crank lunatics, nothing to do with me." And we wouldn't get power.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=1269630805284168668|title=BNPtv films Nick Griffin Speaking at Burnley Branch Meeting March 2006|date=22 March 2006|publisher=Google Video|accessdate=29 September 2009}}</ref>}}


In contrast to the UK's mainstream parties, the BNP received few donations from businesses, wealthy donors, or trade unions.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=90}} Instead it relied on finances produced by its membership.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=91}} Under Tyndall, the party operated on a shoestring budget with a lack of transparency; in 1992 it collected £5000 and in 1997 it collected £10,000.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=91}} It also tried raising money by selling extreme-right literature, and opened a bookshop in ] in 1989, although this was closed in 1996 after being attacked by anti-fascists and proving too costly to run.{{sfnm|1a1=Copsey|1y=2011b|1p=129|2a1=Goodwin|2y=2011|2p=91}} In 1992, the party formed a ] of its wealthier supporters, which was renamed the Trafalgar Club in 2000.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=91}} By the 1997 general election, it admitted that its expenses had "far out-stripped" its income, and it was appealing for donations to pay off loans it had taken out.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=91}}
Suggested policies to help police this "threat to all of us" include a ] ] policy, which would ban Muslims from flying in and out of the UK.<ref> ''The Guardian'', 5 October 2006, Retrieved 7 February 2008</ref> The BNP erected a plaque in ], ] in memory of Gavin Hopley, a 19-year-old white man who was mugged and kicked to death by Asian Muslims in the street in ], in February 2002. The plaque was later removed by the local council.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/bnp-memorial-to-murdered-teenager-removed-by-council-570495.html |title=BNP memorial to murdered teenager removed by council - UK Politics, UK |publisher=The Independent |date=19 February 2004 |accessdate=10 June 2009}}</ref>
====Anti-homosexuality====
The BNP states that ] in private should be tolerated but believes that it "should not be promoted or encouraged".<ref>, BNP Website, 3 December 2007, Retrieved 4 October 2008</ref> It opposed the introduction of ]s and wishes to ban what it perceives as the promotion of homosexuality in schools and the media;<ref name=bnpfaq/><ref name="showarticle1"> BNP Website, Retrieved 3 October 2008</ref><ref>'Tony Wentworth , BNP Website, Retrieved 3 October 2008</ref> and believes that homosexuality should be returned "to the closet".<ref name="labpartyemails">{{cite web |url=http://www.umu.man.ac.uk/labour/bnp.html |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20060506040028/http://www.umu.man.ac.uk/labour/bnp.html |archivedate=6 May 2006 |title=Emails to/from the BNP |publisher=Manchester University Labour Club |accessdate=9 June 2006 }}</ref>


Griffin placed greater emphasis on fundraising; from 2001 through to 2008, the BNP's annual turnover increased almost fivefold.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|pp=91–92}} Membership subscriptions grew from £35,000 to £166,000, while its donations raised from £38,000 to £660,000.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|pp=91–92}} However, expenses also rose as the BNP spent more on its electoral campaigns, and the party reported a financial deficit in 2004 and again in 2005.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=92}} Between 2007 and 2009, the BNP accumulated debts of £500,000.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=95}}
BNP spokesman Phil Edwards stated that homosexuality "is unnatural" and "does not lead to procreation but does lead to ] and disease".<ref name="labpartyemails"/>], former chairman of the ] and current Director of Publicity,<ref> "Editorial Team," (retrieved on 10 June 2009)</ref> described homosexuals as "AIDS Monkeys", "bum bandits" and "faggots" and said the idea of homosexuality was a "sickening thought".<ref>RE:Brand Episode 2 "Naziboy" </ref>


===Membership===
In the run-up to the 2005 general election, it was reported that ], the BNP candidate for Barking, had produced and directed a homoerotic student art film in 1989. The story was picked up by the mainstream press after the 2006 local elections, when Barnbrook became a councillor for ].<ref> Pinknews, Retrieved 9 June 2006</ref> Although some portrayed this as ], Barnbrook and the BNP claimed that the film was artistic, and about "sexuality, not homosexuality".<ref> ''The Guardian'', 11 May 2006, Retrieved 9 June 2006</ref>


]
The BNP was criticised over a list on their website titled "Liars, buggers and thieves" which grouped several gay politicians in with convicted murderers, rapists and paedophiles. The compiler of the list, BNP local councillor for ], ] defended it and said that the reason why gay MPs were included was because "it fits in with the headline, the bugger part, I guess" and stated that the BNP are "a family party with ]".<ref>, bnp.org.uk, Retrieved on 9 June 2009</ref><ref>Geen, Jessica , ''Pink News'', 15 May 2009, Retrieved on 9 June 2009</ref>


For most of its history, the BNP had a whites-only membership policy.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=122}} In 2009, the state's ] stated that this was a violation of the ] and called on the party to amend its constitution accordingly.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=122}} Responding to this, in early 2010 members voted to remove the racial restriction to membership, although it is unlikely that many non-whites joined.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=122}}
Articles published in the ''Sunday Times'' and ''Daily Mail'' have alleged that Nick Griffin had a four year homosexual relationship with ], although Griffin denies this.<ref>Tom Robbins, "Gay Tiff Reveals Soft Side of Far Right", '']'', 5 September 1999</ref><ref>Nick Griffin quoted in David Jones, "A Very Plausible Bigot", '']'', 29 April 2006</ref> On his appearance on ] '']'' on 22 October 2009, he stated in response to being asked about the death of ] member ], "I said that a lot of people find the sight of two grown men kissing in public really creepy. I understand that homosexuals don't understand that but that's how a lot of us feel, Christians feel that way, Muslims, all sorts of people."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8321683.stm |title=BBC - Nick Grffen attacks Islam |publisher=BBC News |date= |accessdate=23 October 2009}}</ref>
At its creation, the BNP had approximately 1,200 members.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=123}} By the 1983 general election, this had grown to approximately 2,500, although by 1987 had slumped to 1,000, with no significant further growth until the 21st century.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=123}} After taking control Griffin began publishing the party's membership figures: 2,174 in 2001, 3,487 in 2002, 5,737 in 2003, and 7,916 in 2004. Membership dropped slightly to 6,281 in 2005, but had grown to 9,297 in 2007 and to 10,276 in spring 2010.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=124}} In 2011, it was noted that this meant that the BNP had experienced the most rapid growth since 2001 of any minor party in the UK.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=125}}


A party membership list dating from late 2007 was leaked onto the internet by a disgruntled activist, containing the names and addresses of 12,000 members.{{sfnm|1a1=Woodbridge|1y=2010|1p=25|2a1=Goodwin|2y=2011|2p=124}}<ref name="guardian-2008-11-18">{{Cite news |last1=Sturcke |first1=James |last2=Weaver |first2=Matthew |last3=Cobain |first3=Ian |date=18 November 2008 |title=BNP membership list leaked online |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2008/nov/18/bnp-membership-list-leak |url-status=live |access-date=2 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921145014/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2008/nov/18/bnp-membership-list-leak |archive-date=21 September 2013}}</ref> This included names, addresses and other personal details.<ref>{{Cite web |date=20 November 2008 |title=Probe into officer on BNP list |url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/9808105a-b6a5-11dd-89dd-0000779fd18c.html |access-date=12 December 2008 |website=Financial Times}}</ref> People on the list included prison officers (barred from BNP membership), teachers, soldiers, civil servants and members of the clergy.{{sfn|Woodbridge|2010|p=25}} The leaked list indicated that membership was concentrated in particular areas, namely the East Midlands, Essex, and Pennine Lancashire, but with particular clusters in ], ], and ].{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=126}} Many of these areas had long been targeted by extreme-right campaigns, dating back to the NF activity of the 1970s, suggesting that such longstanding activism may have had an effect on levels of BNP membership.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|pp=126–127}} This information also revealed that membership was most likely in urban areas with low rates of educational attainment and large numbers of economically insecure people employed in manufacturing, with further correlations to nearby Muslim communities.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|pp=127–128}} Following an investigation by Welsh police and the ], two people were arrested in December 2008 for breach of the ] concerning the leak.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Balakrishnan |first=Angela |date=5 December 2008 |title=Two held over BNP membership leak |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2008/dec/05/bnp-leak-arrests |url-status=live |access-date=2 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130922145038/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2008/dec/05/bnp-leak-arrests |archive-date=22 September 2013}}</ref> Matthew Single was subsequently found guilty and fined £200 in September 2009. The 'low' fine was criticised as an "absolute disgrace" by a BNP spokesman and a detective sergeant involved said he was "disappointed" with the outcome, stating that people were fearful for their safety. More than 160 complaints were made nationally to police after attacks on BNP members and their property.<ref name="manfined">{{Cite news |date=1 September 2009 |title=Ex-BNP man fined over names leak |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/nottinghamshire/8231475.stm |access-date=2 April 2013 |archive-date=25 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240625081045/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/nottinghamshire/8231475.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>
===Political tendency===
Since Griffin took over its leadership, the BNP has become less publicly extreme, promoting similar policies to the ] approach adopted by a number of ] European counterparts, such as the ] set up by ].


The leaked membership list showed that the party was 17.22% female.{{sfn|Macklin|2011b|p=228}} While women have occupied key positions within the BNP, men dominated at every level of the party.{{sfnm|1a1=Goodwin|1y=2011|1p=28|2a1=Macklin|2y=2011b|2p=228}} In 2009, over 80% of the party's Advisory Council was male and from 2002 to 2009, three-quarters of its councillors were male.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=128}} The average percentage of female candidates presented at local elections in 2001 was 6%, although this had risen to 16% by 2010.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=128}} Since 2006, the party had made a point of selecting female candidates, with Griffin stating that this was necessary to "soften" the party's image.{{sfn|Macklin|2011b|pp=227–228}} Goodwin suggested that membership fell into three camps: the "activist old guard" who had previously been involved in the NF during the 1970s, the "political wanderers" who had defected from other parties to the BNP, and the "new recruits" who had joined post-2001 and who had little or no political interest or experience beforehand.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|pp=131–134}}
It has been claimed that the BNP has, since its foundation, been fascist{{whom}}. The party's predecessor, the NF, was overtly fascist, incorporating ], ], and ] into its core ideology. In the 1970s, the NF drifted towards a more ] and specifically anti-immigration policy stance in order to attract conservatives. The party's focus shifted once more in the 1980s, due to the failure to attract voters in the ]; they NF's ideology, however, was taken up by the newly formed BNP under the expelled Tyndall, who opposed de-radicalization. The NF splintered during this period, between the ] and ] ideas of Griffin, and the more traditionalist ]. Piero Ignazi has said that the "proto-Nazi" mould of the NF, and the "generalized nostalgia for all sorts of fascist tendencies" and association with "foreign ideologies" which continued under the BNP, accounted for lack of success for both parties, especially in comparison to successful far-right parties in Europe, which disavowed the traditional "fascist mould".<ref>{{citebook|title=Extreme right parties in Western Europe|author=Piero Ignazi|location=Oxford|publisher=]|year=2003|isbn=0199291594}}</ref>


Having performed ] among the BNP by interviewing various members, Goodwin noted that few of those he interviewed "conformed to the popular stereotypes of them being irrational and uninformed crude racists".{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=187}} He noted that most strongly identified with the working class and claimed to have either been former Labour voters or from a Labour-voting family.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|pp=128–129}} None of those interviewed claimed a family background in the ethnic nationalist movement.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=130}} Instead, he noted that members said that they joined the party as a result of a "profound sense of anxiety over immigration and rising ethno-cultural diversity" in Britain, along with its concomitant impact on "British culture and society".{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=142}} He noted that among these members, the perceived cultural threat of immigrants and ethnic minorities was given greater prominence than the perceived economic threat that they posed to white Britons.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=142}} He noted that in his interviews with them, members often framed Islam in particular as a threat to British values and society, expressing the fear that British Muslims wanted to Islamicise the country and eventually impose '']'' on its population.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|pp=143–144}}
The ''Daily Mirror'' has described the party's MEPs as "vile prophets who preach a Nazi-style doctrine of racial hatred".<ref>James Lyons and Tom Parry, "The truth about fascist National Front past of Britain's two new BNP members in Europe", Daily Mirror, 9 July 2009</ref> An editorial in ''The Guardian'' characterises the BNP as "a racist organisation with a fascist pedigree that rightfully belongs under a stone".<ref>, The Guardian, 15 October 2009</ref> ] leader ] has described the BNP as "a party of thugs, fascists".<ref>Nick Clegg, speaking on ''Today'', BBC Radio 4, 8 June 2009</ref> ] leader ] said of the BNP "If you vote for the BNP you are voting for a bunch of fascists... They dress up in a suit and knock on your door in a nice way but they are still Nazi thugs."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/5395358/David-Cameron-attacks-fascist-BNP.html|title=David Cameron attacks 'fascist' BNP|date=31 May 2009|publisher=The Daily Telegraph|24 April 2006|accessdate=31 May 2009}}</ref> Home Secretary ], speaking on BBC's '']'' (15 October 2009) said, "These people believe in the things that the fascists believed in the second world war, they believe in what the National Front believe in. They believe in the purity of the Aryan race. It is a foul and despicable party and however they change their constitution they will remain foul and despicable."<ref>Alan Travis, guardian.co.uk, 16 October 2009</ref><ref>quoted in James Robinson, "The right to be heard?", ''The Guardian'' Media section, 19 October 2009 p1</ref> ] describes the BNP as "a racist organisation with known fascist roots and values" and wrote about its "racist and fascist agenda".<ref>Peter Hain, , ''The Guardian, 12 October 2009, p30</ref>


===Voter base===
The BNP denies that it is fascist, calling the accusations "utter nonsense",<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bnp.org.uk/2007/12/countering-the-smears/|title=Countering the Smears.|last=Bennett|first=Simon|date=3 December 2007|publisher=British National Party|accessdate=19 October 2009}}</ref> and an attempt to "prevent freedom of speech".<ref></ref> Griffin has said about the claims that he is a fascist "I am not a fascist—that is a smear that comes from the far left."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/113462/Griffin-denies-fascism-smears-#/|title=Griffin denies fascism 'smears'|last=|first=|date=12 July 2009|publisher=Daily Express|accessdate=10 October 2009}}</ref> He has also said that "he actually 'detested' fascism".<ref>{{cite web|author=Sunday, July 12, 2009 |url=http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?Griffin_denies_fascism_smears&in_article_id=701299&in_page_id=34 |title=Griffin denies fascism 'smears' |publisher=Metro.co.uk |date=2009-07-12 |accessdate=2009-10-23}}</ref> The party has some Jewish members including one of its councillors, ] (]).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.somethingjewish.co.uk/articles/1009_bnp_jewish_win.htm |title=BNP Jewish win &#124;www.somethingjewish.co.uk |publisher=Somethingjewish.co.uk |date= |accessdate=19 September 2008}}</ref>


{{Quote box|width=25em|align=right|quote=The BNP does not have mass appeal, but the evidence... suggests it is forging ties with 'angry white men': middle-aged and elderly working-class men who have low levels of education, are deeply pessimistic about their economic prospects and live in more deprived urban areas close to large Muslim communities. Foremost, these citizens are sending a message about their profound concern over issues they care deeply about, but which they feel are not being adequately addressed by the main parties.|source=— Political scientist Matthew Goodwin, 2011{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=17}} }}
However, political scientists support the fascist description and say that the BNP has attempted to hide its extremist nature and to present a more moderate image in order to attract popular support.<ref name="bnpelection2004">{{cite journal|last=Renton|first=David|date=1 March 2005|title='A day to make history'? The 2004 elections and the British National Party |journal=Patterns of Prejudice|url=http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a713722453|volume=1|issue=39|accessdate=15 th January 2009}}</ref><ref name="thurlow2000">{{cite book|last=Thurlow|first=Richard C.|title=Fascism in Modern Britain|publisher=Sutton|year=2000|isbn= 0750917474|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=vAWGAAAAIAAJ}}</ref><ref name="autogenerated1996">Copsey, N "Contemporary Fascism in the Local Arena: the British National Party and Rights for Whites" in Cronin, M (ed) ''The Failure of British Fascism'' (Basingstoke, 1996)</ref> Nigel Copsey examined the party's ideological position as revealed in its 2005 general election manifesto ''Rebuilding British Democracy'' and concluded that it was a recalibration of fascism rather than a fundamental break in ideology.<ref name="informaworld.com">Copsey, N. , ''Patterns of Prejudice'', v. 41, Issue 1, February 2007 , pages 61 - 82</ref>


Goodwin described the BNP's voters as being "socially distinct and concerned about a specific set of issues".{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=15}} Under Griffin's leadership, the party targeted areas with high proportions of skilled white working-class voters, particularly those who were disenchanted with the Labour government.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=73}} It has attempted to appeal to disaffected Labour voters with slogans such as "We are the Labour Party your Grandfather Voted For".{{sfnm|1a1=Goodwin|1y=2011|1p=2|2a1=Trilling|2y=2012|2p=142}} The BNP had little success in gaining support from women, the middle classes, and the more educated.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=180}}
In an interview with the ], historian Richard Overy said that "Fascism with a capital F was a phenomenon of the 20s and 30s. It was a revolutionary movement asserting a violent imperialism and promising a new social order. There is nothing like that now." Historian David Stevenson said that "the BNP is different in style and structure from fascism in the 1930s," adding that though they do not wear uniforms they still count "bully boys" among their membership.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/jun/09/bnp-fascism-meps-far-right |title=Leading historians on whether fascism is on the march again &#124; Politics |publisher=The Guardian |date=9 June 2009 |accessdate=23 October 2009}}</ref>


Goodwin noted a "strong male bias" in the party's support base, with statistical polling revealing that between 2002 and 2006, seven out of ten BNP voters were male.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=101}} That same research also indicated that BNP voters were disproportionately middle-aged and elderly, with three quarters being aged over 35, and only 11% aged between 18 and 24.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=101}} This contrasted to the NF's support base during the 1970s, when 40% of its voters were aged between 18 and 24.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=101}} Goodwin suggested two possibilities for the BNP's failure to appeal to younger voters: one was the 'life cycle effect', that older people have obtained more during their life and thus have more to lose, feeling both more threatened by change and more socially conservative in their views.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=102}} The other explanation was the 'generational effect', with younger Britons who have grown up since the onset of mass immigration having had greater social exposure to ethnic minorities and thus being more tolerant toward them. Conversely, many older voters came of age during the 1970s, under the impact of the anti-immigrant rhetoric promoted by Powellism, Thatcherism, and the NF, and thus have less tolerant attitudes.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|pp=102, 104}}
It has also been suggested that the BNP represents a hybrid movement containing elements of neo-fascism combinined with anti-immigrant themes.<ref>Julie V. Gottlieb, Thomas P. Linehan, ''The culture of fascism: visions of the far right in Britain'', I B Taurus, New York (2004) pp70-71</ref>


Most BNP voters had no formal qualifications and the party's support was centred largely in areas with low educational attainment.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=104}} According to the 2002–2006 data, two-thirds of BNP voters had either no formal qualifications or had left education after their ]/]s.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=104}} Only one in ten BNP voters possessed an ],{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=104}} and an even smaller percentage had a university degree.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=104}} Most of the BNP's voting base were from the financially insecure lower classes.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=104}} Research conducted from 2002 to 2006 indicated that seven out of ten BNP voters were either skilled or unskilled workers or unemployed.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=104}} A 2009 poll found that six out of ten BNP voters fitted this profile.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=104}} Goodwin suggested that it was the skilled working classes rather than their unskilled or unemployed neighbours who were the main support base behind the BNP, because they owned some assets and thus felt that they had more to lose as a result of the economic threat posed by immigrants and ethnic minorities.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|pp=104–105}}
==Electoral performance==
{{Main|British National Party election results|Elections in the United Kingdom}}
===National parliaments===
The BNP has contested seats in ], ] and ]. Since 2002 the party has expressed interest in contesting elections in ] and previously promised to stand candidates in the 2003 Assembly Election,<ref>South Belfast News 26/04/2002</ref> and 2005 local council elections<ref> ''BBC News'', 15 December 2003, Retrieved 7 February 2008</ref> but in each case failed to put forward candidates. No BNP candidate has ever won a seat as a ] in the ]. It has been noted that the UK's ] system causes electoral difficulties for smaller parties such as the BNP whose support is not geographically concentrated in specific ].<ref>{{cite web | work=Election Resources|title=Parliamentary Elections in the UK|url=http://electionresources.org/uk/| accessdate=14 June 2006}} This is considered the opposite to parties such as ] or ], who receive a nationally lower proportion of the vote than they do parliamentary seats.</ref>


Research indicated that BNP voters also held opinions that were distinct from the average British citizen. They were far more pessimistic about their economic prospects than average, with seven out of ten BNP voters expecting their economic prospects to decline in future, contrasted with four out of ten who held this view in the wider population.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=105}} In the 2002–2006 period, 59% of BNP voters considered immigration to be the most important issue facing the UK, compared with only 16% of the wider population who agreed.{{sfnm|1a1=Goodwin|1y=2011|1pp=108, 100|2a1=Trilling|2y=2012|2p=142}} By 2009, 87% of BNP voters identified immigration and asylum as the most important issue, to 49% of the wider population.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=110}} BNP voters were also more likely to identify ], the EU, and Islamic extremism as the most important issues facing the UK than other voters, and less likely than average to rate the economy, NHS, pensions, and housing market as the most important.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|pp=108, 110}}
In the ], the British National Party stood 119 candidates across England, Scotland and Wales. Between those candidates the BNP polled 192,850 votes, about 0.74% of the vote, a rise of .55% compared to the 2001 election.<ref name="BBC060505" /> The BNP said that this made them Britain's fourth largest party.<ref>, BNP Website, 7 May 2005, Retrieved 3 October 2008</ref> The basis for this claim was that it received the fourth highest share of the vote in the seats it had contested, but this reasoning was found to be unsound by the ] Editorial Complaints Unit; on more conventional measures the BNP was only the eighth-largest party in the UK and the sixth largest in England.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/ecu/2008/06/080627_ecu_fileonfour.shtml|title=ECU ruling: File on Four, Radio 4, 12 February 2008|publisher=]|date=19 May 2008|accessdate=10 March 2009}}</ref> The final share of the vote of 0.74% was lower than exit poll predictions of 3%.<ref name="BBC060505">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/vote_2005/frontpage/4519347.stm |title=BNP sees increase in total votes |publisher=BBC News |accessdate=8 September 2008 |date=6 May 2005}}</ref>


]
In the 2007 ] and ] ] the BNP fielded candidates. In the Welsh elections the party fielded 20 candidates, four in each of the five regional lists with party chairman ] standing in the ] region.<ref>, ''BBC News'', 16 April 2007, Retrieved 22 April 2007</ref> It came fifth behind the major parties in some areas. It did best in north east Wales, polling 9% in Wrexham and 7% in both Alyn and Deeside and in Clwyd South. However, it did not win any seats in the Welsh assembly.


BNP voters were also more likely than average to believe both that white Britons face unfair discrimination, and that Muslims, non-whites, and homosexuals had unfair advantages in British society.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=107}} 78% of BNP voters endorsed the belief that the Labour Party prioritised immigrants and ethnic minorities over white British people, to 44% of the wider population.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=107}} When asked questions about immigration and Muslims, BNP voters were found to be far more hostile to them than the average Briton, and also more willing than average to support outright racially discriminatory policies toward them.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=112}} Copsey believed that "popular racism"—namely against asylum seekers and Muslims—generated the BNP's "largest reservoir of support",{{sfn|Copsey|2008|p=146}} and that in many Northern English towns the main factors behind BNP support were white resentment toward Asian communities, anger at Asian-on-white crime, and the perception that Asians received disproportionately high levels of public funding.{{sfn|Copsey|2008|pp=146–147}}
In the ] the party fielded 32 candidates which entitled the BNP to public funding for its campaign and an election broadcast, prompting criticism from various groups.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.uaf.org.uk/news.asp?choice=70209 |title=No to public funds for fascism |accessdate=22 April 2007}}</ref> The BNP received about 1% of the vote and no seats.


Research also indicated that BNP voters were more mistrustful of the establishment than average citizens. In 2002–2006, 92% of BNP voters described themselves as being dissatisfied with the government, to 62% of the wider population.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|pp=113–114}} Over 80% of BNP voters were found to distrust their local Member of Parliament, council officials, and civil servants, and were also more likely than average to think that politicians were personally corrupt.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=114}} There was also a tendency for BNP voters to read tabloids like the '']'', '']'', and '']'', all of which promote anti-immigration sentiment. Whether these voters gained such sentiment as a result of reading these tabloids or they read these tabloids because it endorsed their pre-existing views is unclear.{{sfnm|1a1=Goodwin|1y=2011|1pp=107–108|2a1=Trilling|2y=2012|2p=144}}
====General election performance====
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year !! Number of Candidates !! Number of MPs !! Percentage of vote !! Total votes !! Change (percentage points) !! Average voters per candidate
|- style="text-align:center;"
! style="text-align:left;"| ]
|| 53 || 0 || 0.0 || 14,621 || N/A || 276
|- style="text-align:center;"
! style="text-align:left;"| ]
|| 2 || 0 || 0.0 || 553 || 0.0 || 277
|- style="text-align:center;"
! style="text-align:left;"| ]
|| 13 || 0 || 0.1 || 7,631 || +0.1 || 587
|- style="text-align:center;"
! style="text-align:left;"| ]
|| 56 || 0 || 0.1 || 35,832 || 0.0 || 640
|- style="text-align:center;"
! style="text-align:left;"| ]
|| 33 || 0 || 0.2 || 47,129 || +0.1 || 1428
|- style="text-align:center;"
! style="text-align:left;"| ]
|| 119 || 0 || 0.7|| 192,746 || +0.5 || 1620
|}


The early stronghold of the BNP was in London, where it established enclaves of support in the boroughs of Enfield, Hackney, Lewisham, Southwark, and Tower Hamlets, with smaller units in Bexley, Camden, Greenwich, Hillingdon, Lambeth and Redbridge.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=82}} By the late 1990s, the party was increasingly retreating from its original East End heartland, finding that its electoral support had declined in the area.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=83}} Griffin expressed the view that it was too dangerous for BNP activists to campaign in the East End, suggesting that they would be likely to be attacked by opponents.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=83}} Instead, the party shifted its focus to parts of ], in particular the boroughs of Barking, Bexley, Dagenham, Greenwich and Havering.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=84}} After Griffin took power, the party focused on building support in the North of England, taking advantage of the anxieties generated by the ethnic riots that took place ], Oldham and Burnley in 2001.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=84}} In the period between 2002 and 2006, over 40% of the BNP's voters were in Northern England.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=105}}
===Local government===
In 2008, the ] estimated the BNP had about 56 councillors.<ref name="100council">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7382831.stm |title=BNP gains from Labour disaffection |publisher=BBC News |first=Dominic |last=Casciani |date=4 May 2008 |accessdate=19 September 2008}}</ref> The party holds a London-wide seat on the ].
As with other minority parties in the UK, the majority of the BNP's electoral success has come in local government elections. The BNP's first electoral success came in September 1993, when ] was returned as councillor for ] (in London) on a low turnout. He lost his seat in further elections the next year.


The decline of the BNP as an electoral force around 2014 helped to open the way for the growth of another right-wing party, UKIP.{{sfn|Ford|Goodwin|2014|p=274}} In a study Goodwin produced with ], the two political scientists noted that UKIP's support base mirrored the BNP's in that it had the same "very clear social profile": the "old, male, working class, white and less educated".{{sfn|Ford|Goodwin|2014|p=159}} One area where the two differed, they noted, was in the fact that BNP support had been highest among the middle-aged before tailing off among the over 55s, whereas UKIP retained strong support with those over 55. Ford and Goodwin suggested that this might be because more over 55s had "direct or indirect experiences" of the Second World War, in which Britain defeated the fascist powers, resulting in them being less inclined to support fascist parties than their younger counterparts.{{sfn|Ford|Goodwin|2014|p=158}} Despite these commonalities, UKIP proved far more successful at mobilising these social groups than did the BNP.{{sfn|Ford|Goodwin|2014|pp=175–176}} This was likely in part because UKIP had a "reputational shield"; it emerged from within the Eurosceptic tradition of British politics rather than from the far-right and thus, while often ridiculed by the mainstream, was regarded as a legitimate democratic actor in a way that the BNP was not.{{sfn|Ford|Goodwin|2014|pp=273–274}}
In the council elections of May 2002, three BNP candidates gained seats on ] council. This was interpreted in some quarters as an indicator of the mood of the British electorate (the BNP had fielded 68 candidates nationwide). In the council elections of May 2003, the BNP increased its Burnley total by five seats, thus briefly becoming the second-largest party and official opposition on that council, a position it narrowly lost soon afterwards after the resignation of a BNP councillor who had been disciplined by the party after unruly behaviour at the party's annual 'Red, White and Blue' festival. The BNP lost the subsequent by-election to the ].


==Organisation and structure==
During these 2003 elections, the BNP contested a record 221 seats nationwide (just under 4% of the total available). It won 11 council seats in all, though Nick Griffin was unsuccessful in his attempt to gain a place on ] Metropolitan Council. In some areas, such as ], it contested all wards and failed to get a seat; in others areas such as ], parts of the ] in the ] and in ] it gained council seats.


On its formation, the BNP avoided the National Front's committee-rule system of collective leadership in the hope of evading the infighting and factionalism that had damaged the NF.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=7}} Instead it was founded around what it called the "leadership principle", with a central chairman having complete control over the party, which was then arranged in a highly hierarchical structure.{{sfnm|1a1=Woodbridge|1y=2010|1p=30|2a1=Goodwin|2y=2011|2p=77}} The BNP lacked internal democracy, with the grassroots membership having almost no formal power,{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=77}} except for electing the party leader. On taking power, Griffin retained the leadership principle inherited from Tyndall.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=78}} He nevertheless established an Advisory Council which would meet several times a year; the members were to be selected by Griffin himself and would serve as his advisors.{{sfnm|1a1=Copsey|1y=2008|1p=108|2a1=Goodwin|2y=2011|2p=79}}
Prior to the ], the BNP had stated that it believed it could win "between one and three seats" in the 2004 ]ary elections. In fact, although its share of the vote increased to 4.9% (placing it as the sixth biggest party overall), it failed to win a single seat. The Party also hoped to pick up an increased share of the vote in the ] of England, where its strongly ] policies were believed to be most popular. However, in that region it gained only 3.0% of the vote.<ref> ''BBC News'', 14 June 2004, Retrieved 7 February 2008</ref> Given that parties with other lower total percentages of the vote, but a higher regional concentration of support, gained seats,<ref>, ''BBC News'', updated 15 August 2007, Retrieved 7 December 2008</ref> its lack of a geographical stronghold can be seen as a disadvantage for the party.


The party's branches and local groups were referred to as "units" within the party.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=79}} These were designed to recruit followers, raise funds, and campaign during elections.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=79}} Under Tyndall, the party operated with a skeleton organisation.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=77}} It had no full-time staff and for most of the 1980s lacked a telephone number.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=78}} Instead it relied on a handful of geographically scattered, unpaid regional organisers.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=93}} Its early activists were recruited from within the extreme-right movement, and thus lacked the experience and skills in electoral campaigning.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=89}} When Griffin took control, he introduced a variety of internal departments to help manage the party's activities: the administration and enquiries department, department for group development, legal affairs department, security department, and communications department.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=79}} Griffin tried to build a more professional party machine by educating and training BNP members, providing them with incentives, establishing a steady income stream, and overcoming factionalism and dissent.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=88}} He launched an "annual college" for activists in 2001 and formed an education and training department in 2007.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=90}} In 2008 and 2010, he oversaw the establishment of "summer schools" for high-ranking officials.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=90}} The party also began employing full-time members of staff, having three in 2001 and 13 in 2007.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=93}}
The party's biggest election success to date was a gain of 52% of the vote in the Goresbrook ward of ] on 16 September 2004. However, the turnout was just 29%, and the councillor Daniel Kelley retired just 10 months later, claiming he had been an outcast within the council. A new election was held on 23 June 2005, in which this time the Labour candidate gained 51% of the vote, and the BNP came second with 32%.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lbbd.gov.uk/9-democracy/elections/results/elect-by-goresbrook-05.html|title=LBBD: Goresbrook Ward By-Election Result}}</ref>


To incentivise members to remain committed to the party, Griffin followed the example of the Swedish ] by implementing a new "voting membership" scheme in 2007.{{sfnm|1a1=Copsey|1y=2008|1p=171|2a1=Goodwin|2y=2011|2p=90}} This meant that those who had been BNP members for two years could become a "voting member", at which they would go on a year's probation. During this year they were required to attend educational and training seminars, to engage in a certain amount of activism and to donate a specified amount of money to the party.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=90}} Once completed, they were allowed to vote on certain matters at general members' meetings and annual conferences, to participate in policy debates, and to be eligible for intermediate and senior positions. This policy ensured that those who reached the higher echelons of the BNP were fully trained in the party's ideology and electoral strategy.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=90}}
In the ], the BNP more than doubled its number of councillors, increasing the number to 49.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.parliament.uk/commons/lib/research/briefings/SNSG-05064.pdf |title=Electoral performance of the British National Party in the UK |publisher=Edmund Tetteh (House of Commons Library) |date=15 May 2009 |accessdate=21 November 2009}}</ref> The biggest gain was in ] where the BNP won initially 11 of the 13 seats it contested,<ref>, ''Barking and Dagenham Recorder'', 18 May 2006, Retrieved 7 February 2008</ref> gaining 17% of the vote.<ref></ref> The BNP also won three seats in ], three in ], three in ], two seats in ], two in ], and single seats in ], ], ], ], ], ] and ]. It was initially declared to have won the Birmingham seat of ] but this was due to a counting error that was subsequently overturned in court.


===Sub-groups and propaganda output===
On 10 August 2006 the BNP gained its first parish councillor in Wales when Mike Howard of Rhewl Mostyn, ], previously an Independent, joined the BNP. Hence as of 10 August 2006, the party had 53 councillors in local government.
Griffin hoped to build a wider ] around the BNP by establishing affiliated networks and organisations.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=85}} In many cases, these were presented to the public in a way that concealed any direct connection to the BNP.{{sfn|Woodbridge|2010|p=40}} Most of these affiliated groups were poorly funded and had few members.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=87}} The party established its own ], Great White Records, a radio station, and a ] known as ].{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=87}} It formed a group for young people known as the Young BNP, although in 2010 renamed this group as the BNP Crusaders, "to pay homage to our ancestors from the Middle Ages who saved Christian Europe from the onslaught of Islam".{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=87}} It established a Land and People group to recruit support in rural areas, a Family Circle to recruit women and families, and both a Veterans Group and an Association of British ex-Servicemen for former military servicemen.{{sfnm|1a1=Woodbridge|1y=2010|1pp=40–41|2a1=Goodwin|2y=2011|2p=87}} A group called Families Against Immigrant Racism was established to counter perceived racism against white Britons,{{sfnm|1a1=Sykes|1y=2005|1p=137|2a1=Copsey|2y=2008|2p=122|3a1=Goodwin|3y=2011|3p=87}} while an Ethnic Liaison Committee was created to build links with anti-Muslim ] and ] groups active in Britain.{{sfnm|1a1=Sykes|1y=2005|1p=137|2a1=Copsey|2y=2008|2p=135|3a1=Woodbridge|3y=2010|3p=41|4a1=Goodwin|4y=2011|4p=87|5a1=Trilling|5y=2012|5p=116}} Another group was the ] (AFBNP), set up by ] in 1999 to gain support from sympathisers in the United States.{{sfnm|1a1=Copsey|1y=2008|1p=109|2a1=Goodwin|2y=2011|2pp=87–88}} In 2001 it had 100 members, and by 2008 had 107.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|pp=87–88}}


A group called Islands of the North Atlantic (IONA) was established to promote the BNP's view of British culture and identity.{{sfn|Woodbridge|2010|p=40}} The British Students Association was founded to promote the party's views among university students in 2000.{{sfn|Woodbridge|2010|p=40}}
====2007 local elections====
Albion Life Insurance was set up in September 2006 as an insurance brokerage company established on behalf of the BNP to raise funds for its activities.<ref>{{Cite web |title=BNP sets up life firm, ''Highbeam'' |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-151726902.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140610220620/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-151726902.html |archive-date=10 June 2014 |access-date=1 April 2013 |publisher=HighBeam Research}}</ref> The firm ceased to operate in November 2006.<ref>{{Cite web |date=November 2006 |title=A finger in too many pies |url=http://www.searchlightmagazine.com/index.php?link=template&story=185 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061205192653/http://www.searchlightmagazine.com/index.php?link=template&story=185 |archive-date=5 December 2006 |access-date=2 April 2013 |website=Searchlight |publisher=Wayback Machine}}</ref> In 2006, the BNP launched the ] (CCB), a group designed to rival the ] and oppose the growing "Islamification" of inner city areas.{{sfn|Woodbridge|2010|p=41}} The CCB was established and run by BNP member ], who claimed to have been ordained by the ], a claim that the church denies.{{sfnm|1a1=Woodbridge|1y=2010|1pp=42–43|2a1=Davey|2y=2011|2p=445}} West is a ] and espouses a theology of nations which is influenced by Calvinist theologians like ], holding that ] wishes every race and nation to remain separate until ].{{sfn|Davey|2011|pp=445–446}}
{{Main|United Kingdom local elections, 2007}}
In the run-up to local elections in May 2007, the BNP predicted that it would again double its councillors, which would have taken the total to around 100. However, in the event it made only small gains and also suffered significant losses, so that the net increase was only one seat. From this peak of 47 councillors on local authorities, the number of BNP councillors fell slowly through the rest of 2007 due to resignations and expulsions, several of them associated with a failed leadership challenge in the summer. By the end of the year the number had sunk to around 42.


Griffin's BNP also established an annual Red, White and Blue festival, which was based on the 'Blue Blanc Rouge' organised by France's National Front.{{sfnm|1a1=Copsey|1y=2008|1p=109|2a1=Goodwin|2y=2011|2pp=87, 88|3a1=Trilling|3y=2012|3p=97}} The festival brought party activists together and aimed to promote a more ] image for the group, although it also provided a venue for ] bands like Stigger, Nemesis and Warlord.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|pp=87, 88}} Around 1,000 BNP members attended the party's 2001 festival.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=87}}
In the ] which took place on the same day as the Scottish and Welsh elections, the BNP fielded a record 754 council candidates, more than double the number the previous year.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article2444454.ece |title=BNP goes bourgeois as party aims for rural seats|publisher=The Independent|date=13 April 2007 |accessdate=22 April 2007}}</ref> It won increased support in Windsor and Maidenhead but did not increase its number of councillors in Sandwell from 4 and saw its seats in Burnley reduced from seven to four. It won both Hugglescote and Whitwick—the first seats to be won by the BNP in Leicestershire.{{Citation needed|date=October 2009}} Before the poll, the BNP's declared aim was to double its number of elected councillors to around a hundred.{{Citation needed|date=October 2009}} In the event, it increased its net representation by just one councillor.


Under Griffin's leadership, the BNP zealously embraced the use of ] to promote itself in a way different from the negative portrayal that featured in the mainstream media.{{sfn|Copsey|Macklin|2011|p=95}} On its website—which had been established in 1995{{sfn|Copsey|Macklin|2011|p=96}}—it created an internet television channel, 'BNPtv'.{{sfn|Copsey|Macklin|2011|p=95}} It has created blogs that cover different themes without being explicitly political in order to promote the party's message.{{sfn|Copsey|Macklin|2011|p=96}} The BNP established an online marketing platform, Excalibur, through which to sell its merchandise.{{sfn|Davey|2011|p=440}} In 2003, the BNP claimed that it had the most viewed website of a political party in Britain,{{sfn|Copsey|Macklin|2011|p=96}} and by 2011 was claiming to have the most viewed such website in Europe.{{sfn|Copsey|Macklin|2011|p=96}} In September 2007, '']'' newspaper reported that ], the online competitive intelligence service, said that the BNP website had more hits than any other website of a British political party.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hope |first=Christopher |date=13 September 2007 |title=BNP website is the most popular in politics |work=The Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1562960/BNP-website-is-the-most-popular-in-politics.html |url-status=live |access-date=1 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130820194101/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1562960/BNP-website-is-the-most-popular-in-politics.html |archive-date=20 August 2013}}</ref>
====London Assembly and mayoral election, 2008====
The '']''<ref>Andrew Gilligan , '']'', 1 April 2008, Retrieved on 2 April 2008</ref> reported at the beginning of April 2008 that ], second on the candidates list for the ] and the party's chief London organiser, is the author of a far-right blog 'Sir John Bull'. On his blog, Eriksen says rape is a "myth" and claims women are like gongs as "they need to be struck regularly". Eriksen was removed as a BNP candidate because of these comments, but his position as a party official remains unclear.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-552692/Sacked-The-BNP-candidate-said-women-like-gongs--need-struck-regularly.html|title=Sacked: The BNP candidate who said 'some women are like gongs — they need to be struck regularly'|date=2 April 2008|accessdate=29 September 2009}}</ref><ref>Andrew Gilligan , ''Evening Standard'' 2 April 2008, Retrieved on 2 April 2008</ref>


===Affiliations in the wider extreme-right===
BNP lead candidate ] won a seat in the ] in May 2008, after the party gained 5.3% of the London-wide vote. Nationally, the BNP won over one hundred seats throughout the United Kingdom in the May 2008 local elections, which is less than 1% of the total number of seats available.<ref>{{cite web|last=Casciani |first=Dominic |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7382831.stm |title=BNP gains from Labour disaffection |publisher=BBC News |date=4 May 2008 |accessdate=23 October 2009}}</ref>


Under Griffin, the BNP forged stronger links with various extreme-right parties elsewhere in Europe, among them France's National Front, Germany's ] (NPD), Sweden's National Democrats, and Hungary's ].{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=88}} Griffin unsuccessfully urged the NPD to move away from neo-Nazism and embark on the same 'modernisation' project that he had taken the BNP.{{sfn|Macklin|Virchow|2011|p=208}} ] of the French ] was the guest of honour at an "Anglo-French Patriotic Dinner" held by the BNP in April 2004.{{sfn|Copsey|2008|pp=150–151}}<ref>{{Cite news |date=25 April 2004 |title=Le Pen UK visit sparks protests |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3654941.stm |url-status=live |access-date=1 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090221003750/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3654941.stm |archive-date=21 February 2009}}</ref>
===2009 European Elections===
Griffin met leaders of the Hungarian far right party ] to discuss co-operation between the two parties and spoke at a Jobbik party rally in August 2008.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Doward |first=Jamie |date=15 November 2009 |title=BNP's European ally Krisztina Morvai axed from London conference after protests |work=The Observer |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/nov/15/krisztina-morvai-london-conference-ban |url-status=live |access-date=11 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170510164627/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/nov/15/krisztina-morvai-london-conference-ban |archive-date=10 May 2017}}</ref> In April 2009, ], deputy chairman of the BNP, was welcomed with fascist salutes by members of the Italian nationalist ] during a trip to Milan. Darby stated that the BNP would look to form an alliance with France's Front National in the European Parliament.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Taylor |first=Jerome |date=9 June 2009 |title=Griffin tries to build extremist bloc in Europe |work=The Independent |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/griffin-tries-to-build-extremist-bloc-in-europe-1700174.html |url-status=live |access-date=1 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921082013/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/griffin-tries-to-build-extremist-bloc-in-europe-1700174.html |archive-date=21 September 2013}}</ref> Following the election of two BNP MEPs in 2009, the following year saw the BNP join with other extreme-right parties to form the ], with Griffin becoming its vice president.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=88}} The party also had close links with the ], a publisher focused on promoting Holocaust denial.{{sfn|Trilling|2012|p=66}}
{{wikinews|United Kingdom elects first British National Party members of European Parliament}}
{{Main|European Parliament election, 2009 (United Kingdom)}}
In light of the ] and resultant voter apathy fallout, it was postured by the media and commentators that the BNP could do well in the polls, as voters sought an alternative party to register their protest.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/5311556/MPs-expenses-Lord-Tebbit-says-do-not-vote-Conservative-at-European-elections.html|title=MPs' expenses: Lord Tebbit says do not vote Conservative at European elections |publisher=The Telegraph|author=Matthew Moore|date=12 May 2009|accessdate=13 May 2009}}</ref> The BNP launched its advertising vehicle, which it called the "Truth Truck," around the themes of "British Jobs for British Workers" (a slogan that had previously been used by Prime Minister ]<ref name="BrownJob">{{cite web|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/jan/30/brown-british-jobs-workers/|title= Brown stands by British jobs for British workers remark |publisher=The Guardian|date=30 January 2009|accessdate=8 June 2009}}</ref> but was originated by the BNP<ref>{{cite web|last=Parkinson |first=Justin |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7097837.stm |title=What does 'British jobs' pledge mean? |publisher=BBC News |date=16 November 2007 |accessdate=23 October 2009}}</ref> and quoting from BNP members as to why they had joined the party. In May 2009, The '']'' revealed that the photographs used were from stock collections, with the models having posed for a general photo agency shoot in Portland, Oregon; another shot on the truck quoting a doctor in the ] is also an American stock photo; while the OAPs were the Italian parents of the British resident photographer.<ref name="SMirror"/> Distributed in leaflet form by the ], ] MP ] said: "These leaflets hideously misrepresent the views of the people photographed. I believe they have breached the guidelines set out for electoral communications and I call on the Royal Mail to stop distribution immediately."<ref name="SMirror">{{cite web|url=http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2009/05/16/bnp-poster-campaign-for-british-workers-uses-american-actors-115875-21365018/|title=Exclusive: BNP poster campaign for British workers uses American actors|publisher=Sunday Mirror|date=16 May 2009|accessdate=16 May 2009}}</ref> However this was defended by the BNP who said it was standard practise by political parties.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/local-elections/5331700/British-pensioners-on-BNP-election-leaflet-are-actually-Italian-models.html|title='British pensioners' on BNP election leaflet are actually Italian models |last=Moore|first=Matthew|date=15 May 2009|publisher=The Daily Telegraph|accessdate=29 September 2009}}</ref>


]
The Archbishops of Canterbury and York had said it would be tragic if people abstained or voted BNP at the local and European elections on 4 June.<ref name="BBC-Bishops" /> Their views are said to represent all of the Church's bishops.<ref name="BBC-Bishops">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8065583.stm|title=Archbishops unite against the BNP|publisher=BBC|date=24 May 2009 | accessdate=2009-12-31}}</ref>


Britain's extreme-right has long faced internal and public divisions.{{sfn|Woodbridge|2011|p=104}} Disgruntled BNP members left the party to found or join a wide range of rivals, among them the ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], and the ].{{sfn|Woodbridge|2011|p=104}} Various BNP members were involved in the nascent ] (EDL)—with EDL leader ] having been a former BNP activist—although Griffin proscribed the organisation and condemned it as having been manipulated by "Zionists".{{sfnm|1a1=Copsey|1y=2011b|1p=138|2a1=Macklin|2y=2011b|2p=233|3a1=Trilling|3y=2012|3p=164}} The political scientist Chris Allen noted that the EDL shared much of the BNP's ideology, but that its "strategies and actions" were very different, with the EDL favouring street marches over electoral politics.{{sfn|Allen|2014|p=534}} By 2014, both the BNP and EDL were in decline, and Britain First—founded by former BNP members James Dowson and Paul Golding—had risen to prominence. It combined the electoral tactics of the BNP with the street marches of the EDL.{{sfn|Allen|2014|p=355}}
When results were announced on 7 June, the BNP won two seats in the European Parliament. ] was elected in the ] regional constituency with 9.8% of the vote.<ref name="BBC-BNP first seat">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8088133.stm|title=BNP wins European Parliament seat|publisher=BBC|date=7 June 2009 | accessdate=2009-12-31}}</ref> Party chairman Nick Griffin was elected in the ], with 8% of the vote.<ref> "European Election 2009: North West" (8 June 2009 - retrieved on 10 June 2009)</ref> Nationally, the BNP received 6.26%. Griffin stated that it was "a great victory&nbsp;... we go on from here." Meanwhile, the Labour and Conservative parties both referred to it as a "sad moment".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8088381.stm|title=BNP secures two European seats |date=8 June 2009|work=BBC News Online|publisher=BBC|accessdate=8 June 2009}}</ref> In local elections held the same day, the BNP also won its first three county council seats in ], ] and ].<ref>Brian Brady, , ''The Independent'', 7 June 2009 (retrieved 13 June 2009)</ref>


The ] was established as a charity in 2004 with the stated aims of reducing poverty among those of ] descent and supporting English culture. It has many former and current BNP, NF and British ] members.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cahill |first=Duncan |date=18 February 2015 |title=The Insider's blog: The Steadfast Trust: Caught on Camera |url=http://www.hopenothate.org.uk/blog/insider/the-steadfast-trust-caught-on-camera-4277 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304201225/http://www.hopenothate.org.uk/blog/insider/the-steadfast-trust-caught-on-camera-4277 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |access-date=11 January 2016 |website=hopenothate.org.uk |publisher=HOPE not hate}}</ref> It was deregistered as a charity by the Charity Commission in February 2014.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Evans |first=Martin |date=18 February 2015 |title=Supporters of Anglo Saxon charity caught making Nazi salutes and chanting 'white power' |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/11418669/Supporters-of-Anglo-Saxon-charity-caught-making-Nazi-salutes-and-chanting-white-power.html |url-status=live |access-date=11 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150901203849/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/11418669/Supporters-of-Anglo-Saxon-charity-caught-making-Nazi-salutes-and-chanting-white-power.html |archive-date=1 September 2015 }}<br />- {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180930105924/http://apps.charitycommission.gov.uk/Showcharity/RegisterOfCharities/RemovedCharityMain.aspx?RegisteredCharityNumber=1105806&SubsidiaryNumber=0 |date=30 September 2018 }}, Charity Commission register</ref> In 2014, after Nick Griffin lost the leadership of BNP, he set up ],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Collins |first=Matthew |title=The Insider's blog: Far-right round up |url=http://www.hopenothate.org.uk/blog/insider/far-right-round-up-4125 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160611082937/http://www.hopenothate.org.uk/blog/insider/far-right-round-up-4125 |archive-date=11 June 2016 |access-date=11 January 2016 |website=hopenothate.org.uk |publisher=HOPE not hate}}</ref> but before it was launched, he decided to set up a different group, ].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Collins |first=Matthew |title=The Insider's blog: Griffin cuts the throat of British Voice |url=http://www.hopenothate.org.uk/blog/insider/far-right-round-up-4143 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151010081937/http://www.hopenothate.org.uk/blog/insider/far-right-round-up-4143 |archive-date=10 October 2015 |access-date=11 January 2016 |website=hopenothate.org.uk |publisher=HOPE not hate}}<br />- {{Cite news |last=Elgot |first=Jessica |date=14 January 2015 |title=The British Far Right Is in a Very, Very Bad Way |work=The Huffington Post UK |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/01/14/far-right-british_n_6469800.html |url-status=live |access-date=11 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310124403/http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/01/14/far-right-british_n_6469800.html |archive-date=10 March 2016}}<br />- {{Cite news |last=Baker-Whitelaw |first=Gavia |date=19 January 2015 |title=British far-right organization accidentally copies 'V for Vendetta' logo |work=The Daily Dot |url=http://www.dailydot.com/politics/british-unity-v-vendetta/ |url-status=live |access-date=11 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150630114731/http://www.dailydot.com/politics/british-unity-v-vendetta/ |archive-date=30 June 2015}}</ref>
==Legal issues==
===Claims of repression of free speech===
The BNP claims that the mainstream media in the UK do not mention BNP policies,{{Citation needed|date=June 2009}} or make reference to statements made by the BNP. The BNP argues that ] guidelines on reporting racist organizations forbid journalists who are NUJ members from reporting uncritically on the party.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bnp.org.uk/2008/03/the-media-reporting-on-the-bnp/|title=The Media: Reporting on the BNP|author=Martin Wingfield|date=16 March 2008|accessdate=17 August 2008}}</ref>


Some members of the BNP were radicalised during their involvement with the party and subsequently sought to carry out acts of violence and terrorism.{{sfn|Macklin|2011b|p=232}} ] was imprisoned for three years for possessing explosives, after a ] exploded while he was transporting it to the offices of the ] in 1985.{{sfn|Trilling|2012|p=62}} He was imprisoned for three years in 1991 whilst serving as the BNP's Director of Propaganda for assaulting a Jewish teacher.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Tony Lecomber |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/programmes/2001/bnp_special/membership/advisory/tony_lecomber.stm |url-status=live |access-date=2 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120925185138/http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/programmes/2001/bnp_special/membership/advisory/tony_lecomber.stm |archive-date=25 September 2012 |series=Under the skin of the BNP}}</ref> In 1999, the ex-BNP member ] used nail bombs to target homosexuals and ethnic minorities in London.{{sfnm|1a1=Macklin|1y=2011b|1p=232|2a1=Trilling|2y=2012|2pp=77–78}} In 2005, the BNP's Burnley candidate ] was ] for use in what he believed was a coming civil war,{{sfn|Macklin|2011b|p=232}}<ref>{{Cite news |last=Taylor |first=Matthew |date=13 July 2007 |title=Second jury fails to agree on BNP 'bomb' pair |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/jul/13/ukcrime.thefarright |url-status=live |access-date=8 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130831180835/http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/jul/13/ukcrime.thefarright |archive-date=31 August 2013}}; {{cite news|title=Ex-BNP activist 'wanted to shoot Tony Blair'|last=Taylor|first=Matthew|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/feb/13/thefarright.ukcrime|work=The Guardian|date=13 February 2007|access-date=2 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130831021130/http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/feb/13/thefarright.ukcrime|archive-date=31 August 2013|url-status=live}}; {{cite news|title=Ex-BNP man faces explosives charge|last=Hewitt|first=Andrew|url=http://www.burnleycitizen.co.uk/news/951775.exbnp_man_faces_explosives_charge/|newspaper=The Burnley and Pendle Citizen|date=4 October 2006|access-date=2 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130531153028/http://www.burnleycitizen.co.uk/news/951775.exbnp_man_faces_explosives_charge/|archive-date=31 May 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> while a Yorkshire BNP member, Terry Gavan, was convicted in 2010 for stockpiling firearms and nail bombs.{{sfn|Macklin|2011b|p=232}}
The BNP has encountered difficulties finding a company prepared to print its monthly publication ''Voice of Freedom''. The Party acquired a printing press in the run up to the 2005 general election, thereby removing its dependency on external printing houses.{{Citation needed|date=June 2009}} In September 2005, 60,000 copies of ''Voice of Freedom'', which had been printed in ], were seized by British police at Dover. The police later admitted this was a mistake and released the impounded literature shortly thereafter.<ref>, BNP Website, 12 September 2005, Retrieved 3 October 2008</ref>


=== Party leaders ===
Party members sometimes conceal their affiliation, which can be deemed unacceptable by employers,{{Citation needed|date=June 2009}} unions and co-workers. Police officers are not allowed to be members of the BNP "or similar organisation whose
{| class="wikitable sortable"
Constitution, aims, objectives or pronouncements may contradict the duty to promote equality".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/recruiting/specials/pdf/spapnet1.pdf|title=Application Form for Appointment as a Special Constable|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20061001170343/http://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/recruiting/specials/pdf/spapnet1.pdf|archivedate=1 October 2006|format=PDF}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.knowledgenetwork.gov.uk/HO/circular.nsf/79755433dd36a66980256d4f004d1514/319a2eac673ef7ec80256fb7003dc0e5?OpenDocument|title=Home Office Circular 12 / 2005: Restrictions On The Private Life Of Members Of Police Forces: Membership Of The BNP, Combat 18 And The National Front|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20070926233712/http://www.knowledgenetwork.gov.uk/HO/circular.nsf/79755433dd36a66980256d4f004d1514/319a2eac673ef7ec80256fb7003dc0e5?OpenDocument|archivedate=26 September 2007}}</ref> The prison service likewise prohibits membership of the BNP and similar organisations, because it considers them racist.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://pso.hmprisonservice.gov.uk/pso8100/racist-groups.htm|title=HM Prison Service: Membership of Groups and Organisations with Racist Philosophy, Aims, Principles or Policies}}</ref> A similar policy has been discussed in the Fire Brigades<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fbu.org.uk/newspress/ebulletin/40.php|title=FBU: Issue Number: 40}}</ref> and Civil Service,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3669836.stm civil service|title=BBC News: Civil service BNP ban considered | date=2004-09-19 | accessdate=2009-12-31}}</ref> but neither has implemented such a proscription. On 24 April 2007 an election broadcast (which was scheduled to air at 9:55 PM) was pulled by ]' lawyers, who believed that the broadcast was defamatory of the ] of ], ].<ref>, BNP Website, 24 April 2007, Retrieved 3 October 2008</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://politics.guardian.co.uk/wales/story/0,,2064627,00.html|title=The Guardian - BNP forced to change election broadcast}}</ref> The broadcast was made available to download from the BNP's website.<ref> Retrieved 3 October 2008</ref>
|+ Party leaders by chronological order of leadership
|-
! Year
! Name
! class="unsortable"|Period
! Time in office
|-
| 1982
| ]
| 7 April 1982 – 27 September 1999
| {{age in years and days|1982|04|07|1999|09|27}}
|-
| 1999
| ]
| 27 September 1999 – 21 July 2014
| {{age in years and days|1999|09|27|2014|07|21}}
|-
| 2014
| ]
| 21 July 2014 – present
| {{age in years and days|2014|07|21}}
|-
|}


==Electoral performance==
===Employment discrimination and other related controversies===
{{Main|British National Party election results}}
BNP members have alleged discrimination in employment.
The BNP has contested seats in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Research from Robert Ford and Matthew Goodwin shows that BNP support is concentrated among older and less educated working-class men living in the declining industrial towns of the North and Midlands regions, in contrast to previous significant far-right parties like the National Front, which drew support from a younger demographic.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ford |first1=Robert |author1-link=Robert Ford (academic) |last2=Goodwin |first2=Matthew J. |author2-link=Matthew Goodwin |year=2010 |title=Angry White Men: Individual and Contextual Predictors of Support for the British National Party |journal=Political Studies |volume=58 |issue=1 |pages=1–25 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-9248.2009.00829.x |s2cid=144812122}}</ref>


===General elections===
In the case of '']'', the ] overturned an employment appeal tribunal ruling that awarded a BNP train driver damages for expulsion. It found that the union the train driver belonged to was entitled to decide who could be a member, and that the UK was in breach of the ] in the way it had treated ASLEF.<ref>European Court of Human Rights: , Strasbourg, 27 May 2007</ref> Through publications such as ''British Nationalist'', the BNP has encouraged supportive trade unionists to be open about BNP membership. However, the only other case sparking controversy has been that of Clive Potter, later a former official of ]. Potter was expelled from the union, and when he took his case to the courts, the courts upheld the expulsion and the grounds were based on previous exclusion rather than BNP membership.<ref></ref>
{{Main|British National Party election results#United Kingdom elections|l1=British National Party election results (United Kingdom elections)}}


The BNP placed comparatively little emphasis on elections to the British House of Commons, aware that the ] voting system was a major obstacle.{{sfn|Copsey|2008|p=170}}
In another case, Robert Baggs claimed that he had been discriminated against because of "religion, or similar philosophical belief" after he was refused a job at a ] surgery. His main argument was that the employer was in violation of the Employment (Religious Discrimination) Regulations of 2003. The Employment Tribunal found that membership of the BNP was not a "similar" belief,<ref>http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article384990.ece</ref> and the case was rejected. Stuart Chamberlain of management consultants Gee Consult has advised that a similar case might be successful since the removal of the qualification "similar" from philosophical belief by an amendment in 2007. "Cases concerning claims made by British National Party's (BNP) members that their fascist beliefs were similar to religious beliefs have previously been decided in favour of the employer or potential employer. Under the new law, a strong argument could be made to the contrary."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.consultgee.com/aboutus/press_ReligiousDiscrimination.html |title=Press Release - Consult GEE |publisher=Consult GEE |date= |accessdate=27 February 2009}}</ref> However, this has yet to be tested and there is a clause in the regulations which provide that the beliefs of employees may be required to be in line with the "ethos" of the organisation. Yet still this is a contested area as the case of a climate change activist has indicated.<ref></ref>


The British National Party has contested general elections since 1983. It put forward no candidates for the ].
Arthur Redfearn was a bus driver whose BNP membership was unknown to his employer, Serco, until he was elected as a councillor. He was dismissed as the employers were concerned that he might endanger their contract with a local authority to transport vulnerable people of various ethnicities from a day centre. The decision by the Employment Tribunal summarises: "where an employee who is a member of a racist group (in this case the BNP political party) is dismissed because of the danger that his continuing employment might lead to violence in the workplace, the dismissal can properly be regarded as being for legitimate health and safety reasons and will not be unlawful race discrimination."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.emplaw.co.uk/researchfree-redirector.aspx?StartPage=data%2f2005irlr744.htm |title=Disclaw Publishing - Employment Law, unfair dismissal, redundancy pay |publisher=Emplaw.co.uk |date= |accessdate=27 February 2009}}</ref>
It had been argued at the Employment Tribunal that Redfearn had been racially discriminated against over his BNP membership because the BNP is a whites-only organisation, and was treated unfairly in comparison to racist organisations that were non-white.<ref>{{Cite BAILII|country=ew|litigants=SERCO LIMITED and ARTHUR REDFEARN|court=EWCA|division=Civ|year=2006|num=659|para=16|date=25 May 2006}}</ref>


{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
In 2002, a BNP candidate and Regional Organiser, Kevin Scott, was dismissed from the ] hardware store in ]. Management said this was not due to his party membership but due to "low morale" amongst other staff who did not want to work with him and due to the numbers of calls from customers expressing their disapproval. Scott settled out of court for an undisclosed sum, although the BNP had pledged to support any action.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/2264846.stm |title=UK &#124; England &#124; Store settles with sacked BNP worker |publisher=BBC News |date=17 September 2002 |accessdate=27 February 2009}}</ref>
|-
! Year !! No. of<br />candidates !! No. of<br />MPs !! % vote !! Total<br />votes !! Change<br />(% points) !! Average votes<br />per candidate
|-
! ]
|| 54 || 0 || 0.0 || 14,621 || {{n/a}} || 271
|-
! ]
|| 2 || 0 || 0.0 || 563 || 0.0 || 282
|-
! ]
|| 13 || 0 || 0.1 || 7,631 || +0.1 || 587
|-
! ]
|| 54 || 0 || 0.1 || 35,832 || 0.0 || 664
|-
! ]
|| 33 || 0 || 0.2 || 47,129 || +0.1 || 1,428
|-
! ]
|| 117 || 0 || 0.7 || 192,746 || +0.5 || 1,647
|-
! ]
|| 339 || 0 || 1.9 || 563,743 || +1.2 || 1,663
|-
! ]
|| 8 || 0 || 0.0 || 1,667 || −1.9 || 208
|-
! ]
|| 10 || 0 || 0.0 || 4,642 || +0.0 || 464
|-
! ]
|| 1 || 0 ||0.0 || 510 || || 510
|}


The BNP in the ] saved five deposits (out of 33 contested seats) and secured its best general election result in ] (which had recently been the scene of racially motivated rioting between white and Asian youths) where party leader ] secured 16% of the vote.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ward |first=Lucy |date=12 December 2001 |title=How the BNP turned racial hatred into votes |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2001/dec/12/politics.race1 |url-status=live |access-date=11 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170510164717/https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2001/dec/12/politics.race1 |archive-date=10 May 2017}}</ref>
====Organisations which ban BNP membership====
=====Police=====
Membership of the BNP, ] and the National Front in the police forces was specifically prohibited by David Blunkett<ref></ref> following an undercover TV exposure of racism in a police training centre.<ref>Stuart Jeffries, , ''The Guardian'', 21 October 2003</ref> The Association of Chief Police Officers banned serving police officers joining the BNP in 2004<ref></ref>. Despite this, Simon Darby has claimed that the BNP still has members who remain covert. Police authorities have taken this very seriously and Manchester Police Authority have viewed footage taken at BNP events in order to identify off-duty officers in attendance at a BNP St George's Day rally, wearing BNP badges and T-shirts, with the slogan "Love Britain or Fuck Off".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2007/may/12/ukcrime.thefarright |title=Inquiry into claim that police joined BNP event Politics &#124; The Guardian |publisher=The Guardian|date= |accessdate=27 February 2009}}</ref>
A retired police officer, standing as a European Assembly candidate, Inspector Phazey, has said that he was a member in defiance of the prohibition and that other serving officers remained members. He denied that he was a racist or that the police were institutionally racist, saying;


The ] was considered a major breakthrough by the BNP, as it received 192,746 votes in the 119 constituencies it contested, took a 0.7% share of the overall vote and retained a deposit in 40 of the seats.<ref name="news.bbc.co.uk" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=6 May 2005 |title=BNP sees increase in total votes |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/vote_2005/frontpage/4519347.stm |url-status=live |access-date=20 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080122111439/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/vote_2005/frontpage/4519347.stm |archive-date=22 January 2008}}</ref>
{{bquote|Of course you heard words like Paki and nigger, but it didn't mean much more than someone saying Paddy for an Irishman or Jerry for a German. It was just the language of working-class blokes. There was a fair bit of leg-pulling but it was never malicious. I remember there was one officer who, whenever an Asian officer came into the room, would go, 'Coon, coon,' like he was making the noise of a pigeon. But it was a joke. It's like saying Paddies are as thick as two short planks or Jocks are tight-fisted. It was just jokes in the canteen. You'll get that anywhere when you have men in their 20s and 30s together.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4156/is_/ai_n12586083 |title=This BNP member was a policeman for 30 years. He might dismiss racism Sunday Herald, The &#124; Find Articles at BNET |publisher=Findarticles.com |date=26 October 2003 |accessdate=27 February 2009}}</ref>}}
A Police Community Support Officer, Ellis Hammond, was found to be a BNP member after he was discovered stockpiling weapons at his home, including a ].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article3512152.ece |title=BNP member covertly poses as policeman - Times Online |publisher=Times Online|date= |accessdate=27 February 2009 | location=London}}</ref>


The BNP put forward candidates for 338 out of 650 seats for the ]<ref>{{Cite web |date=6 May 2010 |title=Elections Report |url=http://www.thecst.org.uk/docs/Elections%20Report%20-%20General%20Elections%202010_for%20web.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116133407/http://www.thecst.org.uk/docs/Elections%20Report%20-%20General%20Elections%202010_for%20web.pdf |archive-date=16 January 2013 |access-date=20 April 2013 |publisher=Community Security Trust}}</ref> gaining 563,743 votes<ref name="BBC National Results">{{Cite news |title=National Results |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/election2010/results/ |url-status=live |access-date=20 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100414102452/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/election2010/results/ |archive-date=14 April 2010}}</ref> (1.9%), finishing in fifth place and failing to win any seats. However, a record of 73 deposits were saved. Party chairman Griffin came third in the ] constituency, behind ] of Labour and Simon Marcus of the Conservatives, who were first and second respectively. At 14.6%, this was the BNP's best result in any of the seats it contested that year.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Barking |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/election2010/results/constituency/a11.stm |url-status=live |access-date=20 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170823103246/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/election2010/results/constituency/a11.stm |archive-date=23 August 2017}}</ref>
After a recent leak of alleged BNP membership lists to the Internet, a number of police forces are investigating officers whose names appeared on the list.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/nov/19/police-bnp-far-right-list |title=Police scour BNP membership to find officers breaching ban |publisher=The Guardian |date= |accessdate=23 October 2009}}</ref>


===Local elections===
In March 2009, PC Steve Bettley, of Merseyside Police a policeman whose name was on the leaked list was dismissed, despite the Police misconduct panel reporting "the panel confirmed there was no evidence that PC Bettley had ever displayed any racist views or discriminatory behaviour in the workplace." They added that "Pc Bettley's membership of the BNP is a clear breach of lawful orders and police regulations as the party's views are incompatible with the duties and values of the Police Service." He accepted that his name was on the list denied membership, saying he had been enroled without his knowledge.
{{Main|British National Party election results#Local elections|l1=British National Party election results (local elections)}}
<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2333676.ece?OTC-RSS&ATTR=News|title=Force sack 'BNP' cop|date=21 March 2009|publisher=The Sun|accessdate=29 September 2009}}</ref>
The BNP's first electoral success came in 1993, when ] was returned as a councillor in ], London. He lost his seat in elections the following year. The next BNP success in local elections was not until the ], when three BNP candidates ] on the ] council.<ref name="parliament.uk">{{Cite web |date=15 May 2009 |title=Electoral performance of the British National Party in the UK |url=http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons/lib/research/briefings/snsg-05064.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111122025348/http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons/lib/research/briefings/snsg-05064.pdf |archive-date=22 November 2011 |access-date=20 April 2013 |publisher=Parliament}}</ref> The BNP's first councillor for six years was John Haycock, elected as a parish councillor for ] in ] in 2000. Haycock failed to attend any council meetings for six months and was later disqualified from office.{{sfn|Copsey|2008|pp=116–117}}


The party had 55 councillors for a time in 2009.<ref name="parliament.uk" /> After the ], the BNP was left with a total of two ]lors in ].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Urquhart |first=Conal |date=4 May 2013 |title=BNP calls on members to breed more after elections disaster |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/may/04/bnp-members-breed-elections |url-status=live |access-date=8 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180518200907/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/may/04/bnp-members-breed-elections |archive-date=18 May 2018}}</ref>
=====Prison service=====
A ban on BNP membership was imposed by Martin Narey, Director of the Prison Service in 2002. Narey told the BBC that he received hate mail and a death threat as a result.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4247329.stm|title='No-one wanted' top UK jails post|date=8 February 2005|accessdate= 4 October 2008|publisher=BBC News}}</ref>


As of 2011, the BNP had yet to make "a major breakthrough" on local councils.{{sfn|Bottom|Copus|2011|p=159}}
=====Other professions=====
The BNP's councillors usually had "an extremely limited impact on local politics" because they were isolated as individuals or small groups on the council.{{sfn|Macklin|2011b|p=235}} Councillors from the main parties often disliked their BNP colleagues and deemed having to work alongside them as an affront to dignity and decency.{{sfn|Bottom|Copus|2011|p=152}}
As of 2009 only the police and the prison services have an official stated policy that they will sack officers for membership of the BNP.<ref name="The Guardian">{{cite web|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jun/28/nick-cohen-bnp-criminal-offence|title=Why I wouldn't ban BNP members from being teachers|publisher=The Guardian|date=June 28th, 2009|accessdate=December 1st, 2009}}</ref> A ban on BNP membership in the civil service was considered in 2004 and also considered in the probation service in 2005.<ref> BBC News, 19 September 2004, Retrieved 4 October 2008</ref><ref>Alan Travis , ''The Guardian'', 1 February 2005, Retrieved 4 October 2008.</ref> In October 2005 a proposal to ban the BNP from Dorset Fire Brigade, proposed by the management and the Fire Brigades Union, was turned down by the Fire Authority.<ref>BBC News , 24 October 2005, Retrieved 4 October 2008</ref> The president of the BNP-linked trade union "Solidarity", Adam Walker, resigned from his job at a college for accessing BNP websites and posting comments using a school laptop during working hours.<ref>http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/article5701277.ece</ref>. He has been summoned to a hearing of the ], which could result in him being banned from working as a teacher in England.<ref name="news1">BBC News , 20 September 2008, Retrieved 4 October 2008.</ref> His brother, Mark Walker, was suspended from another college for allegedly accessing adult pornography using school equipment,<ref name="markwalker"/> and he was eventually sacked on the basis of his sickness record.<ref>, ''Northern Echo'', 16 October 2008, Retrieved on 30 November 2009</ref> His supporters told the press that he had been suspended for accessing the BNP website and had been victimised because of his political beliefs.<ref name="news1"/> A report by the ] found that "a substantial amount of emails indicating a sexual relationship between himself and a 17-year-old former Sunnydale student have been recovered from Mr Walker’s school laptop and the school server."<ref name="markwalker">, ''Northern Echo'', 13 November 2008, Retrieved on 22 January 2009</ref>
Questions were often raised as to whether BNP councillors could adequately represent the interests of all of their local constituents.{{sfn|Bottom|Copus|2011|p=153}} On being elected, Beackon for instance stated that he refused to serve his Asian constituents in Millwall.{{sfn|Bottom|Copus|2011|p=154}} There were also allegations made that BNP councillors had particularly low attendance at council meetings, although research indicated that this was not the case, with the BNP's attendance record being largely average.{{sfn|Bottom|Copus|2011|p=148}}


There is evidence to suggest that racially and religiously motivated crime increased in those areas where BNP councillors had been elected.{{sfnm|1a1=Copsey|1y=2008|1p=198|2a1=Macklin|2y=2011b|2p=235}} For instance, after the 1993 election of Beackon, there was a spike in racist attacks in the borough of Tower Hamlets.{{sfn|Macklin|2011b|pp=26–27}} BNP members were directly responsible for some of this; the party's national organiser ] was sentenced to three months imprisonment for his part in an attack on a black man and his white girlfriend.{{sfn|Macklin|2011b|pp=26–27}}
The Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service has refused to act against a BNP council candidate, Ian Johnson, after he wrote in his election leaflets that he was a retained firefighter, despite ] pressure to do so.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/dorset/3806643.stm|title=Call to sack BNP fireman rejected|accessdate=19 November 2008|date=16 June 2004|publisher=BBC News|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20040619155029/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/dorset/3806643.stm|archivedate=19 June 2004}}</ref>
Liam Birch, a sociology student standing as a BNP council candidate for Southway was dismissed as assistant warden at Plymouth University, when his BNP membership was known via an internet blog concerning the Holocaust, in which he declared "The Jews declared war on Germany, not the other way round".<ref>, ''Western Morning News'', 9 June 2006, Retrieved 4 October 2008</ref>


===Regional assemblies and parliaments===
] was a principal ballerina at the ] and a deputy for the entertainer's union ]. Clarke's membership of the BNP was unknown until exposed by an undercover ''Guardian'' journalist in 2006. Her performances were picketed by anti-fascists demanding her sacking. However the ENB refused to do so, as she had done nothing else to warrant this. She was supported by Equity.<ref>Elizabeth Sanderson , ''Mail on Sunday'', 30 December 2006, Retrieved 4 October 2008</ref>


{{Main|British National Party election results#National Assembly for Wales|l1=British National Party election results (National Assembly for Wales)|British National Party election results#Scottish Parliament|l2=British National Party election results (Scottish Parliament)|British National Party election results#Northern Ireland Legislative Assembly|l3=British National Party election results (Northern Ireland Legislative Assembly)}}
In February 2009 the ] voted to ban its clergy from joining the BNP.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7880313.stm|title=Synod votes in favour of BNP ban |date=10 February 2009|publisher=BBC News|accessdate=10 February 2009}}</ref>
As of 2009 only the police and the prison services have the power to sack officers for membership of the BNP.<ref name="The Guardian"/>


]
===Association with violence===
Historically the BNP has been associated in the public mind with violent protest and clashes with anti-BNP organisations.{{Citation needed|date=December 2009}} Critics of the BNP{{Who|date=December 2009}}assert that a minority of elected BNP politicians have criminal records and that the party is more tolerant of the criminal actions of some of its members than other parties would be.{{Citation needed|date=December 2009}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://politics.guardian.co.uk/elections2004/comment/0,,1232475,00.html|title=All mouth, no trousers|publisher=The Guardian}}</ref>


BNP lead candidate ] won a seat in the ] in May 2008, after the party gained 5.3% of the London-wide vote.<ref name="Barn53">{{Cite news |date=3 May 2008 |title=BNP wins seat in London Assembly |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7381633.stm |url-status=live |access-date=5 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080506144106/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7381633.stm |archive-date=6 May 2008}}</ref> However, in August 2010, he resigned the party whip and became an independent.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Taylor |first=Matthew |date=29 September 2010 |title=BNP expels Richard Barnbrook as bitter feud threatens to tear apart party |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/sep/29/bnp-barnbrook-expelled-griffin-feud |url-status=live |access-date=20 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921141951/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/sep/29/bnp-barnbrook-expelled-griffin-feud |archive-date=21 September 2013}}</ref>
In the past, Nick Griffin has defended the threat of violence in furthering the party's aims. After the BNP won its first council seat in 1993, he wrote: "The electors of Millwall did not back a postmodernist rightist party, but what they perceived to be a strong, disciplined organisation with the ability to back up its slogan 'Defend Rights for Whites' with well-directed boots and fists. When the crunch comes, power is the product of force and will, not of rational debate." In 1997, believing he was addressing members of the French ], he said: "It is more important to control the streets of a city than its council chambers."<ref name="guardng">{{cite web|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/theobserver/2002/sep/01/features.magazine37|title=Flying the flag|last=Anthony|first=Andrew|date=1 September 2002|publisher=The Guardian|accessdate=6 October 2009}}</ref> In January 1986, when Griffin was Deputy Chair of the NF, he advised his audience at an anti-] rally to use the "traditional British methods of the brick, the boot and the fist."<ref>''Yorkshire Post'', 17 February 1986</ref>


In the ], the BNP fielded 20 candidates, four in each of the five regional lists, with ] standing in the ] region.<ref>{{Cite news |date=16 April 2007 |title=Immigration a key issue, says BNP |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/6558981.stm |url-status=live |access-date=11 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071222075702/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/6558981.stm |archive-date=22 December 2007}}</ref> It did not win any seats, but was the only minor party to have saved deposits in the electoral regions, one in the North Wales region and the other in the South Wales West region. In total the BNP polled 42,197 votes (4.3%).
The BNP defends itself by arguing that over 20% of the working population has some criminal record or another and that a large proportion of MPs, councillors and activists in the other three main parties also have unsatisfactory past records.


In the ], the BNP fielded 20 candidates, four in each of the five regional lists and for the first time 7 candidates were fielded in ] constituencies. On the regional lists, the BNP polled 22,610 votes (2.4%), down 1.9% from 2007.<ref name="BBC News: Wales elections">{{Cite news |title=Wales elections |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/election2011/constituency/html/wales.stm |url-status=live |access-date=11 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120319013616/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/election2011/constituency/html/wales.stm |archive-date=19 March 2012}}</ref> In 2 out of the 7 FPTP constituencies contested the BNP saved deposits: (] and ]).<ref name="BBC News: Wales elections" />
A BBC '']'' programme reported on a number of BNP members who have had criminal convictions, some racially motivated. The BBC's is extensive. Some of the more notable convictions include:
* In 1998, Nick Griffin was convicted of violating section 19 of the ], relating to ]. He received a nine-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and was fined £2,300.<ref>{{cite web| http://www.libertarian.co.uk/lapubs/legan/legan029.pdf|title=the British State Versus Freedom of Expresion|format=PDF}}</ref>
* Kevin Scott, the BNP's North East regional organiser,{{Citation needed|date=November 2009}} has two convictions for assault and using threatening words and behaviour.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/programmes/2001/bnp_special/membership/organisers/kevin_scott.stm|title=BBC News: BNP - Under the Skin | accessdate=2009-12-31}}</ref>
* Joe Owens, now expelled but previously a BNP candidate in ] and former bodyguard to Nick Griffin,<ref>Owens, J ''Action! Race War to Door Wars'', 2007, Lulu.com ISBN 1430322594</ref><ref>{{cite web | title = 'Senior BNP official suggested assassinating prominent politicians' | author = Neil Mackay | url = http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4156/is_20060528/ai_n16432216/ | publisher = The Sunday Herald | date = 28 May 2006 | accessdate = 29 January 2008}}</ref> has served eight months in prison for sending razor blades in the post to Jewish people and another term for carrying CS gas and knuckledusters.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100regionalnews/page.cfm?objectid=12800817&method=full|title=icLiverpool: BNP man sent razor blades to city Jews}}</ref>
* ], former BNP student organiser, was convicted alongside Mr Owens for assaulting demonstrators at an anti-BNP event in 2003.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/men/news/s/163/163054_bnp_pair_fined_for_brawl_on_campus.html|title=Manchester Evening News: BNP pair fined for brawl on campus}}</ref>
* Colin Smith, BNP South East London organiser {{Citation needed|date=November 2009}} has 17 convictions for burglary, theft, stealing cars, possession of drugs and assaulting a police officer.<ref>{{cite news | title = On the Le Pen menu: roast beef and raw bigotry | author = Sophie Goodchild | url = http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/on-the-le-pen-menu-roast-beef-and-raw-bigotry-561175.html | publisher = The Independent | date = 25 April 2004 | accessdate = 29 January 2008}}</ref>
* ] (at the time BNP National Organiser, currently a member of the BNP's Advisory Council) was sentenced to 3 months in prison in 1994 for violent disorder for his part in a racist attack on a Black man in Bethnal Green, London (although he was released after sentencing as he has already served this period on remand). Edmonds hurled a glass at the man as he was walking past the Ship pub in Bethnal Green Road, East London (where a group of BNP supporters were drinking). Others then 'glassed' the man in the face and punched and kicked him as he lay on the ground, including BNP supporter Stephen O'Shea of Purfleet, Essex who was jailed for 12 months. Another BNP supporter, Simon Biggs from Penge (who smashed a beer glass into the man's face causing deep wounds), was jailed for four and a half years for his part in the attack.<ref>{{cite news | title = Anger as BNP chief walks free over race attack | url = http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/anger-as-bnp-chief-walks-free-over-race-attack-1423282.html | publisher = The Independent | date = 18 June 1994}}</ref>
* BNP member Terrance Gavan pleaded guilty to 22 offences relating to the manufacture and possession of improvised explosive devices, firearms and ammunition plus six offences under the Terrorism Act. Police who raided his home discovered 54 improvised bombs including nail bombs, hand grenades and a booby-trapped cigarette packet, as well as 12 firearms. In January 2010, he was sentenced to 11 years at the ]. Gavan had planned to attack an address he had seen on a television programme that he believed was linked to the 7 July bomb attacks in London. He told police he was a BNP member and letters to him from the party, as well as a copy of its magazine ''Hope and Glory'', were found at his home.<ref>, ''The Guardian'', 15 January 2010</ref><ref>Rebecca Camber , ''Daily Mail'', 15 January 2010</ref>


In the ], the party fielded 32 candidates, entitling it to public funding and an election broadcast, prompting criticism.<ref>{{Cite web |title=No to public funds for fascism |url=http://uaf.org.uk/2007/08/no-to-public-funds-for-fascism/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130526213017/http://uaf.org.uk/2007/08/no-to-public-funds-for-fascism/ |archive-date=26 May 2013 |access-date=12 April 2013}}</ref> The BNP received 24,616 votes (1.2%), no seats were won, nor were any deposits saved.{{citation needed|date=May 2017}} In the ], the BNP fielded 32 candidates in the regional lists. 15,580 votes were polled (0.78%).<ref>{{Cite news |title=Scotland elections |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/election2011/region/html/scotland.stm |url-status=live |access-date=11 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140220111035/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/election2011/region/html/scotland.stm |archive-date=20 February 2014}}</ref>
====Tony Lecomber cases====
] was jailed for possessing explosives in 1985, after a nail bomb exploded while he was carrying it to the offices of the ];{{Citation needed|date=November 2009}} and again for three years in 1991, for assaulting a Jewish teacher.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/programmes/2001/bnp_special/membership/advisory/tony_lecomber.stm|title=BBC News: BNP - Under the Skin | accessdate=2009-12-31}}</ref>
He was Propaganda Director of the BNP at the time of the latter conviction.<ref>"On the seamier side: the shadow of racist politics", ''The Economist'', 7 December 1991</ref>


The BNP fielded 3 candidates for the first time in three constituencies each in the ] (], ] and ]). 1,252 votes were polled (0.2%), winning no seats for the party.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Northern Ireland elections |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/election2011/constituency/html/northern_ireland.stm |url-status=live |access-date=11 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130412011646/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/election2011/constituency/html/northern_ireland.stm |archive-date=12 April 2013}}</ref>
====Robert Cottage case====
In October 2006, Robert Cottage, a ex BNP member who had been a candidate for the party earlier in the year for election to represent ] on ], "was arrested under the Explosives Act on suspicion of possessing chemicals that may be capable of making an explosion."<ref>, ''Burnley Citizen'', 2 October 2006, Retrieved on 13 February 2007</ref> The 22 chemical components recovered by police are believed to be the largest haul ever found at a house in Britain.<ref>, ''Pendle Today'', 6 October 2006, Retrieved on 13 February 2007</ref> An associate of Cottage, David Bolus Jackson, whom he had met at a BNP meeting<ref>, ''The Times'', 13 February 2007, Retrieved on 13 February 2007</ref> was also arrested at this time.


===European Parliament===
The case came before Manchester Crown Court on 12 February 2007 where it was claimed by the prosecution that Cottage had plans to assassinate ] and Liberal Democrat peer ]. Cottage pleaded guilty to one count of the possession of explosives, but denied the count pertaining to conspiracy to cause an explosion. Jackson pleaded not guilty.<ref>, ''The Guardian'', 13 February 2007, Retrieved on 13 February 2007</ref> In a statement read in court by the prosecution counsel, Cottage's wife said that he believed that "civil war" was imminent in the UK.<ref>, BBC News, 13 February 2007, Retrieved on 13 February 2007</ref>
{{Main|British National Party election results#European Parliament||l1=British National Party election results (European Parliament)}}
The BNP has taken part in European Parliament elections since 1999, when it received 1.13% of the total vote (102,647 votes).


In the ], the BNP won 4.9% of the vote, making it the sixth biggest party overall, but did not win any seats.<ref name="news.bbc.co.uk">{{Cite news |last=Wheeler |first=Brian |date=5 May 2006 |title=Will BNP election gains last? |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4968406.stm |url-status=live |access-date=12 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090330161317/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4968406.stm |archive-date=30 March 2009}}</ref>
The jury in the trial was unable to reach verdicts and the case was set for retrial in July 2007, when, once again, the jury failed to reach a verdict. The prosecution indicated that it would not seek a further retrial.<ref>"Second jury fails to agree on BNP 'bomb' pair", ''The Guardian'', 13 July 2007</ref> On 31 July 2007, Cottage was sentenced to two and a half years imprisonment for the charge he had admitted of possessing explosives.


The BNP won two seats in the European Parliament in the ]. ] was elected in the ] regional constituency with 9.8% of the vote.<ref name="BBC-BNP first seat">{{Cite news |date=8 June 2009 |title=Labour slumps to historic defeat |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8088133.stm |url-status=live |access-date=15 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090610210245/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8088133.stm |archive-date=10 June 2009}}</ref> Party chairman ] was elected in the ], with 8% of the vote.<ref name="autogenerated2">{{Cite news |date=8 June 2009 |title=European Election 2009: North West |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/elections/euro/09/html/ukregion_34.stm |url-status=live |access-date=14 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090607012054/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/elections/euro/09/html/ukregion_34.stm |archive-date=7 June 2009}}</ref> Nationally, the BNP received 6.26%.
===Equality and Human Rights Commission===


The UK government announced in 2009 that the BNP's two MEPs would be denied some of the access and information afforded to other MEPs. The BNP would be subject to the "same general principles governing official impartiality" and they would receive "standard written briefings as appropriate from time to time", but diplomats would not be "proactive" in dealing with the BNP MEPs and that any requests for policy briefings from them would be treated differently and on a discretionary basis.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Traynor |first=Ian |date=9 July 2009 |title=UK diplomats shun BNP officials in Europe |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/jul/09/diplomats-shun-nick-griffin-bnp-europe |url-status=live |access-date=1 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130906234803/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/jul/09/diplomats-shun-nick-griffin-bnp-europe |archive-date=6 September 2013}}</ref>
The ] sent a letter, preceding legal action, on 22 June 2009 to the BNP setting out its concerns about the BNP's constitution and membership criteria. The BNP disagreed and chose to fight this opinion in the ]. The Equalities and Human Rights Commission alleged that the BNP's constitution restricting membership to particular 'ethnic groups' and those whose skin colour is "white" and the publication of these rules on the BNP website was unlawful under the Race Relations Act.


The BNP did not stand any candidates in the ].<ref>{{Cite web |date=8 May 2019 |title=European Elections 2019: more humiliation for UK |url=https://bnp.org.uk/european-elections-2019-more-humiliation-for-uk/ |publisher=BNP}}</ref>
The Commission issued county court proceedings on 24 August 2009 against party leader Nick Griffin and two other officials in respect of its constitution and membership criteria.<ref>, BBC News, Retrieved 24 August 2009</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/media-centre/august-2009/commission-issues-county-court-proceedings-against-the-bnp/|title=Commission issues county court proceedings against the BNP|date=24 August 2009|publisher=Equality and Human Rights Commission|accessdate=20 November 2009}}</ref> The court set a date of Wednesday 2 September for a hearing for the Commission's application for an injunction against the BNP. The proceedings on 2 September 2009 were adjourned until 15 October 2009 as the BNP changed its solicitors shortly before the case. Robin Allen QC for the plaintiff asked for an interim injunction. Justice Paul Collins rejected this stating that although the BNP had been in existence for 27 years, he saw "No evidence of a long queue of black people wanting to join the BNP".


{| class="wikitable"
The conclusion of the case on 15 October 2009 saw costs awarded against the BNP.<ref>, EHRC, Retrieved on 19 October 2009</ref> The BNP stated that Griffin was "required in Brussels" on that day. Griffin has written to BNP members preparing to concede the case, stating that it will cost £80,000 to proceed or potentially £1m if the case goes to the House of Lords<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b947072a-98aa-11de-aa1b-00144feabdc0.html |title=/ UK - BNP’s ‘whites-only’ rule set to be axed |publisher=ft.com |date=3 September 2009 |accessdate=23 October 2009}}</ref>, they also were quoted as saying that "that to continue fighting the commission would bleed the party dry", "and would strip the party of the ability to fight the next general election"<ref>http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6820847.ece</ref>. Griffin subsequently announced that he would ask BNP members to accept the court's decision and allow non-whites to join the party<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6820847.ece|title=
|+ ]
British National Party forced to admit non-whites|publisher=The Telegraph|accessdate=15 October 2009 | location=London}}</ref> claiming that this action "outflanked" the EHRC<ref></ref>. The BNP anticipate that their members will accept the change on financial grounds<ref name="dailymail.co.uk"></ref>.
! Election year
! # of total votes
! % of overall vote
! # of seats won
! Change
|-
! ]<ref>{{Cite news |title=UK Results – after 12 out of the 12 regions declared |agency=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/euros_99/default.stm |url-status=live |access-date=22 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110512034649/http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/euros_99/default.stm |archive-date=12 May 2011}}</ref>
| style="text-align:center;"| 102,647 {{steady}}
| style="text-align:center;"| 1.1% {{steady}}
| style="text-align:center;"| {{Composition bar|0|87|hex={{party color|British National Party}}}}
| style="text-align:center;"| 0 {{steady}}
|-
! ]<ref>{{Cite news |date=14 June 2009 |title=European Election: United Kingdom Result |agency=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/bsp/hi/vote2004/euro_uk/html/front.stm |url-status=live |access-date=22 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305200137/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/bsp/hi/vote2004/euro_uk/html/front.stm |archive-date=5 March 2016}}</ref>
| style="text-align:center;"| 808,200 {{increase}}
| style="text-align:center;"| 4.9% {{increase}}
| style="text-align:center;"| {{Composition bar|0|78|hex={{party color|British National Party}}}}
| style="text-align:center;"| 0 {{steady}}
|-
! ]<ref>{{Cite news |date=8 June 2009 |title=European Election 2009: UK Results |agency=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/bsp/hi/elections/euro/09/html/ukregion_999999.stm |url-status=live |access-date=22 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170127030910/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/bsp/hi/elections/euro/09/html/ukregion_999999.stm |archive-date=27 January 2017}}</ref>
| style="text-align:center;"| 943,598 {{increase}}
| style="text-align:center;"| 6.3% {{increase}}
| style="text-align:center;"|{{Composition bar|2|72|hex={{party color|British National Party}}}}
| style="text-align:center;"| 2 {{increase}}
|-
! ]<ref name="autogenerated3">{{Cite news |date=7 May 2010 |title=Barking & Dagenham |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/election2010/council/html/3892.stm |access-date=15 April 2013 |archive-date=30 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210930085404/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/election2010/council/html/3892.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>
| style="text-align:center;"| 179,694 {{decrease}}
| style="text-align:center;"| 1.1% {{decrease}}
| style="text-align:center;"|{{Composition bar|0|73|hex={{party color|British National Party}}}}
| style="text-align:center;"| 2 {{decrease}}
|}


] on 10 November 2006 after being found not guilty of charges of incitement to racial hatred at their retrial.]]
The BNP agreed before Judge Collins to suspend further membership applications until an Extraordinary General Meeting in January 2010 confirming the changes to the constitution to comply with legal requirements. The case has been further adjourned until 28 January 2010 in order to ensure compliance.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1220565/BNP-change-whites-membership-rules-fall-foul-discrimination-laws.html |title=BNP to change 'whites only' membership rules so as not to fall foul of discrimination laws &#124; Mail Online |publisher=Dailymail.co.uk |date=15 October 2009 |accessdate=23 October 2009}}</ref> As a result of the case Welsh Secretary ] protested against the ]'s inclusion of Griffin on the ] programme claiming the court case meant the BNP was "an unlawful body". Shami Chakrabarti, director of Liberty, said: 'A shiny new constitution does not a democratic party make. 'It would be a pyrrhic victory, to say the least, if anyone thought that giving the BNP a facelift would make the slightest difference to a body with so much racism and hatred pumping through its veins.'<ref name="dailymail.co.uk"/>


==Association with violence==
The courts have nave declared that the new consitution still breaches equality laws as it is "still indirectly discriminatory". Judge Paul Collins ordered the party to pay costs and said its membership list must remain "closed" until it complied with race relations laws. Delivering his ruling, he said: "I hold that the BNP are likely to commit unlawful acts of discrimination within section 1b Race Relations Act 1976 in the terms on which they are prepared to admit persons to membership under the 12th addition of their constitution."
The leaders and senior officers of the BNP have criminal convictions for inciting racial hatred.{{sfn|Wood|Finlay|2008|p=708}}
John Hagan claims that the BNP has conducted ] to gain "institutionalized power".<ref name="haganwilliam">{{harvnb|Heitmeyer|2003|p=406}}</ref> A 1997 report by ] accused the party of recruiting from skinhead groups and promoting racist violence.<ref>{{harvnb|Human Rights Watch|1997|p=13}}</ref>


In the past, Nick Griffin has defended the threat of violence to further the party's aims. After the BNP won its first council seat in 1993, he wrote that the BNP should not be a "postmodernist rightist party" but "a strong, disciplined organisation with the ability to back up its slogan 'Defend Rights for Whites' with well-directed boots and fists. When the crunch comes, power is the product of force and will, not of rational debate". In 1997 he said: "It is more important to control the streets of a city than its council chambers."<ref name="guardng">{{Cite news |last=Anthony |first=Andrew |date=1 September 2002 |title=Flying the flag |work=The Guardian |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/theobserver/2002/sep/01/features.magazine37 |url-status=live |access-date=2 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021044330/http://www.guardian.co.uk/theobserver/2002/sep/01/features.magazine37 |archive-date=21 October 2012}}</ref>
The BNP have denied this and claim that they have a waiting list of black and Asian people and want more applications from ethnic minorities.<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8564742.stm</ref>


A BBC '']'' programme reported on a number of BNP members who have had criminal convictions, some racially motivated.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Party Organisers: Criminal Record |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/programmes/2001/bnp_special/membership/organisers/criminal.stm |url-status=live |access-date=2 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130616100118/http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/programmes/2001/bnp_special/membership/organisers/criminal.stm |archive-date=16 June 2013 |series=Under the skin of the BNP}}</ref> Some of the more notable convictions include:
==Opposition==
* ] had convictions for assault and organising paramilitary ] activities. In 1986 he was jailed for conspiracy to publish material likely to incite racial hatred.<ref>{{harvnb|Human Rights Watch|1997|p=14}}</ref>
The BNP is condemned by many sections of the ] media, including right-wing newspapers, such as the '']'', and representatives of the three major political parties all condemn the BNP. High-ranking politicians from each of the mainstream parties have, at various times, called for their own supporters to vote for anyone but the BNP,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1756111,00.html|title=Guardian: Cameron: vote for anyone but BNP}}</ref> including former ] Prime Minister ].<ref>{{cite web | work=The Daily Telegraph|title=Blair admits 'paying penalty' for US links|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1541686/Blair-admits-paying-penalty-for-US-links.html| accessdate=20 February 2007}}</ref> In 2008 Prime Minister Gordon Brown stated : "Londoners and the rest of the British people know that backing the BNP is totally at odds with what it really means to be British—and the great British values the rest of us share, such as democracy and decency, freedom and fairness, tolerance and equality".<ref name="Brown">{{cite news|url=http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2008/04/29/hope-not-hate-vote-for-equality-freedom-and-hope-by-gordon-brown-115875-20398497/|title=Hope not hate: Vote for equality, freedom and hope|last=Brown|first=Gordon|date=29 April 2008|publisher=Daily Mirror|accessdate=7 October 2009}}</ref> ] leader ],<ref name="telegraph.co.uk"/> ] party leader ],<ref name="cleggtoday">Nick Clegg "... a party of thugs, fascists." Speaking on ''Today'', BBC Radio 4, 8 June 2009.</ref> and former Lib Dem leader Sir ]<ref>{{cite web | work=Liberal Democrats|title=Lib Dems appeal to ethnic minority voters|url=http://libdems.org.uk/news/lib-dems-appeal-to-ethnic-minority-voters.10064.html
* In 1998, Nick Griffin was convicted of violating section 19 of the ], relating to ]. He received a nine-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and was fined £2,300.<ref name="british state">{{Cite web |last=Botsford |first=David |title=The British State versus Freedom of Expression: The Case of R. v. Griffin |url=http://www.libertarian.co.uk/lapubs/legan/legan029.pdf |access-date=16 April 2013 |publisher=Libertarian Alliance |archive-date=15 September 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120915143236/http://www.libertarian.co.uk/lapubs/legan/legan029.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20071014184609/http://libdems.org.uk/news/lib-dems-appeal-to-ethnic-minority-voters.10064.html
* Joseph Owens, a BNP candidate in Liverpool's local elections, served eight months in prison for sending razor blades in the post to Jewish people and another term for carrying CS gas and knuckledusters.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Herbert |first=Ian |date=4 April 2006 |title=BNP contests seat where racist killing took place |work=The Independent |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/bnp-contests-seat-where-racist-killing-took-place-6104616.html |url-status=live |access-date=19 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305093051/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/bnp-contests-seat-where-racist-killing-took-place-6104616.html |archive-date=5 March 2016}}</ref>
|archivedate=14 October 2007
* Colin Smith, who in 2004 was the BNP's South East London organiser, has 17 convictions for burglary, theft, possession of drugs and assaulting a police officer.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Goodchild |first=Sophie |date=25 April 2004 |title=On the Le Pen menu: roast beef and raw bigotry |work=The Independent |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/on-the-le-pen-menu-roast-beef-and-raw-bigotry-6170790.html |url-status=live |access-date=2 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140110022012/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/on-the-le-pen-menu-roast-beef-and-raw-bigotry-6170790.html |archive-date=10 January 2014}}</ref>
| accessdate=4 October 2007}}</ref> have all condemned the BNP.
* ], at the time BNP National Organiser, was sentenced to three months in prison in 1994 for his part in a racist attack. Edmonds threw a glass at the victim as he was walking past an East London pub where a group of BNP supporters was drinking. Others then 'glassed' the man in the face and punched and kicked him as he lay on the ground, including BNP supporter Stephen O'Shea, who was jailed for 12 months. Another BNP supporter, Simon Biggs, was jailed for four and a half years for his part in the attack.<ref>{{Cite news |date=18 June 1994 |title=Anger as BNP chief walks free over race attack |work=The Independent |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/anger-as-bnp-chief-walks-free-over-race-attack-1423282.html |url-status=live |access-date=2 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213083507/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/anger-as-bnp-chief-walks-free-over-race-attack-1423282.html |archive-date=13 December 2013}}</ref>


==Reception==
In response to the election of two BNP MEPs the British government announced that it is to single out the British National party's two newly elected representatives in the European parliament for special treatment. This will mean that the BNP will be denied some of the access and information afforded to all the other 70 UK MEPs. The BNP would be subject to the "same general principles governing official impartiality" and they would receive "standard written briefings as appropriate from time to time". But British diplomats made plain that they would not be "proactive" in dealing with the BNP MEPs and that any requests for policy briefings from them would be treated differently and on a discretionary basis.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/jul/09/diplomats-shun-nick-griffin-bnp-europe |title=UK diplomats shun BNP officials in Europe &#124; Politics &#124; guardian.co.uk |publisher=Guardian |date= |accessdate=23 October 2009}}</ref>
]
In 2011, Goodwin described the BNP as being "the most successful party in the history of the extreme right in Britain".{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=xiii}} That same year, John E. Richardson noted that it had achieved "a level of electoral success that is unparalleled in the history of British fascism".{{sfn|Richardson|2011|p=41}} The historian Alan Sykes stated that "in electoral terms", the BNP achieved "more in the first three years of the twenty-first century" than the British far right "as a whole achieved in the previous seventy".{{sfn|Sykes|2005|p=151}} However, Copsey said that the party's belief that one day the conditions would be right for it to win a general election belonged to the "Never-Never Land of British politics".{{sfn|Copsey|2011|p=2}} Copsey also said that the BNP's electoral successes had been modest in comparison to those achieved by extreme-right groups elsewhere in Western Europe such as France's National Front, Italy's National Alliance, and Belgium's ].{{sfn|Copsey|2008|p=191}}


The BNP's growth met a hostile reaction,{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=xiii}} and in 2011 the political scientists Copsey and Macklin described it as "Britain's most disliked party".{{sfn|Copsey|Macklin|2011|p=95}} It was widely reviled as racist and even following Griffin's "modernisation" project it was still heavily tainted by its associations with neo-Nazism.{{sfn|Copsey|2011|p=6}} For many years it remained closely associated with the National Front in the British public imagination.{{sfn|Woodbridge|2010|p=28}}
Following pressure from ], Chairman of the ],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://193.113.211.175/media/nr_arch/2003/nr031007a.html|title=Campaign for Racial Equality: CRE Chair calls on Conservatives to see off the BNP}}{{Dead link|date=October 2008}}</ref> the major parties stand candidates in seats that they are unlikely to win. This is designed to enhance the choice available to voters in the expectation that this will reduce the BNP vote.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://observer.guardian.co.uk/focus/story/0,,1769449,00.html|title=Trevor Phillips "Act now or the BNP will create a society riven by fear and conflict", ''The Observer'', 7 May 2006}}</ref>
The BNP remained unable to gain a broad appeal or widespread credibility.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=117}} In a 2004 poll, seven out of ten voters said that they would never consider voting for the BNP.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=117}} A 2009 poll found that two-thirds would "under no circumstances" consider voting BNP, while only 4% of respondents would "definitely consider" voting for them.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=117}}


The Conservative leader ] stated that the BNP were a "stain" on British democracy, adding that "this is not a political movement, this is a bunch of thugs dressed up as a political party".{{sfnm|1a1=Copsey|1y=2008|1p=151|2a1=Goodwin|2y=2011|2p=xiii}} His successor ] described it as a "completely unacceptable" organisation which "thrives on hatred".{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=xiii}} The Labour prime minister, ], called it a "nasty, extreme organisation",{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=xiii}} while the Liberal Democrat leader ] termed it a "party of thugs and fascists".{{sfn|Copsey|2011|p=1}} In 2004, the ] declared that supporting the BNP was incompatible with Christianity,{{sfn|Davey|2011|p=448}} comparing it to "spitting in the face of God".{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|p=xiii}} Christian groups throughout Britain have maintained that the BNP's hostility toward cultural and ethnic diversity in the country was at odds with mainstream Christianity's emphasis on inclusiveness, tolerance, and interfaith dialogue.{{sfn|Woodbridge|2010|pp=46–47}} ]'s family has criticised the BNP's use of his image and quotations, labelling it "offensive and disgusting".<ref>{{Cite news |date=26 May 2009 |title=BNP's Churchill use 'disgusting' |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8068717.stm |url-status=live |access-date=1 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090529121911/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8068717.stm |archive-date=29 May 2009}}</ref> The singer ] condemned the party for selling a CD featuring her recordings on its website.<ref>{{Cite news |date=18 February 2009 |title=Dame Vera Lynn takes on BNP over White Cliffs of Dover |work=The Daily Telegraph|location=London |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/4687730/Dame-Vera-Lynn-takes-on-BNP-over-White-Cliffs-of-Dover.html |url-status=live |access-date=1 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131101090127/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/4687730/Dame-Vera-Lynn-takes-on-BNP-over-White-Cliffs-of-Dover.html |archive-date=1 November 2013}}</ref> In 2009, the ] asked Griffin—at first privately and then publicly—to not wear their poppy symbol.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Taylor |first=Matthew |date=13 June 2009 |title=Royal British Legion tell Nick Griffin to stop wearing poppy badge |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/jun/13/royal-british-legion-nick-griffin |url-status=live |access-date=1 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130906182015/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/jun/13/royal-british-legion-nick-griffin |archive-date=6 September 2013}}</ref>
Amongst the most visible and vocal opponents of the BNP and other far right-wing groups are ] and '']''. Unite Against Fascism, which aims to unite the broadest possible spectrum to oppose the BNP and the far-right, includes the ] (ANL), the ] (NAAR), and the ] (SAAR). ''Searchlight'' has monitored the activities of the BNP and its members for many years.


The British police, ], and ], prohibited its members from joining the BNP.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|pp=138–139}}<ref name="bettleysun">{{Cite news |date=27 July 2004 |title=ACPO bans police from joining BNP |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3930175.stm |archive-date=30 September 2021 |access-date=6 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210930085404/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3930175.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2002, ], banned BNP membership among prison workers; he subsequently received death threats.<ref>{{Cite news |date=8 February 2005 |title='No-one wanted' top UK jails post |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4247329.stm |url-status=live |access-date=4 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181003100659/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4247329.stm |archive-date=3 October 2018}}</ref> In 2010, the Education Secretary ] announced bans allowing headteachers to ban their staff from being party members.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hasan |first=Medhi |date=2 November 2010 |title=In praise of Michael Gove: He's wrong on free schools but right to ban BNP teachers |work=New Statesman |url=http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/mehdi-hasan/2010/11/bnp-teachers-gove-schools |url-status=live |access-date=15 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029195356/http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/mehdi-hasan/2010/11/bnp-teachers-gove-schools |archive-date=29 October 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Vasagar |first=Jeevan |date=2 November 2010 |title=BNP members to be barred from teaching |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2010/nov/02/bnp-members-barred-teaching |url-status=live |access-date=15 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130917194139/http://www.theguardian.com/education/2010/nov/02/bnp-members-barred-teaching |archive-date=17 September 2013}}</ref>
Some opponents of fascism {{Who|date=March 2009}} call for no positive coverage to be given to groups or individuals enunciating what they describe as "]". Such a tactic states that the BNP and similar parties should be ignored by both rival politicians and the media. A more ] position is that of "]", which seeks to deny perceived fascist hate speech any sort of platform. The policy is most commonly associated with university student unions and debating societies, but has also resulted in BNP candidates being banned from speaking at various hustings meetings around the country.
Individuals whose membership of the party was made public sometimes faced ostracism and the loss of their job: examples include a school headmaster who had to resign, a caretaker who was sacked after attending a BNP rally, and a police officer dismissed from his position.{{sfn|Goodwin|2011|pp=138–139}} After BNP membership lists were leaked on the Internet, a number of police forces investigated officers whose names appeared on the lists.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Cobain |first=Ian |date=19 November 2008 |title=Police scour BNP membership to find officers breaching ban |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2008/nov/19/police-bnp-far-right-list |url-status=live |access-date=11 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161105094713/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2008/nov/19/police-bnp-far-right-list |archive-date=5 November 2016}}</ref>


In 2005, an invitation to Nick Griffin by the ] Union Debating Society to participate in a debate on multiculturalism was withdrawn after protests.<ref>{{Cite news |date=5 February 2005 |title=University's invitation to BNP leader withdrawn |work=The Scotsman |url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/education/university-s-invitation-to-bnp-leader-withdrawn-1-674092 |url-status=live |access-date=2 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121013154732/http://www.scotsman.com/news/education/university-s-invitation-to-bnp-leader-withdrawn-1-674092 |archive-date=13 October 2012}}</ref> The BNP says that ] guidelines on reporting "far right" organisations forbid unionised journalists from reporting uncritically on the party.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wingfield |first=Martin |date=16 March 2008 |title=The Media: Reporting on the BNP |url=http://bnp.org.uk/2008/03/the-media-reporting-on-the-bnp/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081211165521/http://bnp.org.uk/2008/03/the-media-reporting-on-the-bnp/ |archive-date=11 December 2008 |access-date=12 April 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=27 May 2013 |title=The Traitors – 3. Denis MacShane |url=http://www.bnp.org.uk/news/national/traitors-%E2%80%93-3-denis-macshane |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130826184625/http://www.bnp.org.uk/news/national/traitors-%e2%80%93-3-denis-macshane |archive-date=26 August 2013 |access-date=6 September 2013 |publisher=British National Party}}</ref> In April 2007, an election broadcast was cancelled by ] whose lawyers believed that the broadcast was defamatory of the ] of ], ].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Mulholland |first=Hélène |date=24 April 2007 |title=BNP forced to change election broadcast |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2007/apr/24/thefarright.media |url-status=live |access-date=11 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170510165820/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2007/apr/24/thefarright.media |archive-date=10 May 2017}}</ref> The BNP said that BBC editors were following an agenda.<ref>{{Cite web |date=24 April 2007 |title=BBC bans BNP election broadcast |url=http://www.bnp.org.uk/news_detail.php?newsId=1477 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071014195731/http://www.bnp.org.uk/news_detail.php?newsId=1477 |archive-date=14 October 2007 |access-date=11 April 2013 |publisher=British National Party}}</ref>
Examples of the "no platform" policy being operated include:
* Complaints directed at the '']'' newspaper after it published a full-page article/interview with Nick Griffin. The Leeds Unite Against Fascism (LUAF) group accused the publication of breaching Leeds University Students' Union 'No Platform' policy, whereby extremist organisations are prohibited from expressing their views on campus.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.leedstoday.net/ViewArticle.aspx?SectionID=39&ArticleID=971585|title=Yorkshire Evening Post: BNP interview fury}}</ref>
* An invitation to Nick Griffin by the ] Union Debating Society to participate in a debate on multiculturalism was condemned, then withdrawn after protests.<ref>Russell Jackson, , ''The Scotsman'', 5 February 2005, Retrieved 29 January 2009</ref>


===Mainstream media and academia===
Examples of more ] against the BNP include obstruction of BNP activists who set up stalls in shopping centres. For example, members of the ] in ] surrounded a BNP publicity stall, forcing it to close.<ref>, ''Edinburgh Evening News'', 29 March 2005, Retrieved 29 January 2009</ref> ] is the group most associated with this sort of direct action, criticised by more ]s (for example in the ]) as ].{{Citation needed|date=January 2009}}


]
The BNP claims that such cases exemplify how political correctness is being used to silence it and suppress its right to freedom of speech.<ref> BNP Website, 4 February 2005, Retrieved 3 October 2008</ref>


Attitudes toward the BNP in both mainstream broadcast media and print journalism have been overwhelmingly negative,{{sfn|Copsey|Macklin|2011|pp=84–85}} and no mainstream newspaper has endorsed the party.{{sfn|Davey|2011|p=441}} This hostile coverage has even been found in right-wing tabloids like the '']'', '']'' and '']'' which otherwise share the BNP's hostile attitude toward issues like immigration.{{sfn|Copsey|Macklin|2011|pp=84–85}} In 2003, the ''Daily Mail'' described the BNP as "poisonous bigots", while in 2004 ''The Sun'' printed the headline of "BNP: Bloody Nasty People".{{sfnm|1a1=Copsey|1a2=Macklin|1y=2011|1p=85|2a1=Trilling|2y=2012|2p=123}} Senior BNP figures nevertheless believed that these tabloids' hostile coverage of immigration and Islam helped to legitimise and normalise the party and its views among much of the British public,{{sfn|Copsey|Macklin|2011|p=85}} a view echoed by some academic observers.{{sfn|Copsey|Macklin|2011|p=99}} When, in 2004, anti-racist activists picketed outside the ''Daily Mail'' office in central London to protest against its negative coverage of asylum seekers, BNP members organised a counter-picket at which they displayed the placard "Vote BNP, Read the ''Daily Mail''".{{sfn|Copsey|Macklin|2011|p=98}}
The Anti-Nazi League-organised group, ], held a free concert in ] ahead of the 2006 local elections, aimed at getting people not to vote for the BNP, which claimed 50,000<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lovemusichateracism.com/news/2006/04/30/london-50000-in-trafalgar-square-carnival-against-bnp/|title=Love Music Hate Racism: LONDON: 50,000 in Trafalgar Square Carnival Against BNP|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5kKpPK7VI|archivedate=10 June 2009}}</ref> people attended, according to the organiser, while the '']'' put the number substantially lower at just 3,000.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2006/05/01/bmlove01.xml|title=Daily Telegraph: Lucklustre day of protest lacks focus}}</ref>


The BNP initially faced a ']' policy from the broadcast media, although this eroded as Griffin was invited on to a number of television programmes amid the party's growing electoral success.{{sfn|Copsey|Macklin|2011|p=83}} When the BBC invited him to appear on ''Question Time'' in 2009 it was criticised by several trade unions, sections of the media, and several Labour politicians, all of whom believed that the BNP should not be given a public platform.{{sfn|Copsey|Macklin|2011|p=87}} Anti-fascist protesters assembled outside of the television studio to protest Griffin's inclusion.{{sfn|Copsey|Macklin|2011|p=88}}
In May 2007 a presentation by Nick Griffin was organised by Danny Lake, Young BNP organiser and a politics student, to be held at the ]. The University administration agreed to hosting the meeting on the grounds of freedom of speech, yet it was opposed by a sizable portion of the student and lecturer population. At a meeting of the ] a motion was passed to criticise the BNP and oppose the meeting, mainly due to the BNP's opposition to the Union's equal opportunities policy, the fact that the meeting was an invitation only event with no opposition debate and that it was to be held on the first day of the exam period. The University later withdrew permission for the event due to concerns over the large number of people opposing the meeting and possible disruption it could cause.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/6644117.stm|title=BBC News: University halts BNP speech plan | date=2007-05-10 | accessdate=2009-12-31}}</ref>


The first academic attention to be directed at the BNP appeared after it gained a councillor in the 1993 local elections.{{sfn|Copsey|2011|p=6}} Nevertheless, throughout the 1990s it remained the subject of little academic research.{{sfn|Copsey|2011|p=6}} Academic interest increased following its victories at local elections from 2002 onward.{{sfn|Copsey|2011|p=6}} The first detailed monograph study to be devoted to the party was Nigel Copsey's ''Contemporary British Fascism'', first published in 2004.{{sfn|Copsey|2008|p=4}} In September 2008, an academic symposium on the BNP was held at ].{{sfn|Macklin|2011b|p=227}}
===Veterans and World War II===
In June 2009 the ] wrote to Griffin privately to ask him to stop wearing their poppy symbol, after he refused and wore the badge at campaign events and the party's televised election broadcast The Legion said in an open letter: "True valour deserves respect regardless of a person's ethnic origin, and everyone who serves or has served their country deserves nothing less&nbsp;... appealed to your sense of honour. But you have responded by continuing to wear the poppy. So now we're no longer asking you privately. Stop it, Mr Griffin. Just stop it."<ref>Taylor, Matthew. , 13 June 2009, Retrieved on 13 July 2009</ref> In September 2009 the Legion accepted a donation which it had initially rejected from BNP member Rachel Firth. Firth had spent 24 hours raising the money of which half was given to the Legion and the other half was given to the BNP. The Legion said that Firth had assured them that the donation would not be exploited politically although the story was later "splashed across" the BNP's website. BNP spokesman Simon Darby denied that the party exploited the story.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8250086.stm|title=British Legion accepts BNP gift|last=Furlong|first=Ray|date=11 September 2009|publisher=BBC News|accessdate=6 October 2009}}</ref>


===The wider extreme-right and anti-fascists===
]'s family have criticised the BNP after the party used his image and quotes from one of his speeches in its campaign. Churchill's grandson, ], described the BNP as "monstrous" and said its use of Churchill was "offensive and disgusting".<ref>, '']'', 26 May 2009, Retrieved on 13 July 2009</ref>


Opposition to the BNP also came from the organised anti-fascist movement. By the mid-1990s, the BNP's attempts to stage public events in Scotland, the North West and the Midlands were largely thwarted by the militant disruption of the ] (AFA) group.{{sfn|Copsey|2011b|p=128}} The BNP's modernisation and move away from street demonstrations and toward electoral campaigning caused problems for the AFA, who proved unable to successfully change their tactics; on those occasions when AFA activists tried to forcibly disrupt BNP activities, they were prevented and arrested by ].{{sfn|Copsey|2011b|pp=129–131}}
The BNP was also caught up in a dispute with 1940s singer ] after she objected to the party selling copies of her ] CD on its website to fund its European election campaign.<ref>, '']'', 18 February 2009, Retrieved on 13 July 2009</ref>

] protesting against the BNP at ] in 2009]]

More liberal sections of the anti-fascist movement sought to counter the BNP through community-based initiatives. '']'' encouraged trade unions to establish localised campaigns that would ensure that ethnic minority and other anti-BNP locals voted. It suggested that such campaigns should avoid associating with the mainstream parties from which BNP voters felt disenfranchised and that they should not be afraid of calling out Islamic fundamentalists and extremists active in the area.{{sfn|Copsey|2011b|pp=131–133}} The ] group also sought to maximise anti-BNP turnout at elections, calling on the electorate to vote for "anyone but fascists".{{sfn|Copsey|2011b|pp=134–135}} Evidence suggests that such anti-fascist activities did little to erode the far-right vote; this was in part because anti-fascist groups had encouraged the stereotype that BNP candidates were violent skinheads, something which conflicted with the more normal, friendly image that BNP activists cultivated when canvassing.{{sfn|Copsey|2008|pp=140, 141}}

The BNP often received a hostile response from other sections of the British extreme-right.{{sfn|Woodbridge|2011|p=103}} Some extreme-right-wingers, such as the ], expressed frustration at the party's inability to moderate itself further on the issue of race, while those such as ] and the NF accused the BNP—particularly under Griffin's leadership—of being too moderate.{{sfn|Woodbridge|2011|pp=103–104}} This latter view was articulated by an extreme-right ], the International Third Position, when it claimed that the BNP "has been openly courting the Jewish vote and pumping out material which confirms what most us knew years ago: the BNP has become a multi-racist, Zionist, queer-tolerant anti-Muslim pressure group".{{sfn|Woodbridge|2011|p=118}}

In '']'', the ] overturned an employment appeal tribunal ruling that awarded BNP member and train driver ] damages for expulsion from a trade union.<ref>{{Cite web |date=27 February 2007 |title=Case of Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers & Firemen (ASLEF) v. the United Kingdom |url=http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/sites/eng/pages/search.aspx?i=001-79604 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140724001538/http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/sites/eng/pages/search.aspx?i=001-79604 |archive-date=24 July 2014 |access-date=4 April 2013 |publisher=European Court of Human Rights}}</ref> In ], the court ruled that members of racist organisations could lawfully be dismissed on health and safety grounds if there was a danger of violence occurring in the workplace.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Disclaw Publishing – Employment Law, unfair dismissal, redundancy pay |url=http://www.emplaw.co.uk/lawguide?startpage=2005irlr744.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130607111139/http://www.emplaw.co.uk/lawguide?startpage=2005irlr744.htm |archive-date=7 June 2013 |access-date=4 April 2013 |publisher=Emplaw.co.uk}}</ref> In November 2012, the ] made a majority ruling (4 to 3) that in Redfearn's case against the UK government, his rights under Article 11 (free association) had been infringed,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bowcott |first=Owen |date=6 November 2012 |title=Bus driver sacked for BNP membership wins case in Strasbourg |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/law/2012/nov/06/bus-driver-bnp-wins-rights-case |url-status=live |access-date=11 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170107040223/https://www.theguardian.com/law/2012/nov/06/bus-driver-bnp-wins-rights-case |archive-date=7 January 2017}}</ref> but not those under Article 10 (free expression) or Article 14 (discrimination).<ref>{{Cite web |date=6 November 2012 |title=CASE OF REDFEARN v. THE UNITED KINGDOM |url=http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/sites/eng/pages/search.aspx?i=001-114240 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130604063301/http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/sites/eng/pages/search.aspx?i=001-114240 |archive-date=4 June 2013 |access-date=4 April 2013 |publisher=European Court of Human Rights}}</ref>

==See also==
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]


==Notes== ==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}} {{Reflist|group=note}}

==References== ==References==

===Footnotes=== ===Footnotes===
{{Reflist}}
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}


===Bibliography=== ===Sources===
{{refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}

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* {{Cite encyclopedia |year=2011 |title=British National Party: Contemporary Perspectives |publisher=Routledge |location=London and New York |last=Macklin |first=Graham |editor-last=Copsey |editor-first=Nigel |pages=19–37 |isbn=978-0-415-48383-4 |contribution=Modernizing the Past for the Future |editor2-last=Macklin |editor2-first=Graham}}
* {{Cite encyclopedia |year=2011b |title=British National Party: Contemporary Perspectives |publisher=Routledge |location=London and New York |last=Macklin |first=Graham |editor-last=Copsey |editor-first=Nigel |pages=227–237 |isbn=978-0-415-48383-4 |author1-mask={{long dash}} |contribution=Conclusion: Further Avenues for Research |editor2-last=Macklin |editor2-first=Graham}}
* {{Cite encyclopedia |year=2011 |title=British National Party: Contemporary Perspectives |publisher=Routledge |location=London and New York |editor-last=Copsey |editor-first=Nigel |pages=207–226 |isbn=978-0-415-48383-4 |last2=Virchow |first2=Fabian |last1=Macklin |first1=Graham |contribution=Local Embedding as a Factor in Electoral Success: The BNP and NPD Compared |editor2-last=Macklin |editor2-first=Graham}}
* {{Cite encyclopedia |year=2011 |title=British National Party: Contemporary Perspectives |publisher=Routledge |location=London and New York |last=Messina |first=Anthony M. |editor-last=Copsey |editor-first=Nigel |pages=165–189 |isbn=978-0-415-48383-4 |contribution=Assessing the Political Relevance of Anti-Immigrant Parties: The BNP in Comparative European Perspective |editor2-last=Macklin |editor2-first=Graham}}
* {{Cite encyclopedia |year=2011 |title=British National Party: Contemporary Perspectives |publisher=Routledge |location=London and New York |last=Rhodes |first=James |editor-last=Copsey |editor-first=Nigel |pages=62–78 |isbn=978-0-415-48383-4 |contribution=Multiculturalism and the Subcultural Politics of the British National Party |editor2-last=Macklin |editor2-first=Graham}}
* {{Cite encyclopedia |year=2011 |title=British National Party: Contemporary Perspectives |publisher=Routledge |location=London and New York |last=Richardson |first=John E. |editor-last=Copsey |editor-first=Nigel |pages=38–61 |isbn=978-0-415-48383-4 |contribution=Race and Racial Difference: The Surface and Depth of BNP Ideology |editor2-last=Macklin |editor2-first=Graham}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Szczerbiak |first1=Aleks |title=Opposing Europe?: The Comparative Party Politics of Euroscepticism: Volume 1: Case Studies and Country Surveys |last2=Taggart |first2=Paul |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-0199258307 |location=Oxford }}
* {{Cite journal |last1=Sutton |first1=Mike |last2=Perry |first2=Barbara |year=2009 |title=Politicking the Personal: Examining Academic Literature and British National Party beliefs and wishes about intimate Interracial Relationships and Mixed Heritage |url=http://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/20974/1/193433_1813%20Sutton%20PostPrint.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/20974/1/193433_1813%20Sutton%20PostPrint.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |journal=Information & Communications Technology Law |volume=18 |pages=83–98 |doi=10.1080/13600830902814992 |s2cid=144101642 |number=2}}
* {{Cite book |last=Sykes |first=Alan |title=The Radical Right in Britain: Social Imperialism to the BNP |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=2005 |isbn=978-0333599242 |location=Basingstoke and New York }}
* {{Cite book |last=Trilling |first=Daniel |title=Bloody Nasty People: The Rise of Britain's Far Right |publisher=Verso |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-84467-959-1 |location=London }}
* {{Cite book |last=Tyndall |first=John |title=The Eleventh Hour: A Call for British Rebirth |publisher=Albion Press |year=1988 |isbn=978-0-9513686-1-9 |location=London }}
* {{Cite journal |last1=Wood |first1=C. |last2=Finlay |first2=W. M. L. |year=2008 |title=British National Party Representations of Muslims in the Month after the London Bombings: Homogeneity, Threat, and the Conspiracy Tradition |journal=]|volume=47 |issue=4 |pages=707–726 |doi=10.1348/014466607X264103 |pmid=18070375 }}
* {{Cite journal |last=Woodbridge |first=Steven |year=2010 |title=Christian Credentials?: The Role of Religion in British National Party Ideology |journal=Journal for the Study of Radicalism |volume=4 |pages=25–54 |doi=10.1353/jsr.0.0039 |jstor=41887643 |s2cid=146246410 |number=1}}
* {{Cite encyclopedia |year=2011 |title=British National Party: Contemporary Perspectives |publisher=Routledge |location=London and New York |last=Woodbridge |first=Steven |editor-last=Copsey |editor-first=Nigel |pages=103–122 |isbn=978-0-415-48383-4 |author1-mask={{long dash}} |contribution=Ambivalent Admiration? The Response of Other Extreme-Right Groups to the Rise of the BNP |editor2-first=Graham |editor2-last=Macklin}}
{{refend}}

===Further reading===
<!-- Please order books alphabetically by the author's last name --> <!-- Please order books alphabetically by the author's last name -->
{{Refbegin|2}} {{Refbegin|35em}}
*{{cite book |title=Muslim Britain: communities under pressure|last=Abbas|first=Tahir |year=2005|publisher=Zed Books|isbn=1842774492|ref=harv}} * {{Cite book |last=Abbas |first=Tahir |title=Muslim Britain: communities under pressure |publisher=Zed Books |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-84277-449-6 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Art |first=David |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9dUTXJakqLoC |title=Inside the Radical Right |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-139-49883-8 }}
*{{cite book |title=Encyclopedia of British and Irish Political Organizations: Parties, Groups and Movements of the 20th Century|last=Barberis|first=Peter|year=2005|publisher=Continuum International Publishing Group|isbn=0826458149|ref=harv}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Backes |first1=Uwe |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RBnmachN8vkC |title=The Extreme Right in Europe: Current Trends and Perspectives |last2=Moreau |first2=Patrick |publisher=Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht |year=2011 |isbn=978-3-525-36922-7 }}
*{{cite book |title=Politico's guide to the history of British political parties|last=Boothroyd|first=David|year=2001|publisher=Politico's|isbn=1902301595|ref=harv}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Barberis |first1=Peter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qps14mSlghcC |title=Encyclopedia of British and Irish Political Organizations: Parties, Groups and Movements of the 20th century |last2=McHugh |first2=John |last3=Tyldesley |first3=Mike |publisher=Continuum International Publishing Group |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-8264-5814-8 }}
*{{cite book |title=The new politics of the Right: neo-Populist parties and movements in established democracies|last=Betz|first=Hans-Georg|year=1998|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=0312213387|ref=harv}}
*{{cite book |title=Liberation and purity | last=Bhatt| first=Chetan |year=1997 |publisher=Routledge| isbn=1857284240| ref=harv}} * {{Cite book |last=Boothroyd |first=David |title=Politico's Guide to the History of British Political Parties |publisher=Politico's |year=2001 |isbn=978-1-902301-59-4 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Betz |first=Hans-Georg |title=The new politics of the Right: neo-Populist parties and movements in established democracies |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-312-21338-1 }}
*{{cite book |title=The British General Election of 1983 |last=Butler|first=David|authorlink=David Butler (Oxford)|year=1983|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=9780333345788|ref=harv}}
* {{Cite book |last=Butler |first=David |url=https://archive.org/details/britishgeneralel0000butl_c6i6 |title=The British General Election of 1983 |publisher=Macmillan |year=1983 |isbn=978-0-333-34578-8 |author-link=David Butler (Oxford) |url-access=registration}}
*{{cite book |title=Nationalist myths and modern media: contested identities in the age of globalization|last=Brinks|first=Jan Herman |year=2006|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=1845110382|ref=harv}}
* {{Cite book |last=Brinks |first=Jan Herman |title=Nationalist Myths and Modern Media: Contested Identities in the Age of Globalization |publisher=I.B.Tauris |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-84511-038-3 }}
*{{cite book |title=The Longman companion to Britain since 1945|last=Cook|first=Chris|year=2000|publisher=Pearson Education|isbn=0582356741|ref=harv}}
* {{Cite book |last=Cook |first=Chris |url=https://archive.org/details/longmancompanion0000cook |title=The Longman companion to Britain since 1945 |publisher=Pearson Education |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-582-35674-0 |url-access=registration}}
*{{cite book |title=Contemporary British Fascism: The British National Party and its Quest for Legitimacy|last=Copsey|first=Nigel|year=2004|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=1403902143|ref=harv}}
* {{Cite book |last=Copsey |first=Nigel |title=Contemporary British Fascism: The British National Party and its Quest for Legitimacy |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=2004 |isbn=978-1-4039-0214-6 }}
*{{cite book |title=The Routledge companion to fascism and the far right|last=Davies|first=Peter|year=2002|publisher=Routledge|isbn=0415214947|ref=harv}}
* {{Cite book |last=Davies |first=Peter |url=https://archive.org/details/routledgecompani00davi |title=The Routledge companion to fascism and the far right |publisher=Routledge |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-415-21494-0 |url-access=registration}}
*{{cite book |title=Introduction to British politics|last=Dearlove|first=John|year=2000|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|isbn=0745620965|ref=harv}}
*{{cite book |title=Western democracies and the new extreme right challenge|last=Eatwell|first=Roger|year=2004|publisher=Routledge|isbn=0415369711|ref=harv}} * {{Cite book |last=Eatwell |first=Roger |title=Western democracies and the new extreme right challenge |publisher=Routledge |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-415-36971-8 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Geddes |first=Andrew |title=Labour's second landslide: the British general election 2001 |publisher=Manchester University Press |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-7190-6266-7 }}
*{{cite book |title=Engaging anthropology: the case for a public presence|last=Eriksen|first=Thomas Hylland|year=2006|publisher=Berg Publishers|isbn=1845200659|ref=harv}}
* {{Cite book |last=Human Rights Watch |url=https://books.google.com/books?&vid=LCCN96077750 |title=Racist violence in the United Kingdom |publisher=Human Rights Watch |year=1997 |isbn=978-1-56432-202-9 }}
*{{cite book |title=Extremist groups: information for students, Volume 1|last=Gale|first=Thomson|year=2006|publisher=University of California|isbn=1414411197|ref=harv}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Gottlieb |first1=Julie V. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uwWIhImk0zwC |title=The Culture of Fascism: Visions of the Far Right in Britain |last2=Linehan |first2=Thomas P. |publisher=I.B. Tauris |year=2004 |isbn=978-1-86064-798-7 }}
*{{cite book |title=Labour's second landslide: the British general election 2001|last=Geddes|first=Andrew |year=2002|publisher=Manchester University Press|isbn=0719062667|ref=harv}}
*{{cite book |title=Black Sun|last=Goodrick-Clarke|first=Nicholas|year=2003|publisher=NYU Press|isbn=0814731554|ref=harv}} * {{Cite book |last=Ignazi |first=Piero |title=Extreme right parties in Western Europe |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-19-929159-5 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Heitmeyer |first=Wilhelm |title=International Handbook of Violence Research |publisher=Springer |year=2003 |isbn=978-1-4020-1466-6 }}
*{{cite book |title=The British General Election of 1983 |last=Harrison|first=Martin|year=1983|publisher=Macmillan|ref=harv}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Hill |first1=Ray |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dMZmQgAACAAJ |title=The Other Face of Terror: Inside Europe's Neo-Nazi Network |last2=Bell |first2=Andrew |publisher=Grafton Books |year=1988 |isbn=978-0-586-06935-6 }}
*{{cite book |title=The Routledge dictionary of modern British history|last=Plowright|first=John|year=2006|publisher=Routledge|isbn=0203088468|ref=harv}}
* {{Cite book |last=Larsen |first=Stein Ugelvik |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=txpnAAAAMAAJ |title=Modern Europe after fascism, 1943–1980s |publisher=Social Science Monographs |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-88033-973-5 }}
*{{cite book |title=Traditions of intolerance|last=Robin|first=Anthony|year=1989|publisher=Manchester University Press|isbn=0719028981|ref=harv}}
* {{Cite book |last=Liang |first=Christina Schori |title=Europe for the Europeans: the foreign and security policy of the populist radical |publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. |year=2007 }}
*{{cite book |title=Britain's changing party system|last=Robins|first=Lynton J|year=1994|publisher=Leicester University Press|isbn=0718514947|ref=harv}}
* {{Cite book |last=Passmore |first=Kevin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gee7VLcMP8gC |title=Fascism : a very short introduction |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-19-280155-5 }}
*{{cite book |title=Into a world of hate: a journey among the extreme right|last=Ryan|first=Nick|year=2004|publisher=Routledge|isbn=041594922X|ref=harv}}
*{{cite book |title=Race and British electoral politics|last=Saggar|first=Shamit|year=1998|publisher=Routledge|isbn=1857288300|ref=harv}} * {{Cite book |last=Plowright |first=John |title=The Routledge dictionary of modern British history |publisher=Routledge |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-203-08846-3 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Saggar |first=Shamit |url=https://archive.org/details/racebritishelect00sagg |title=Race and British electoral politics |publisher=Routledge |year=1998 |isbn=978-1-85728-830-8 |url-access=registration}}
*{{cite book |title=The Radical Right in Britain: British History in Perspective |last=Sykes |first=Alan| year=2004| publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=0333599241|ref=harv}}
*{{cite book |title=Revolutionary and dissident movements of the world|last=Szajkowski|first=Bogdan|year=2004|publisher= John Harper Publishing|isbn=0954381122|ref=harv}} * {{Cite book |last=Szajkowski |first=Bogdan |title=Revolutionary and dissident movements of the world |publisher=John Harper Publishing |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-9543811-2-7 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Thurlow |first=Richard C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vAWGAAAAIAAJ |title=Fascism in Modern Britain |publisher=Sutton |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-7509-1747-6 }}
{{Refend}} {{Refend}}


==External links== ==External links ==
{{commons|British National Party}} {{stack|{{Commons category|British National Party}}}}
* {{Official website}}
* '''' — official party website
*
* '''' — official party video media

* '''' — hosted by the ]
{{British National Party}} {{British National Party}}
{{White nationalism}}
{{British political parties}} {{British political parties}}
{{Nationalism in the United Kingdom}} {{Nationalism in the United Kingdom}}
{{UK far right}} {{UK far right}}
{{Alliance of European National Movements}}
{{Portal bar|Politics|United Kingdom}}


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Latest revision as of 11:43, 21 December 2024

British fascist political party founded in 1982 For other parties of the same name, see British National Party (disambiguation).

British National Party
AbbreviationBNP
ChairmanAdam Walker
FounderJohn Tyndall
Founded7 April 1982; 42 years ago (7 April 1982)
Split from
HeadquartersWigton, Cumbria, England
NewspaperIdentity
Youth wingBNP Youth
Membership (2015)Decrease 500
Ideology
Political positionFar-right
European affiliationAlliance of European National Movements
Colours  Red   White   Blue
Website
bnp.org.uk

The British National Party (BNP) is a far-right, fascist political party in the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in Wigton, Cumbria, and is led by Adam Walker. A minor party, it has no elected representatives at any level of UK government. The party was founded in 1982, and reached its greatest level of success in the 2000s, when it had over fifty seats in local government, one seat on the London Assembly, and two Members of the European Parliament. It has been largely inactive since 2019.

Taking its name from that of a defunct 1960s far-right party, the BNP was created by John Tyndall and other former members of the fascist National Front (NF). During the 1980s and 1990s, the BNP placed little emphasis on contesting elections, in which it did poorly. Instead, it focused on street marches and rallies, creating the Combat 18 paramilitary—its name a coded reference to Nazi German leader Adolf Hitler—to protect its events from anti-fascist protesters. A growing 'moderniser' faction was frustrated by Tyndall's leadership, and ousted him in 1999. The new leader Nick Griffin sought to broaden the BNP's electoral base by presenting a more moderate image, targeting concerns about rising immigration rates, and emphasising localised community campaigns. This resulted in increased electoral growth throughout the 2000s, to the extent that it became the most electorally successful far-right party in British history. Concerns regarding financial mismanagement resulted in Griffin being removed as leader in 2014. By this point, the BNP's membership and vote share had declined dramatically, groups like Britain First and National Action had splintered off, and the English Defence League had supplanted it as the UK's foremost far-right group.

Ideologically positioned on the extreme-right or far-right of British politics, the BNP has been characterised as fascist or neo-fascist by political scientists. Under Tyndall's leadership, it was more specifically regarded as neo-Nazi. The party is ethnic nationalist, and it once espoused the view that only white people should be citizens of the United Kingdom. It calls for an end to non-white migration into the UK. It called initially for the compulsory expulsion of non-whites but, since 1999, it has advocated voluntary removals with financial incentives. It promotes biological racism and the white genocide conspiracy theory, calling for global racial separatism and condemning interracial relationships. Under Tyndall, the BNP emphasised anti-semitism and Holocaust denial, promoting the conspiracy theory that Jews seek to dominate the world through both communism and international capitalism. Under Griffin, the party's focus switched from anti-semitism towards Islamophobia. It promotes economic protectionism, Euroscepticism, and a transformation away from liberal democracy, while its social policies oppose feminism, LGBT rights, and societal permissiveness.

Operating around a highly centralised structure that gave its chair near total control, the BNP built links with far-right parties across Europe and created various sub-groups, including a record label and trade union. The BNP attracted most support from within White British working-class communities in northern and eastern England, particularly among middle-aged and elderly men. A poll in the 2000s suggested that most Britons favoured a ban on the party. It faced much opposition from anti-fascists, religious organisations, the mainstream media, and most politicians, and BNP members were banned from various professions.

History

Main article: History of the British National Party

John Tyndall's leadership: 1982–1999

Photograph of people carrying Union Flags, demonstrating outside a factory.
A National Front march from the 1970s, the movement from which the BNP emerged by 1982

The British National Party (BNP) was founded by the extreme-right political activist John Tyndall. Tyndall had been involved in neo-Nazi groups since the late 1950s before leading the far-right National Front (NF) throughout most of the 1970s. Following an argument with senior party member Martin Webster, he resigned from the NF in 1980. In June 1980 Tyndall established a rival, the New National Front (NNF). At the recommendation of Ray Hill—who was secretly an anti-fascist spy seeking to sow disharmony among Britain's far-right—Tyndall decided to unite an array of extreme-right groups as a single party. To this end, Tyndall established a Committee for Nationalist Unity (CNU) in January 1982. In March 1982, the CNU held a conference at the Charing Cross Hotel in London, at which 50 far-right activists agreed to the formation of the BNP.

The BNP was formally launched on 7 April 1982 at a press conference in Victoria. Led by Tyndall, most of its early members came from the NNF, although others were defectors from the NF, British Movement, British Democratic Party, and Nationalist Party. Tyndall remarked that there was "scarcely any difference in ideology or policy save in the minutest detail", and most of the BNP's leading activists had formerly been senior NF figures. Under Tyndall's leadership the party was neo-Nazi in orientation and engaged in nostalgia for Nazi Germany. It adopted the NF's tactic of holding street marches and rallies, believing that these boosted morale and attracted new recruits. Their first march took place in London on St. George's Day 1982. These marches often involved clashes with anti-fascist protesters and resulted in multiple arrests, helping to cement the BNP's association with political violence and older fascist groups in the public eye. As a result, BNP organisers began to favour indoor rallies, although street marches continued to be held throughout the mid-to-late 1980s.

Through the streets now we are marching.
Like an army as to war.
For the cause of race and nation.
With our banners to the fore.
Into battle, into battle, into battle BNP!
Into battle BNP!

— BNP marching song, 1982

In its early years, the BNP's involvement in elections was "irregular and intermittent", and for its first two decades it faced consistent electoral failure. It suffered from low finances and few personnel, and its leadership was aware that its electoral viability was weakened by the anti-immigration rhetoric of Conservative Party Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. In the 1983 general election the BNP stood 54 candidates, although it only campaigned in five seats. Although it was able to air its first party political broadcast, it averaged a vote share of 0.06% in the seats it contested. After the Representation of the People Act 1985 raised the electoral deposit to £500, the BNP adopted a policy of "very limited involvement" in elections. It abstained in the 1987 general election, and stood only 13 candidates in the 1992 general election. In a 1993 local by-election the BNP gained one council seat—won by Derek Beackon in the East London district of Millwall—after a campaign that played to local whites who were angry at the perceived preferential treatment received by Bangladeshi migrants in social housing. Following an anti-BNP campaign launched by local religious groups and the Anti-Nazi League, it lost this seat during the 1994 local elections. In the 1997 general election, it contested 55 seats and gained an average 1.4% of the vote.

In the early 1990s, the paramilitary group Combat 18 (C18) was formed to protect BNP events from anti-fascists. In 1992, C18 carried out attacks on left-wing targets like an anarchist bookshop and the headquarters of the Morning Star. Tyndall was angered by C18's growing influence on the BNP's street activities, and by August 1993, C18 activists were physically clashing with other BNP members. In December 1993, Tyndall issued a bulletin to BNP branches declaring C18 to be a proscribed organisation, furthermore suggesting that it may have been established by agents of the state to discredit the party. To counter the group's influence among militant British nationalists, he secured the American white nationalist militant William Pierce as a guest speaker at the BNP's annual rally in November 1995.

John Tyndall was both greatest asset and its greatest drawback. His persistence, rock-like reliability and leadership had kept the movement going, but with almost imperceptible growth since its 1982 foundation.

— Senior BNP member John Bean

In the early 1990s, a "moderniser" faction emerged within the party, favouring a more electorally palatable strategy and an emphasis on building grassroots support to win local elections. It was impressed by the electoral gains made by a number of extreme-right parties in continental Europe — such as Jörg Haider's Austrian Freedom Party and Jean-Marie Le Pen's National Front — which had been achieved by both switching focus from biological racism to the perceived cultural incompatibility of different racial groups and by replacing anti-democratic platforms with populist ones. The modernisers called for community campaigns among the white working-class populations of London's East End, and Northern England. While the modernisers gained some concessions from the party's hard-liners, Tyndall opposed many of their ideas and sought to stem their growing influence. In his view, "we should not be looking for ways of applying ideological cosmetic surgery to ourselves in order to make our features more appealing to the public".

Nick Griffin's leadership: 1999–2014

Nick Griffin at a BNP press conference in Manchester in 2009

After the BNP's poor performance at the 1997 general election, opposition to Tyndall's leadership grew. The modernisers called the party's first leadership election, and in October 1999 Tyndall was ousted when two-thirds of those voting backed Nick Griffin, who offered an improved administration, financial transparency, and greater support for local branches. Often characterised as a political chameleon, Griffin had once been considered a party hardliner before switching allegiance to the modernisers in the late 1990s. In his youth, he had been involved in the NF as well as Third Positionist groups like Political Soldier and the International Third Position. Criticising his predecessors for fuelling the image of the BNP as "thugs, losers and troublemakers", Griffin inaugurated a period of change in the party.

Influenced by Le Pen's National Front in France, Griffin sought to widen the BNP's appeal to individuals who were concerned about immigration but had not previously voted for the extreme-right. The BNP replaced Tyndall's policy of compulsory deportation of non-whites to a voluntary system whereby non-whites would be given financial incentives to emigrate. It downplayed biological racism and stressed the cultural incompatibility of different racial groups. This emphasis on culture allowed it to foreground Islamophobia; following the September 11 attacks in 2001, it launched a "Campaign Against Islam". It stressed the claim that the BNP was "not a racist party" but an "organised response to anti-white racism". At the same time Griffin sought to reassure the party's base that these reforms were based on pragmatism and not a change in principle.

Griffin also sought to shed the BNP's image as a single-issue party, by embracing a diverse array of social and economic issues. Griffin renamed the party's monthly newspaper from British Nationalist to The Voice of Freedom, and established a new journal, Identity. The party developed community-based campaigns, through which it targeted local issues, particularly in those areas with large numbers of skilled white working-class people who were disaffected with the Labour Party government. For instance, in Burnley it campaigned for lower speed limits on housing estates and against the closure of a local swimming bath, while in South Birmingham it targeted pensioners' concerns about youth gangs. In 2006, the party urged its activists to carry out local activities like cleaning up children's play areas and removing graffiti while wearing high-vis jackets emblazoned with the party logo.

Griffin believed that Peak Oil and a growth in Third World migrants arriving in Britain would result in a BNP government coming to power by 2040. The close of the twentieth century produced more favourable conditions for the extreme-right in Britain as a result of increased public concerns about immigration and established Muslim communities coupled with growing dissatisfaction with the established mainstream parties. In turn, the BNP gained rapidly growing levels of support over the coming years. In July 2000, it came second in the council elections for the North End of the London Borough of Bexley, its best result since 1993. At the 2001 general election it gained 16% of the vote in one constituency and over 10% in two others. In the 2002 local elections the BNP gained four councillors, three of whom were in Burnley, where it had capitalised on white anger surrounding the disproportionately high levels of funding being directed to the Asian-dominated Daneshouse ward. This breakthrough generated public anxieties about the party, with a poll finding that six in ten supported a ban on it. In the 2003 local elections, the BNP gained 13 additional councillors, including seven more in Burnley; the party received over 100,000 votes in this election. Concerned that much of its potential vote was going to the UK Independence Party (UKIP), in 2003 the BNP offered UKIP an electoral pact but was rebuffed. Griffin then accused UKIP of being a Labour Party scheme to steal the BNP's votes. It invested much in the campaign for the 2004 European Parliament election, at which it received 800,000 votes but failed to secure a parliamentary seat. In the 2004 local elections, it secured four more seats, including three in Epping.

Anti-fascist protestors demonstrating against Griffin's appearance on Question Time in 2009

For the 2005 general election, the BNP expanded its number of candidates to 119 and targeted specific regions. Its average vote in the areas it contested rose to 4.3%. It gained significantly more support in three seats, achieving 10% in Burnley, 13% in Dewsbury, and 17% in Barking. In the 2006 local elections the party gained 220,000 votes, with 33 additional councillors, having averaged a vote share of 18% in the areas it contested. In Barking and Dagenham, it saw 12 of its 13 candidates elected to the council. At the 2008 London Assembly election, the BNP gained 130,000 votes, reaching the 5% mark and thus gaining an Assembly seat. At the 2009 European Parliament election, the party gained almost 1 million votes, with two of its candidates, Nick Griffin and Andrew Brons, being elected as Members of the European Parliament for North West England and Yorkshire and the Humber respectively. That election also saw extreme-right parties winning seats for various other EU member-states. This victory marked a major watershed for the party. Amid significant public controversy, Griffin was invited to appear on the BBC show Question Time in October 2009, the first time that the BNP had been invited to share a national television platform with mainstream panellists. Griffin's performance was however widely regarded as poor.

Despite its success, there was dissent in the party. In 2007 a group of senior members known as the "December rebels" challenged Griffin, calling for internal party democracy and financial transparency, but were expelled. In 2008, a group of BNP activists in Bradford split to form the Democratic Nationalists. In November 2008, the BNP membership list was posted to WikiLeaks, after appearing briefly on a weblog. A year later, in October 2009, another list of BNP members was leaked.

Eddy Butler then led a challenge to Griffin's leadership, alleging financial corruption, but he had insufficient support. The rebels who supported him split into two groups: one section remained as the internal Reform Group, the other left the BNP to form the British Freedom Party. By 2010, there was discontent among the party's grassroots, a result of the change to its white-only membership policy and rumours of financial corruption among its leadership. Some defected to the National Front or left to form parties like the Britannica Party. Anti-fascist groups like Hope not Hate had campaigned extensively in Barking to stop the area's locals voting for the BNP. At the 2010 general election, the BNP had hoped to make a breakthrough by gaining a seat in the House of Commons, although it failed to achieve this. It nevertheless gained the fifth largest national vote share, with 1.9% of the vote, representing the most successful electoral performance for an extreme-right party in UK history. In the 2010 local elections, it lost all of its councillors in Barking and Dagenham. Nationally, the party's number of councillors dropped from over fifty to 28. Griffin described the results as "disastrous".

Decline: 2014–present

In a 2011 leadership election, Griffin secured a narrow victory, beating Brons by nine votes of a total of 2,316 votes cast. In October 2012, Brons left the party, leaving Griffin as its sole MEP. In the 2012 local elections, the party lost all of its seats and saw its vote share fall dramatically; whereas it gained over 240,000 votes in 2008, this had fallen to under 26,000 by 2012. Commenting on the result, the political scientist Matthew Goodwin noted: "Put simply, the BNP's electoral challenge is over." In the 2012 London mayoral election, the BNP candidate came seventh, with 1.3% of first-preference votes, its poorest showing in the London mayoral contest. The 2012 election results established that the BNP's steady growth had ended. In the 2013 local elections, the BNP fielded 99 candidates but failed to win any council seats, leaving it with only two.

In June 2013, Griffin visited Syria along with members of Hungarian far-right party Jobbik to meet with government officials, including the Speaker of the Syrian People's Assembly, Mohammad Jihad al-Laham, and the Prime Minister Wael Nader al-Halqi. Griffin claims he was influential in the speaker of Syria's Parliament writing an open letter to British MPs urging them to "turn Great Britain from the warpath" by not intervening in the Syrian conflict. Griffin lost his European Parliament seat in the May 2014 European election. The party blamed the UK Independence Party for its decline, accusing the latter of stealing BNP policies and slogans. In July 2014, Griffin resigned and was succeeded by Adam Walker as acting chairman. In October, Griffin was expelled from the party for "trying to cause disunity by deliberately fabricating a state of crisis".

In January 2015, membership of the party numbered 500, down from 4,220 in December 2013. At the general election in 2015, the BNP fielded eight candidates, down from 338 in 2010. The party's vote share declined 99.7% from its 2010 result. In January 2016, the Electoral Commission de-registered the BNP for failing to pay its annual registration fee of £25. At this time, it was estimated that BNP assets totalled less than £50,000. According to the commission, "BNP candidates cannot, at present, use the party's name, descriptions or emblems on the ballot paper at elections." A month later, the party was re-registered. There were ten BNP candidates at the general election in 2017. At the 2018 local elections, the party's last remaining councillor—Brian Parker of Pendle—decided not to stand for re-election, leaving the party without representation at any level of UK government. The BNP fielded only one candidate, David Furness, at the 2019 general election in Hornchurch and Upminster, where he came last.

The BNP has been essentially inactive since 2019, and has not put forward a single candidate in any elections since 2019, with the only evidence of any activity being the occasional post on its website or Twitter account.

Ideology

Far-right politics, fascism and neo-Nazism

The BNP uses the iconography of the Union flag prominently on its published material.

Many academic historians and political scientists have described the BNP as a far-right party, or as an extreme-right party. As the political scientist Matthew Goodwin used it, the term referred to "a particular form of political ideology that is defined by two anti-constitutional and anti-democratic elements: first, right-wing extremists are extremist because they reject or undermine the values, procedures and institutions of the democratic constitutional state; and second they are right-wing because they reject the principle of fundamental human equality".

Various political scientists and historians have described the BNP as being fascist in ideology. Others have instead described it as neo-fascist, a term which the historian Nigel Copsey argued was more exact. Academic observers—including the historians Copsey, Graham Macklin, and Roger Griffin, and the political theologian Andrew P. Davey—have argued that Nick Griffin's reforms were little more than a cosmetic process to obfuscate the party's fascist roots. According to Copsey, under Griffin the BNP was "fascism recalibrated — a form of neo-fascism — to suit contemporary sensibilities". Macklin noted that despite Griffin's 'modernisation' project, the BNP retained its ideological continuity with earlier fascist groups and thus had not transformed itself into a genuinely "post-fascist" party. In this it was distinct from parties like the Italian National Alliance of Gianfranco Fini, which has been credited with successfully shedding its fascist past and becoming post-fascist.

The anti-fascist activist Gerry Gable referred to the BNP as a "Nazi organisation", while the Anti-Nazi League published leaflets describing the BNP as the "British Nazi Party". Copsey suggested that while the BNP under Tyndall could be described as neo-Nazi, it was not "crudely mimetic" of the original German Nazism. Davey characterised the BNP as a "populist ethno-nationalist" party.

The smart modernized veneer... is superficial; the core of the Party remains ideologically fascist, and this was nowhere more apparent than in the BNP manifesto for the 2010 General Election, which returned to a clutch of traditional fascist themes including the bond of blood, homeland, the decadence of contemporary culture, a nostalgia for folk traditions and heritage, and an emphasis on stricter discipline in education and society. During the election campaign anti-Semitism, racism and neo-Nazi sympathies were identified on candidates' social network sites.

— Political theologian Andrew P. Davey, 2011

In his writings, Griffin acknowledged that much of his 'modernisation' was an attempt to hide the BNP's core ideology behind more electorally palatable policies. Like the National Front, the BNP's private discourse differed from its public one, with Griffin stating that "Of course we must teach the truth to the hardcore... when it comes to influencing the public, forget about racial differences, genetics, Zionism, historical revisionism and so on... we must at all times present them with an image of moderate reasonableness". The BNP has eschewed the labels "fascist" and "Nazi", stating that it is neither. In its 1992 electoral manifesto, it said that "Fascism was Italian. Nazism was German. We are British. We will do things our own way; we will not copy foreigners". In 2009, Griffin that the term "fascism" was simply "a smear that comes from the far left"; he added that the term should be reserved for groups that engaged in "political violence" and desired a state that "should impose its will on people", claiming that it was the anti-fascist group Unite Against Fascism—and not the BNP—who were the real fascists. More broadly, many on Britain's extreme-right sought to avoid the term "British fascism" because of its electorally unpalatable connotations, utilising "British nationalism" in its place.

After Griffin took control of the party, it made increasing use of nativist themes in order to emphasise its "British" credentials. In its published material, the party made appeals to the idea of Britain and Britishness in a manner not dissimilar to mainstream political parties. In this material it has also made prominent use of the Union flag and the colours red, white, and blue. Roger Griffin noted that the terms "Britain" and "England" appear "confusingly interchangeable" in BNP literature, while Copsey has pointed out that the BNP's form of British nationalism is "Anglo-centric". The party employed militaristic rhetoric under both Tyndall and Griffin's leadership; under the latter for example its published material spoke of a "war without uniforms" and a "war for our survival as a people". Tyndall described the BNP as a revolutionary party, calling it a "guerrilla army operating in occupied territory".

Ethnic nationalism and biological racism

This section needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (March 2023)

The British National Party exists to secure a future for the indigenous peoples of these islands in the North Atlantic which have been our homeland for a millennia.

— The BNP, 2005

The BNP adheres to biological racist ideas, displaying an obsession with the perceived differences of racial groups. Both Tyndall and Griffin believed that there was a biologically distinct white-skinned "British race" which was one branch of a wider Nordic race, a view akin to those of earlier fascists such as Hitler and Arnold Leese.

The BNP adheres to an ideology of ethnic nationalism. It promotes the idea that not all citizens of the United Kingdom belong to the British nation. Instead, it states that the nation only belongs to "the English, Scots, Irish and Welsh along with the limited numbers of peoples of European descent, who have arrived centuries or decades ago and who have fully integrated into our society". This is a group that Griffin referred to as the "home people" or "the folk". According to Tyndall, "The BNP is a racial nationalist party which believes in Britain for the British, that is to say racial separatism." Richard Edmonds in 1993 told The Guardian's Duncan Campbell that "we are 100% racist". The BNP does not regard UK citizens who are not ethnic white Europeans as "British", and party literature calls on supporters to avoid referring to such individuals as "Black Britons" or "Asian Britons", instead describing them as "racial foreigners".

On taking over the party, Nick Griffin dropped its official espousal of the biological superiority of a Nordic race, instead emphasising the need for racial separatism to preserve global "ethno-pluralism".

Tyndall believed the white British and the broader Nordic race to be superior to other races; under his leadership, the BNP promoted pseudoscientific claims in support of white supremacy. Following Griffin's ascendency to power in the party, it officially repudiated racial supremacism and insisted that no racial group was superior or inferior to another. Instead it foregrounded an "ethno-pluralist" racial separatism, claiming that different racial groups had to be kept separate and distinct for their own preservation, maintaining that global ethno-cultural diversity was something to be protected. This switch in focus owed much to the discourse of the French Nouvelle Droite movement which had emerged within France's extreme-right during the 1960s. At the same time the BNP switched focus from openly promoting biological racism to stressing what it perceived as the cultural incompatibility of racial groups. It placed great focus on opposing what it referred to as "multiculturalism", characterising this as a form of "cultural genocide", and stating that it promoted the interests of non-whites at the expense of the white British population. However, internal documents produced and circulated under Griffin's leadership demonstrated that—despite the shift in its public statements—it remained privately committed to biological racist ideas.

The party emphasises what it sees as the need to protect the racial purity of the white British. It condemns miscegenation and "race mixing", stating that this is a threat to the British race. Tyndall said that he "felt deeply sorry for the child of a mixed marriage" but had "no sympathy whatsoever for the parents". Griffin similarly stated that mixed-race children were "the most tragic victims of enforced multi-racism", and that the party would not "accept miscegenation as moral or normal ... we never will". In its 1983 election manifesto, the BNP stated that "family size is a private matter" but still called for white Britons who are "of intelligent, healthy and industrious stock" to have large families and thus raise the white British birth-rate. The encouragement of high birth rates among white British families continued under Griffin's leadership.

Under Tyndall's leadership, the BNP promoted eugenics, calling for the forced sterilisation of those with genetically transmittable disabilities. In party literature, it talked of improving the British 'racial stock' by removing "inferior strains within the indigenous races of the British Isles". Tyndall argued that medical professionals should be responsible for determining whom to sterilise, while a lowering of welfare benefits would discourage breeding among those he deemed to be genetic inferiors. In his magazine Spearhead, Tyndall also stated that "the gas chamber system" should be used to eliminate "sub-human elements", "perverts", and "asocials" from British society.

Anti-immigration and repatriation

Immigration into Britain by non-Europeans... should be terminated forthwith, and we should organise a massive programme of repatriation and resettlement overseas of those peoples of non-European origin already resident in this country.

— The BNP's first policy on repatriation, 1982

Opposition to immigration has been central to the BNP's political platform. It has engaged in xenophobic campaigns which emphasise the idea that immigrants and ethnic minorities are both different from, and a threat to, the white British and white Irish populations. In its campaign material it presented non-whites both as a source of crime in the UK, and as a socio-economic threat to the white British population by taking jobs, housing, and welfare away from them. It engaged in welfare chauvinism, calling for white Britons to be prioritised by the UK's welfare state. Party literature included such as claims as that the BNP was the only party which could "do anything effective about the swamping of Britain by the Third World" or "lead the native peoples of Britain in our version of the New Crusade that must be organised if Europe is not to sink under the Islamic yoke".

Much of its published material made claims about a forthcoming race war and promoted the conspiracy theory about white genocide. In a 2009 radio interview, Griffin referred to this as a "bloodless genocide". It presents the idea that white Britons are engaged in a battle against their own extinction as a racial group. It reiterated a sense of urgency about the situation, claiming that both high immigration rates and high birth rates among ethnic minorities were a threat to the white British. In 2010, it for instance was promoting the idea that at current levels, "indigenous Britons" would be a minority within the UK by 2060.

The immigrant communities in Britain are... colonies filled with colonists. They are alien islands inside our towns and cities with their own laws and cultures. They will never integrate as they did not come here to integrate, but to re-create their own cultures in our country. The fact is that the only solution to Multi-Culturalism is not some asinine and bogus attempt to impose British cultural values on immigrants, but simply to commence repatriating them.

— Lee Barnes, senior BNP leader, 2005

The BNP calls for the non-white population of Britain to either be reduced in size or removed from the country altogether. Under Tyndall's leadership, it promoted the compulsory removal of non-whites from the UK, stating that under a BNP government they would be "repatriated" to their countries of origin. In the early 1990s it produced stickers with the slogan "Our Final Solution: Repatriation". Tyndall understood this to be a two-stage process that would take ten to twenty years, with some non-whites initially leaving willingly and the others then being forcibly deported. During the 1990s, party modernisers suggested that the BNP move away from a policy of compulsory repatriation and toward a voluntary system, whereby non-white persons would be offered financial incentives to leave the UK. This idea, adopted from Powellism, was deemed more electorally palatable.

When Griffin took control of the party, the policy of voluntary repatriation was officially adopted, with the party suggesting that this could be financed through the use of the UK's pre-existing foreign aid budget. It stated that any non-whites who refused to leave would be stripped of their British citizenship and categorised as "permanent guests", while continuing to be offered incentives to emigrate. Griffin's BNP also stressed its support for an immediate halt to non-white immigration into Britain and for the deportation of any migrants illegally in the country. Speaking on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show in 2009, Griffin declared that, unlike Tyndall, he "does not want all-white UK" because "nobody out there wants it or would pay for it".

Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia

My experience as a campaigner against the multi-racial idea in Britain and in favour of our country's centuries-old tradition of racial homogeneity has brought home to me beyond any doubt the fact that Jews are to be found at the forefront of opposition to British racial self-preservation.

— Tyndall's belief that a Jewish conspiracy was behind multiracial Britain

Under Tyndall's leadership, the BNP was openly anti-Semitic. From A. K. Chesterton, Tyndall had inherited a belief that there was a global conspiracy of Jews bent on world domination, viewing the Protocols of the Elders of Zion as genuine evidence for this. He believed that Jews were responsible for both communism and international finance capitalism and that they were responsible for undermining the British Empire and the British race. He believed that both democratic government and immigration into Europe were parts of the Jewish conspiracy to weaken other races. In an early edition of Spearhead published in the 1960s, Tyndall wrote that "if Britain were to become Jew-clean she would have no nigger neighbours to worry about... It is the Jews who are our misfortune: T-h-e J-e-w-s. Do you hear me? THE JEWS?" Tyndall added Holocaust denial to the anti-Semitic beliefs inherited from Chesterton, believing that The Holocaust was a hoax created by the Jews to gain sympathy for themselves and thus aid their plot for world domination. Among those to endorse such anti-Semitic conspiracy theories was Griffin, who promoted them in his 1997 pamphlet, Who are the Mind Benders? Griffin also engaged in Holocaust denial, publishing articles promoting such ideas in The Rune, a magazine produced by the Croydon BNP. In 1998, these articles resulted in Griffin being convicted of inciting racial hatred.

When Griffin took power, he sought to banish overt anti-Semitic discourse from the party. He informed party members that "we can get away with criticising Zionists, but any criticism of Jews is likely to be legal and political suicide". In 2006, he complained that the "obsession" that many BNP members had with "the Jews" was "insane and politically disastrous". In 2004, the party selected a Jewish candidate, Pat Richardson, to stand for it during local council elections, something Tyndall lambasted as a "gimmick". References to Jews in BNP literature were often coded to hide the party's electorally unpalatable anti-Semitic ideas. For instance, the term "Zionists" was often used in party literature as a euphemism for "Jews". As noted by Macklin, Griffin still framed many of his arguments "within the parameters of recognizably anti-Semitic discourse". The BNP's literature is replete with references to a conspiratorial group who have sought to suppress nationalist sentiment among the British population, who have encouraged immigration and mixed-race relationships, and who are promoting the Islamification of the country. This group is likely a reference to the Jews, being an old fascist canard.

Sectors of the extreme-right were highly critical of Griffin's softening on the subject of the Jews, claiming that he had "sold out" to the 'Zionist Occupied Government'. In 2006, John Bean, editor of Identity, included an article in which he reassured BNP members that the party had not "sold out to the Jews" or "embraced Zionism" but that it remained "committed to fighting... subversive Jews". Under Griffin, the BNP's website linked to other web pages that explicitly portrayed immigration as part of a Jewish conspiracy, while it also sold books that promoted Holocaust denial. In 2004, secretly filmed footage was captured in which Griffin was seen claiming that "the Jews simply bought the West, in terms of press and so on, for their own political ends".

The BNP have called for the banning of any further mosques being constructed in the UK.

Copsey noted that a "culture of anti-Semitism" still pervaded the BNP. In 2004, a London activist told reporters that "most of us hate Jews", while a Scottish BNP group was observed making Nazi salutes while shouting "Auschwitz". The party's Newcastle upon Tyne Central candidate compared the Auschwitz concentration camp to Disneyland, while their Luton North candidate stated her refusal to buy from "the kikes that run Tesco". In 2009, a BNP councillor from Stoke-on-Trent resigned from the party, complaining that it still contained Holocaust deniers and Nazi sympathisers.

Griffin informed BNP members that rather than "bang on" about the Jews—which would be deemed extremist and prove electorally unpopular—their party should focus on criticising Islam, an issue that would be more resonant among the British public. After Griffin took over, the party increasingly embraced an Islamophobic stance, launching a "Campaign Against Islam" in September 2001. In Islam: A Threat to Us All, a leaflet distributed to London households in 2007, the BNP claimed that it would stand up to both Islamic extremism and "the threat that 'mainstream' Islam poses to our British culture". In contrast to the mainstream British view that the actions of militant Islamists — such as those who perpetrated the 7 July 2005 London bombings —a re not representative of mainstream Islam, the BNP insists that they are. In some of its literature it presents the view that every Muslim in Britain is a threat to the country. Griffin referred to Islam as an "evil, wicked faith", and elsewhere publicly described it as a "cancer" that needed to be removed from Europe through "chemotherapy".

The BNP has called for the prohibition of immigration from Muslim countries and for the banning of the burka, halal meat, and the building of new mosques in the UK. It also called for the immediate deportation of radical Islamist preachers from the country. In 2005, the party stated that its primary issue of concern was the "growth of fundamentalist-militant Islam in the UK and its ever-increasing threat to Western civilization and our implicit values". To broaden its anti-Islamic agenda, Griffin's BNP made overtures to the UK's Hindu, Sikh, and Jewish communities; Griffin's claim that Jews can make "good allies" in the fight against Islam caused controversy within the international far-right.

Government

Tyndall believed that liberal democracy was damaging to British society, claiming that liberalism was a "doctrine of decay and degeneration". Under Tyndall, the party sought to dismantle the UK's liberal democratic system of parliamentary governance, although was vague about what it sought to replace this system with. In his 1988 work The Eleventh Hour, Tyndall wrote of the need for "an utter rejection of liberalism and a dedication to the resurgence of authority". Tyndall's BNP perceived itself as a revolutionary force that would bring about a national rebirth in Britain, entailing a radical transformation of society. It proposed a state in which the Prime Minister would have full executive powers, and would be elected directly by the population for an indefinite period of time. This Prime Minister could be dismissed from office in a further election that could be called if Parliament produced a vote of no confidence in them. It stated that rather than having political parties, candidates standing for election to the parliament would be independent. During the period of Griffin's leadership, the party downplayed its anti-democratic themes and instead foregrounded populist ones. Its campaign material called for the devolution of greater powers to local communities, the reestablishment of county councils, and the introduction of citizens' initiative referendums based on those used in Switzerland.

Air rifle training at the BNP's 2008 youth camp

The BNP has adopted a hard Eurosceptic platform from its foundation. Under Tyndall's leadership, the BNP had overt anti-Europeanist tendencies. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, he maintained the party's opposition to the European Economic Community. Antagonism toward what became the European Union was retained under Griffin's leadership, which called for the UK to leave the Union. One of Vote Leave's biggest donors during the Brexit referendum was former BNP member Gladys Bramall, and the party has claimed that its anti-Establishment rhetoric "created the road" to Britain's vote to leave the European Union.

Tyndall suggested replacing the EEC with a trading association among the "White Commonwealth", namely countries like Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Tyndall held imperialist views and was sympathetic to the re-establishment of the British Empire through the recolonization of parts of Africa. However, officially the BNP had no plans to re-establish the British Empire or secure dominion over non-white nations. In the 2000s, it called for an immediate military withdrawal from both the Iraq War and the War in Afghanistan. During his appearance on Question Time, regarding the Iraq War, Griffin described the war as "illegal", saying, "We shouldn't have gone into Iraq, we must never go into Iran, we should leave them alone." It has advocated ending overseas aid to provide economic support within the UK and to finance the voluntary repatriation of legal immigrants.

Under Tyndall, the BNP rejected both Welsh nationalism and Scottish nationalism, stating that they were bogus because they caused division among the wider "British race". Tyndall also led the BNP in support of Ulster loyalism, for instance by holding public demonstrations against the Irish republican party Sinn Féin, and endorsing Ulster loyalist paramilitaries. Under Griffin, the BNP continued to support Ulster's membership of the United Kingdom, calling for the crushing of the Irish Republican Army and the scrapping of the Anglo-Irish Agreement. Griffin later expressed the view that "the only solution that could possibly be acceptable to loyalists and republicans alike" would be the reintegration of the Irish Republic into the United Kingdom, which would be reorganised along federal lines. However, while retaining the party's commitment to Ulster loyalism, under Griffin the importance of the issue was downplayed, something that was criticised by Tyndall loyalists.

Economic policy

Tyndall described his approach to the economy as "National Economics", expressing the view that "politics must lead, and not be led by, economic forces". His approach rejected economic liberalism because it did not serve "the national interest", although still saw advantages in a capitalist system, looking favourably on individual enterprise. He called on capitalist elements to be combined with socialist ones, with the government playing a role in planning the economy. He promoted the idea of the UK becoming an autarky which was economically self-sufficient, with domestic production protected from foreign competition. This attitude was heavily informed by the corporatist system that had been introduced in Benito Mussolini's Fascist Italy.

A number of senior members, including Griffin and John Bean, had anti-capitalist leanings, having been influenced by Strasserism and National Bolshevism. Under Griffin's leadership, the BNP promoted economic protectionism and opposed globalisation. Its economic policies reflect a vague commitment to distributist economics, ethno-socialism, and national autarky. The BNP maintains a policy of protectionism and economic nationalism, although in comparison with other far-right nationalist parties, the BNP focuses less on corporatism. It has called for British ownership of its own industries and resources and the "subordination of the power of the City to the power of the government". It has promoted the regeneration of farming in the United Kingdom, with the object of achieving maximum self-sufficiency in food production. In 2002, the party criticised corporatism as a "mixture of big capitalism and state control", saying it favoured a "distributionist tradition established by home-grown thinkers" favouring small business. The BNP has also called for the renationalisation of the railways. The BNP, in its 2010 manifesto, called for Britain to emulate the tiger states of East Asia, such as South Korea and Singapore.

When it comes to environmentalism, the BNP refers to itself as the "real green party", stating that the Green Party of England and Wales engages in "watermelon" politics by being green (environmentalist) on the outside but red (leftist) on the inside. Influenced by the Nouvelle Droite, it framed its arguments regarding environmentalism in an anti-immigration manner, talking about the need for 'sustainability'. It engages in climate change denial, with Griffin claiming that global warming is a hoax orchestrated by those trying to establish the New World Order.

Social issues

This section needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (May 2022)

There is only one political party that Christians can support without betraying the Lord Jesus Christ. This Party is opposed to abortion and the teaching of homosexuality to children. This Party supports the institution of marriage and the traditional family... This Party is opposed to political correctness and the creeping Islamification of Britain.

— A 2010 BNP leaflet distributed to Christian leaders

The BNP is opposed to feminism and has pledged that—if in government—it would introduce financial incentives to encourage women to leave employment and become housewives. It would also seek to discourage children being born out of wedlock. It has stated that it would criminalise abortion, except in cases where the child has been conceived as a result of rape, the mother's life is threatened, or the child will be disabled. There are nevertheless circumstances where it has altered this anti-abortion stance; an article in British Nationalist stated that a white woman bearing the child of a black man should "abort the pregnancy... for the good of society". More widely, the party censures inter-racial sex and accuses the British media of encouraging inter-racial relationships.

Under Tyndall, the BNP called for the re-criminalisation of homosexual activity. Following Griffin's takeover, it moderated its policy on homosexuality. However, it opposed the 2004 introduction of civil partnerships for same-sex couples. During his 2009 Question Time appearance, Griffin described the sight of two men kissing as "for a lot of us (Christians)... really creepy". The party has also condemned the availability of pornography; its 1992 manifesto stated that the BNP would give the "pedlars of this filth... the criminal status that they deserve". The BNP promoted the reintroduction of capital punishment, and the sterilisation of some criminals. It also called for the reintroduction of national service in the UK, adding that on completion of this service adults would be permitted to keep their standard issue assault rifle.

According to the academic Steven Woodbridge, the BNP had a "rather ambivalent attitude toward Christian belief and religious themes in general" during most of its history, but under Griffin's modernisation the party increasingly utilised Christian terminology and themes in its discourse. Various members of the party presented themselves as "true Christians", and defenders of the faith, with key ideologues stating that the religion has been "betrayed" and "sold out" by mainstream clergy and the British establishment. British Christianity, the BNP said, was under threat from Islam, Marxism, multiculturalism, and "political correctness". On analysing the BNP's use of Christianity, Davey argued that the party's emphasis was not on Christian faith itself, but on the inheritance of European Christian culture.

The BNP long considered the mainstream media to be one of its major impediments to electoral success. Tyndall said that the media represents a "state above the state" which was committed to the "left-liberal" goals of internationalism, liberal democracy, and racial integration. The party has said that the mainstream media has given disproportionate coverage to the achievements of ethnic minority sportsmen and to the victims of anti-black racism while ignoring white victims of racial prejudice and the BNP's activities. Both Tyndall and Griffin have said that the mainstream media is controlled by Jews, who use it for their own devices; the latter promoted this idea in his Who are the Mind Benders? Griffin has described the BBC as "a thoroughly unpleasant, ultra-leftist establishment". The BNP has stated that if it took power, it would end "the dictatorship of the media over free debate". It said that it would introduce a law prohibiting the media from disseminating falsehoods about an individual or organisation for financial or political gain, and that it would ban the media from promoting racial integration. BNP policy pledges to protect freedom of speech, as part of which it would repeal all laws banning racial or religious hate speech. It would repeal the 1998 Human Rights Act and withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights.

Support

Finances

In contrast to the UK's mainstream parties, the BNP received few donations from businesses, wealthy donors, or trade unions. Instead it relied on finances produced by its membership. Under Tyndall, the party operated on a shoestring budget with a lack of transparency; in 1992 it collected £5000 and in 1997 it collected £10,000. It also tried raising money by selling extreme-right literature, and opened a bookshop in Welling in 1989, although this was closed in 1996 after being attacked by anti-fascists and proving too costly to run. In 1992, the party formed a dining club of its wealthier supporters, which was renamed the Trafalgar Club in 2000. By the 1997 general election, it admitted that its expenses had "far out-stripped" its income, and it was appealing for donations to pay off loans it had taken out.

Griffin placed greater emphasis on fundraising; from 2001 through to 2008, the BNP's annual turnover increased almost fivefold. Membership subscriptions grew from £35,000 to £166,000, while its donations raised from £38,000 to £660,000. However, expenses also rose as the BNP spent more on its electoral campaigns, and the party reported a financial deficit in 2004 and again in 2005. Between 2007 and 2009, the BNP accumulated debts of £500,000.

Membership

A BNP press conference in 2009, featuring Richard Barnbrook and Nick Griffin

For most of its history, the BNP had a whites-only membership policy. In 2009, the state's Equality and Human Rights Commission stated that this was a violation of the Race Relations Act 1976 and called on the party to amend its constitution accordingly. Responding to this, in early 2010 members voted to remove the racial restriction to membership, although it is unlikely that many non-whites joined. At its creation, the BNP had approximately 1,200 members. By the 1983 general election, this had grown to approximately 2,500, although by 1987 had slumped to 1,000, with no significant further growth until the 21st century. After taking control Griffin began publishing the party's membership figures: 2,174 in 2001, 3,487 in 2002, 5,737 in 2003, and 7,916 in 2004. Membership dropped slightly to 6,281 in 2005, but had grown to 9,297 in 2007 and to 10,276 in spring 2010. In 2011, it was noted that this meant that the BNP had experienced the most rapid growth since 2001 of any minor party in the UK.

A party membership list dating from late 2007 was leaked onto the internet by a disgruntled activist, containing the names and addresses of 12,000 members. This included names, addresses and other personal details. People on the list included prison officers (barred from BNP membership), teachers, soldiers, civil servants and members of the clergy. The leaked list indicated that membership was concentrated in particular areas, namely the East Midlands, Essex, and Pennine Lancashire, but with particular clusters in Charnwood, Pendle, and Amber Valley. Many of these areas had long been targeted by extreme-right campaigns, dating back to the NF activity of the 1970s, suggesting that such longstanding activism may have had an effect on levels of BNP membership. This information also revealed that membership was most likely in urban areas with low rates of educational attainment and large numbers of economically insecure people employed in manufacturing, with further correlations to nearby Muslim communities. Following an investigation by Welsh police and the Information Commissioner's Office, two people were arrested in December 2008 for breach of the Data Protection Act concerning the leak. Matthew Single was subsequently found guilty and fined £200 in September 2009. The 'low' fine was criticised as an "absolute disgrace" by a BNP spokesman and a detective sergeant involved said he was "disappointed" with the outcome, stating that people were fearful for their safety. More than 160 complaints were made nationally to police after attacks on BNP members and their property.

The leaked membership list showed that the party was 17.22% female. While women have occupied key positions within the BNP, men dominated at every level of the party. In 2009, over 80% of the party's Advisory Council was male and from 2002 to 2009, three-quarters of its councillors were male. The average percentage of female candidates presented at local elections in 2001 was 6%, although this had risen to 16% by 2010. Since 2006, the party had made a point of selecting female candidates, with Griffin stating that this was necessary to "soften" the party's image. Goodwin suggested that membership fell into three camps: the "activist old guard" who had previously been involved in the NF during the 1970s, the "political wanderers" who had defected from other parties to the BNP, and the "new recruits" who had joined post-2001 and who had little or no political interest or experience beforehand.

Having performed qualitative research among the BNP by interviewing various members, Goodwin noted that few of those he interviewed "conformed to the popular stereotypes of them being irrational and uninformed crude racists". He noted that most strongly identified with the working class and claimed to have either been former Labour voters or from a Labour-voting family. None of those interviewed claimed a family background in the ethnic nationalist movement. Instead, he noted that members said that they joined the party as a result of a "profound sense of anxiety over immigration and rising ethno-cultural diversity" in Britain, along with its concomitant impact on "British culture and society". He noted that among these members, the perceived cultural threat of immigrants and ethnic minorities was given greater prominence than the perceived economic threat that they posed to white Britons. He noted that in his interviews with them, members often framed Islam in particular as a threat to British values and society, expressing the fear that British Muslims wanted to Islamicise the country and eventually impose sharia on its population.

Voter base

The BNP does not have mass appeal, but the evidence... suggests it is forging ties with 'angry white men': middle-aged and elderly working-class men who have low levels of education, are deeply pessimistic about their economic prospects and live in more deprived urban areas close to large Muslim communities. Foremost, these citizens are sending a message about their profound concern over issues they care deeply about, but which they feel are not being adequately addressed by the main parties.

— Political scientist Matthew Goodwin, 2011

Goodwin described the BNP's voters as being "socially distinct and concerned about a specific set of issues". Under Griffin's leadership, the party targeted areas with high proportions of skilled white working-class voters, particularly those who were disenchanted with the Labour government. It has attempted to appeal to disaffected Labour voters with slogans such as "We are the Labour Party your Grandfather Voted For". The BNP had little success in gaining support from women, the middle classes, and the more educated.

Goodwin noted a "strong male bias" in the party's support base, with statistical polling revealing that between 2002 and 2006, seven out of ten BNP voters were male. That same research also indicated that BNP voters were disproportionately middle-aged and elderly, with three quarters being aged over 35, and only 11% aged between 18 and 24. This contrasted to the NF's support base during the 1970s, when 40% of its voters were aged between 18 and 24. Goodwin suggested two possibilities for the BNP's failure to appeal to younger voters: one was the 'life cycle effect', that older people have obtained more during their life and thus have more to lose, feeling both more threatened by change and more socially conservative in their views. The other explanation was the 'generational effect', with younger Britons who have grown up since the onset of mass immigration having had greater social exposure to ethnic minorities and thus being more tolerant toward them. Conversely, many older voters came of age during the 1970s, under the impact of the anti-immigrant rhetoric promoted by Powellism, Thatcherism, and the NF, and thus have less tolerant attitudes.

Most BNP voters had no formal qualifications and the party's support was centred largely in areas with low educational attainment. According to the 2002–2006 data, two-thirds of BNP voters had either no formal qualifications or had left education after their O-levels/GCSEs. Only one in ten BNP voters possessed an A-level, and an even smaller percentage had a university degree. Most of the BNP's voting base were from the financially insecure lower classes. Research conducted from 2002 to 2006 indicated that seven out of ten BNP voters were either skilled or unskilled workers or unemployed. A 2009 poll found that six out of ten BNP voters fitted this profile. Goodwin suggested that it was the skilled working classes rather than their unskilled or unemployed neighbours who were the main support base behind the BNP, because they owned some assets and thus felt that they had more to lose as a result of the economic threat posed by immigrants and ethnic minorities.

Research indicated that BNP voters also held opinions that were distinct from the average British citizen. They were far more pessimistic about their economic prospects than average, with seven out of ten BNP voters expecting their economic prospects to decline in future, contrasted with four out of ten who held this view in the wider population. In the 2002–2006 period, 59% of BNP voters considered immigration to be the most important issue facing the UK, compared with only 16% of the wider population who agreed. By 2009, 87% of BNP voters identified immigration and asylum as the most important issue, to 49% of the wider population. BNP voters were also more likely to identify law and order, the EU, and Islamic extremism as the most important issues facing the UK than other voters, and less likely than average to rate the economy, NHS, pensions, and housing market as the most important.

BNP members campaigning in the London Borough of Havering in 2010

BNP voters were also more likely than average to believe both that white Britons face unfair discrimination, and that Muslims, non-whites, and homosexuals had unfair advantages in British society. 78% of BNP voters endorsed the belief that the Labour Party prioritised immigrants and ethnic minorities over white British people, to 44% of the wider population. When asked questions about immigration and Muslims, BNP voters were found to be far more hostile to them than the average Briton, and also more willing than average to support outright racially discriminatory policies toward them. Copsey believed that "popular racism"—namely against asylum seekers and Muslims—generated the BNP's "largest reservoir of support", and that in many Northern English towns the main factors behind BNP support were white resentment toward Asian communities, anger at Asian-on-white crime, and the perception that Asians received disproportionately high levels of public funding.

Research also indicated that BNP voters were more mistrustful of the establishment than average citizens. In 2002–2006, 92% of BNP voters described themselves as being dissatisfied with the government, to 62% of the wider population. Over 80% of BNP voters were found to distrust their local Member of Parliament, council officials, and civil servants, and were also more likely than average to think that politicians were personally corrupt. There was also a tendency for BNP voters to read tabloids like the Daily Mail, Daily Express, and The Sun, all of which promote anti-immigration sentiment. Whether these voters gained such sentiment as a result of reading these tabloids or they read these tabloids because it endorsed their pre-existing views is unclear.

The early stronghold of the BNP was in London, where it established enclaves of support in the boroughs of Enfield, Hackney, Lewisham, Southwark, and Tower Hamlets, with smaller units in Bexley, Camden, Greenwich, Hillingdon, Lambeth and Redbridge. By the late 1990s, the party was increasingly retreating from its original East End heartland, finding that its electoral support had declined in the area. Griffin expressed the view that it was too dangerous for BNP activists to campaign in the East End, suggesting that they would be likely to be attacked by opponents. Instead, the party shifted its focus to parts of Outer London, in particular the boroughs of Barking, Bexley, Dagenham, Greenwich and Havering. After Griffin took power, the party focused on building support in the North of England, taking advantage of the anxieties generated by the ethnic riots that took place in Bradford, Oldham and Burnley in 2001. In the period between 2002 and 2006, over 40% of the BNP's voters were in Northern England.

The decline of the BNP as an electoral force around 2014 helped to open the way for the growth of another right-wing party, UKIP. In a study Goodwin produced with Robert Ford, the two political scientists noted that UKIP's support base mirrored the BNP's in that it had the same "very clear social profile": the "old, male, working class, white and less educated". One area where the two differed, they noted, was in the fact that BNP support had been highest among the middle-aged before tailing off among the over 55s, whereas UKIP retained strong support with those over 55. Ford and Goodwin suggested that this might be because more over 55s had "direct or indirect experiences" of the Second World War, in which Britain defeated the fascist powers, resulting in them being less inclined to support fascist parties than their younger counterparts. Despite these commonalities, UKIP proved far more successful at mobilising these social groups than did the BNP. This was likely in part because UKIP had a "reputational shield"; it emerged from within the Eurosceptic tradition of British politics rather than from the far-right and thus, while often ridiculed by the mainstream, was regarded as a legitimate democratic actor in a way that the BNP was not.

Organisation and structure

On its formation, the BNP avoided the National Front's committee-rule system of collective leadership in the hope of evading the infighting and factionalism that had damaged the NF. Instead it was founded around what it called the "leadership principle", with a central chairman having complete control over the party, which was then arranged in a highly hierarchical structure. The BNP lacked internal democracy, with the grassroots membership having almost no formal power, except for electing the party leader. On taking power, Griffin retained the leadership principle inherited from Tyndall. He nevertheless established an Advisory Council which would meet several times a year; the members were to be selected by Griffin himself and would serve as his advisors.

The party's branches and local groups were referred to as "units" within the party. These were designed to recruit followers, raise funds, and campaign during elections. Under Tyndall, the party operated with a skeleton organisation. It had no full-time staff and for most of the 1980s lacked a telephone number. Instead it relied on a handful of geographically scattered, unpaid regional organisers. Its early activists were recruited from within the extreme-right movement, and thus lacked the experience and skills in electoral campaigning. When Griffin took control, he introduced a variety of internal departments to help manage the party's activities: the administration and enquiries department, department for group development, legal affairs department, security department, and communications department. Griffin tried to build a more professional party machine by educating and training BNP members, providing them with incentives, establishing a steady income stream, and overcoming factionalism and dissent. He launched an "annual college" for activists in 2001 and formed an education and training department in 2007. In 2008 and 2010, he oversaw the establishment of "summer schools" for high-ranking officials. The party also began employing full-time members of staff, having three in 2001 and 13 in 2007.

To incentivise members to remain committed to the party, Griffin followed the example of the Swedish National Democrats by implementing a new "voting membership" scheme in 2007. This meant that those who had been BNP members for two years could become a "voting member", at which they would go on a year's probation. During this year they were required to attend educational and training seminars, to engage in a certain amount of activism and to donate a specified amount of money to the party. Once completed, they were allowed to vote on certain matters at general members' meetings and annual conferences, to participate in policy debates, and to be eligible for intermediate and senior positions. This policy ensured that those who reached the higher echelons of the BNP were fully trained in the party's ideology and electoral strategy.

Sub-groups and propaganda output

Griffin hoped to build a wider social movement around the BNP by establishing affiliated networks and organisations. In many cases, these were presented to the public in a way that concealed any direct connection to the BNP. Most of these affiliated groups were poorly funded and had few members. The party established its own record label, Great White Records, a radio station, and a trade union known as Solidarity – The Union for British Workers. It formed a group for young people known as the Young BNP, although in 2010 renamed this group as the BNP Crusaders, "to pay homage to our ancestors from the Middle Ages who saved Christian Europe from the onslaught of Islam". It established a Land and People group to recruit support in rural areas, a Family Circle to recruit women and families, and both a Veterans Group and an Association of British ex-Servicemen for former military servicemen. A group called Families Against Immigrant Racism was established to counter perceived racism against white Britons, while an Ethnic Liaison Committee was created to build links with anti-Muslim Hindu and Sikh groups active in Britain. Another group was the American Friends of the British National Party (AFBNP), set up by Mark Cotterill in 1999 to gain support from sympathisers in the United States. In 2001 it had 100 members, and by 2008 had 107.

A group called Islands of the North Atlantic (IONA) was established to promote the BNP's view of British culture and identity. The British Students Association was founded to promote the party's views among university students in 2000. Albion Life Insurance was set up in September 2006 as an insurance brokerage company established on behalf of the BNP to raise funds for its activities. The firm ceased to operate in November 2006. In 2006, the BNP launched the Christian Council of Britain (CCB), a group designed to rival the Muslim Council of Britain and oppose the growing "Islamification" of inner city areas. The CCB was established and run by BNP member Robert West, who claimed to have been ordained by the Apostolic Church, a claim that the church denies. West is a Calvinist and espouses a theology of nations which is influenced by Calvinist theologians like Abraham Kuyper, holding that God wishes every race and nation to remain separate until end time.

Griffin's BNP also established an annual Red, White and Blue festival, which was based on the 'Blue Blanc Rouge' organised by France's National Front. The festival brought party activists together and aimed to promote a more family friendly image for the group, although it also provided a venue for white power skinhead bands like Stigger, Nemesis and Warlord. Around 1,000 BNP members attended the party's 2001 festival.

Under Griffin's leadership, the BNP zealously embraced the use of alternative media to promote itself in a way different from the negative portrayal that featured in the mainstream media. On its website—which had been established in 1995—it created an internet television channel, 'BNPtv'. It has created blogs that cover different themes without being explicitly political in order to promote the party's message. The BNP established an online marketing platform, Excalibur, through which to sell its merchandise. In 2003, the BNP claimed that it had the most viewed website of a political party in Britain, and by 2011 was claiming to have the most viewed such website in Europe. In September 2007, The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported that Hitwise, the online competitive intelligence service, said that the BNP website had more hits than any other website of a British political party.

Affiliations in the wider extreme-right

Under Griffin, the BNP forged stronger links with various extreme-right parties elsewhere in Europe, among them France's National Front, Germany's National Democratic Party (NPD), Sweden's National Democrats, and Hungary's Jobbik. Griffin unsuccessfully urged the NPD to move away from neo-Nazism and embark on the same 'modernisation' project that he had taken the BNP. Jean-Marie Le Pen of the French Front National was the guest of honour at an "Anglo-French Patriotic Dinner" held by the BNP in April 2004. Griffin met leaders of the Hungarian far right party Jobbik to discuss co-operation between the two parties and spoke at a Jobbik party rally in August 2008. In April 2009, Simon Darby, deputy chairman of the BNP, was welcomed with fascist salutes by members of the Italian nationalist Forza Nuova during a trip to Milan. Darby stated that the BNP would look to form an alliance with France's Front National in the European Parliament. Following the election of two BNP MEPs in 2009, the following year saw the BNP join with other extreme-right parties to form the Alliance of European National Movements, with Griffin becoming its vice president. The party also had close links with the Historical Review Press, a publisher focused on promoting Holocaust denial.

The English Defence League (demonstration pictured) was established by activists with BNP links, although the BNP has officially proscribed the group, accusing it of being manipulated by "Zionists".

Britain's extreme-right has long faced internal and public divisions. Disgruntled BNP members left the party to found or join a wide range of rivals, among them the British Freedom Party, White Nationalist Party, Nationalist Alliance, Wolf's Hook White Brotherhood, British People's Party, England First Party, Britain First, Democratic Nationalists, and the New Nationalist Party. Various BNP members were involved in the nascent English Defence League (EDL)—with EDL leader Tommy Robinson having been a former BNP activist—although Griffin proscribed the organisation and condemned it as having been manipulated by "Zionists". The political scientist Chris Allen noted that the EDL shared much of the BNP's ideology, but that its "strategies and actions" were very different, with the EDL favouring street marches over electoral politics. By 2014, both the BNP and EDL were in decline, and Britain First—founded by former BNP members James Dowson and Paul Golding—had risen to prominence. It combined the electoral tactics of the BNP with the street marches of the EDL.

The Steadfast Trust was established as a charity in 2004 with the stated aims of reducing poverty among those of Anglo-Saxon descent and supporting English culture. It has many former and current BNP, NF and British Ku Klux Klan members. It was deregistered as a charity by the Charity Commission in February 2014. In 2014, after Nick Griffin lost the leadership of BNP, he set up British Voice, but before it was launched, he decided to set up a different group, British Unity.

Some members of the BNP were radicalised during their involvement with the party and subsequently sought to carry out acts of violence and terrorism. Tony Lecomber was imprisoned for three years for possessing explosives, after a nail bomb exploded while he was transporting it to the offices of the Workers' Revolutionary Party in 1985. He was imprisoned for three years in 1991 whilst serving as the BNP's Director of Propaganda for assaulting a Jewish teacher. In 1999, the ex-BNP member David Copeland used nail bombs to target homosexuals and ethnic minorities in London. In 2005, the BNP's Burnley candidate Robert Cottage was convicted of stockpiling chemicals for use in what he believed was a coming civil war, while a Yorkshire BNP member, Terry Gavan, was convicted in 2010 for stockpiling firearms and nail bombs.

Party leaders

Party leaders by chronological order of leadership
Year Name Period Time in office
1982 John Tyndall 7 April 1982 – 27 September 1999 17 years, 173 days
1999 Nick Griffin 27 September 1999 – 21 July 2014 14 years, 297 days
2014 Adam Walker 21 July 2014 – present 10 years, 155 days

Electoral performance

Main article: British National Party election results

The BNP has contested seats in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Research from Robert Ford and Matthew Goodwin shows that BNP support is concentrated among older and less educated working-class men living in the declining industrial towns of the North and Midlands regions, in contrast to previous significant far-right parties like the National Front, which drew support from a younger demographic.

General elections

Main article: British National Party election results (United Kingdom elections)

The BNP placed comparatively little emphasis on elections to the British House of Commons, aware that the first past the post voting system was a major obstacle.

The British National Party has contested general elections since 1983. It put forward no candidates for the 2024 general election.

Year No. of
candidates
No. of
MPs
% vote Total
votes
Change
(% points)
Average votes
per candidate
1983 54 0 0.0 14,621 271
1987 2 0 0.0 563 0.0 282
1992 13 0 0.1 7,631 +0.1 587
1997 54 0 0.1 35,832 0.0 664
2001 33 0 0.2 47,129 +0.1 1,428
2005 117 0 0.7 192,746 +0.5 1,647
2010 339 0 1.9 563,743 +1.2 1,663
2015 8 0 0.0 1,667 −1.9 208
2017 10 0 0.0 4,642 +0.0 464
2019 1 0 0.0 510 510

The BNP in the 2001 general election saved five deposits (out of 33 contested seats) and secured its best general election result in Oldham West and Royton (which had recently been the scene of racially motivated rioting between white and Asian youths) where party leader Nick Griffin secured 16% of the vote.

The 2005 general election was considered a major breakthrough by the BNP, as it received 192,746 votes in the 119 constituencies it contested, took a 0.7% share of the overall vote and retained a deposit in 40 of the seats.

The BNP put forward candidates for 338 out of 650 seats for the 2010 general election gaining 563,743 votes (1.9%), finishing in fifth place and failing to win any seats. However, a record of 73 deposits were saved. Party chairman Griffin came third in the Barking constituency, behind Margaret Hodge of Labour and Simon Marcus of the Conservatives, who were first and second respectively. At 14.6%, this was the BNP's best result in any of the seats it contested that year.

Local elections

Main article: British National Party election results (local elections)

The BNP's first electoral success came in 1993, when Derek Beackon was returned as a councillor in Millwall, London. He lost his seat in elections the following year. The next BNP success in local elections was not until the 2002 local elections, when three BNP candidates gained seats on the Burnley council. The BNP's first councillor for six years was John Haycock, elected as a parish councillor for Bromyard and Winslow in Herefordshire in 2000. Haycock failed to attend any council meetings for six months and was later disqualified from office.

The party had 55 councillors for a time in 2009. After the 2013 local county council elections, the BNP was left with a total of two borough councillors in England.

As of 2011, the BNP had yet to make "a major breakthrough" on local councils. The BNP's councillors usually had "an extremely limited impact on local politics" because they were isolated as individuals or small groups on the council. Councillors from the main parties often disliked their BNP colleagues and deemed having to work alongside them as an affront to dignity and decency. Questions were often raised as to whether BNP councillors could adequately represent the interests of all of their local constituents. On being elected, Beackon for instance stated that he refused to serve his Asian constituents in Millwall. There were also allegations made that BNP councillors had particularly low attendance at council meetings, although research indicated that this was not the case, with the BNP's attendance record being largely average.

There is evidence to suggest that racially and religiously motivated crime increased in those areas where BNP councillors had been elected. For instance, after the 1993 election of Beackon, there was a spike in racist attacks in the borough of Tower Hamlets. BNP members were directly responsible for some of this; the party's national organiser Richard Edmonds was sentenced to three months imprisonment for his part in an attack on a black man and his white girlfriend.

Regional assemblies and parliaments

Main articles: British National Party election results (National Assembly for Wales), British National Party election results (Scottish Parliament), and British National Party election results (Northern Ireland Legislative Assembly)
Barnbrook in 2008

BNP lead candidate Richard Barnbrook won a seat in the London Assembly in May 2008, after the party gained 5.3% of the London-wide vote. However, in August 2010, he resigned the party whip and became an independent.

In the 2007 Welsh Assembly elections, the BNP fielded 20 candidates, four in each of the five regional lists, with Nick Griffin standing in the South Wales West region. It did not win any seats, but was the only minor party to have saved deposits in the electoral regions, one in the North Wales region and the other in the South Wales West region. In total the BNP polled 42,197 votes (4.3%).

In the 2011 Welsh Assembly elections, the BNP fielded 20 candidates, four in each of the five regional lists and for the first time 7 candidates were fielded in FPTP constituencies. On the regional lists, the BNP polled 22,610 votes (2.4%), down 1.9% from 2007. In 2 out of the 7 FPTP constituencies contested the BNP saved deposits: (Swansea East and Islwyn).

In the 2007 Scottish Parliament election, the party fielded 32 candidates, entitling it to public funding and an election broadcast, prompting criticism. The BNP received 24,616 votes (1.2%), no seats were won, nor were any deposits saved. In the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, the BNP fielded 32 candidates in the regional lists. 15,580 votes were polled (0.78%).

The BNP fielded 3 candidates for the first time in three constituencies each in the 2011 Northern Ireland Legislative Assembly elections (Belfast East, East Antrim and South Antrim). 1,252 votes were polled (0.2%), winning no seats for the party.

European Parliament

Main article: British National Party election results (European Parliament)

The BNP has taken part in European Parliament elections since 1999, when it received 1.13% of the total vote (102,647 votes).

In the 2004 elections to the European Parliament, the BNP won 4.9% of the vote, making it the sixth biggest party overall, but did not win any seats.

The BNP won two seats in the European Parliament in the 2009 elections. Andrew Brons was elected in the Yorkshire and the Humber regional constituency with 9.8% of the vote. Party chairman Nick Griffin was elected in the North West region, with 8% of the vote. Nationally, the BNP received 6.26%.

The UK government announced in 2009 that the BNP's two MEPs would be denied some of the access and information afforded to other MEPs. The BNP would be subject to the "same general principles governing official impartiality" and they would receive "standard written briefings as appropriate from time to time", but diplomats would not be "proactive" in dealing with the BNP MEPs and that any requests for policy briefings from them would be treated differently and on a discretionary basis.

The BNP did not stand any candidates in the 2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom.

European Parliament
Election year # of total votes % of overall vote # of seats won Change
1999 102,647 Steady 1.1% Steady 0 / 87 0 Steady
2004 808,200 Increase 4.9% Increase 0 / 78 0 Steady
2009 943,598 Increase 6.3% Increase 2 / 72 2 Increase
2014 179,694 Decrease 1.1% Decrease 0 / 73 2 Decrease
Two suited men wave from behind a red brick wall, at the top of a short flight of steps leading to a grey building. Several police officers are in attendance.
Nick Griffin and Mark Collett leave Leeds Crown Court on 10 November 2006 after being found not guilty of charges of incitement to racial hatred at their retrial.

Association with violence

The leaders and senior officers of the BNP have criminal convictions for inciting racial hatred. John Hagan claims that the BNP has conducted right-wing extremist violence to gain "institutionalized power". A 1997 report by Human Rights Watch accused the party of recruiting from skinhead groups and promoting racist violence.

In the past, Nick Griffin has defended the threat of violence to further the party's aims. After the BNP won its first council seat in 1993, he wrote that the BNP should not be a "postmodernist rightist party" but "a strong, disciplined organisation with the ability to back up its slogan 'Defend Rights for Whites' with well-directed boots and fists. When the crunch comes, power is the product of force and will, not of rational debate". In 1997 he said: "It is more important to control the streets of a city than its council chambers."

A BBC Panorama programme reported on a number of BNP members who have had criminal convictions, some racially motivated. Some of the more notable convictions include:

  • John Tyndall had convictions for assault and organising paramilitary neo-Nazi activities. In 1986 he was jailed for conspiracy to publish material likely to incite racial hatred.
  • In 1998, Nick Griffin was convicted of violating section 19 of the Public Order Act 1986, relating to incitement to racial hatred. He received a nine-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and was fined £2,300.
  • Joseph Owens, a BNP candidate in Liverpool's local elections, served eight months in prison for sending razor blades in the post to Jewish people and another term for carrying CS gas and knuckledusters.
  • Colin Smith, who in 2004 was the BNP's South East London organiser, has 17 convictions for burglary, theft, possession of drugs and assaulting a police officer.
  • Richard Edmonds, at the time BNP National Organiser, was sentenced to three months in prison in 1994 for his part in a racist attack. Edmonds threw a glass at the victim as he was walking past an East London pub where a group of BNP supporters was drinking. Others then 'glassed' the man in the face and punched and kicked him as he lay on the ground, including BNP supporter Stephen O'Shea, who was jailed for 12 months. Another BNP supporter, Simon Biggs, was jailed for four and a half years for his part in the attack.

Reception

Protest against the BNP in 2009

In 2011, Goodwin described the BNP as being "the most successful party in the history of the extreme right in Britain". That same year, John E. Richardson noted that it had achieved "a level of electoral success that is unparalleled in the history of British fascism". The historian Alan Sykes stated that "in electoral terms", the BNP achieved "more in the first three years of the twenty-first century" than the British far right "as a whole achieved in the previous seventy". However, Copsey said that the party's belief that one day the conditions would be right for it to win a general election belonged to the "Never-Never Land of British politics". Copsey also said that the BNP's electoral successes had been modest in comparison to those achieved by extreme-right groups elsewhere in Western Europe such as France's National Front, Italy's National Alliance, and Belgium's Vlaams Blok.

The BNP's growth met a hostile reaction, and in 2011 the political scientists Copsey and Macklin described it as "Britain's most disliked party". It was widely reviled as racist and even following Griffin's "modernisation" project it was still heavily tainted by its associations with neo-Nazism. For many years it remained closely associated with the National Front in the British public imagination. The BNP remained unable to gain a broad appeal or widespread credibility. In a 2004 poll, seven out of ten voters said that they would never consider voting for the BNP. A 2009 poll found that two-thirds would "under no circumstances" consider voting BNP, while only 4% of respondents would "definitely consider" voting for them.

The Conservative leader Michael Howard stated that the BNP were a "stain" on British democracy, adding that "this is not a political movement, this is a bunch of thugs dressed up as a political party". His successor David Cameron described it as a "completely unacceptable" organisation which "thrives on hatred". The Labour prime minister, Tony Blair, called it a "nasty, extreme organisation", while the Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg termed it a "party of thugs and fascists". In 2004, the General Synod of the Church of England declared that supporting the BNP was incompatible with Christianity, comparing it to "spitting in the face of God". Christian groups throughout Britain have maintained that the BNP's hostility toward cultural and ethnic diversity in the country was at odds with mainstream Christianity's emphasis on inclusiveness, tolerance, and interfaith dialogue. Winston Churchill's family has criticised the BNP's use of his image and quotations, labelling it "offensive and disgusting". The singer Vera Lynn condemned the party for selling a CD featuring her recordings on its website. In 2009, the Royal British Legion asked Griffin—at first privately and then publicly—to not wear their poppy symbol.

The British police, Fire Brigades Union, and Church of England, prohibited its members from joining the BNP. In 2002, Martin Narey, banned BNP membership among prison workers; he subsequently received death threats. In 2010, the Education Secretary Michael Gove announced bans allowing headteachers to ban their staff from being party members. Individuals whose membership of the party was made public sometimes faced ostracism and the loss of their job: examples include a school headmaster who had to resign, a caretaker who was sacked after attending a BNP rally, and a police officer dismissed from his position. After BNP membership lists were leaked on the Internet, a number of police forces investigated officers whose names appeared on the lists.

In 2005, an invitation to Nick Griffin by the University of St Andrews Union Debating Society to participate in a debate on multiculturalism was withdrawn after protests. The BNP says that National Union of Journalists guidelines on reporting "far right" organisations forbid unionised journalists from reporting uncritically on the party. In April 2007, an election broadcast was cancelled by BBC Radio Wales whose lawyers believed that the broadcast was defamatory of the Chief Constable of North Wales Police, Richard Brunstrom. The BNP said that BBC editors were following an agenda.

Mainstream media and academia

Protesters outside the BBC Television Centre, protesting against Griffin's invite to appear on Question Time

Attitudes toward the BNP in both mainstream broadcast media and print journalism have been overwhelmingly negative, and no mainstream newspaper has endorsed the party. This hostile coverage has even been found in right-wing tabloids like the Daily Mail, Daily Express and The Sun which otherwise share the BNP's hostile attitude toward issues like immigration. In 2003, the Daily Mail described the BNP as "poisonous bigots", while in 2004 The Sun printed the headline of "BNP: Bloody Nasty People". Senior BNP figures nevertheless believed that these tabloids' hostile coverage of immigration and Islam helped to legitimise and normalise the party and its views among much of the British public, a view echoed by some academic observers. When, in 2004, anti-racist activists picketed outside the Daily Mail office in central London to protest against its negative coverage of asylum seekers, BNP members organised a counter-picket at which they displayed the placard "Vote BNP, Read the Daily Mail".

The BNP initially faced a 'no platform for fascists' policy from the broadcast media, although this eroded as Griffin was invited on to a number of television programmes amid the party's growing electoral success. When the BBC invited him to appear on Question Time in 2009 it was criticised by several trade unions, sections of the media, and several Labour politicians, all of whom believed that the BNP should not be given a public platform. Anti-fascist protesters assembled outside of the television studio to protest Griffin's inclusion.

The first academic attention to be directed at the BNP appeared after it gained a councillor in the 1993 local elections. Nevertheless, throughout the 1990s it remained the subject of little academic research. Academic interest increased following its victories at local elections from 2002 onward. The first detailed monograph study to be devoted to the party was Nigel Copsey's Contemporary British Fascism, first published in 2004. In September 2008, an academic symposium on the BNP was held at Teesside University.

The wider extreme-right and anti-fascists

Opposition to the BNP also came from the organised anti-fascist movement. By the mid-1990s, the BNP's attempts to stage public events in Scotland, the North West and the Midlands were largely thwarted by the militant disruption of the Anti-Fascist Action (AFA) group. The BNP's modernisation and move away from street demonstrations and toward electoral campaigning caused problems for the AFA, who proved unable to successfully change their tactics; on those occasions when AFA activists tried to forcibly disrupt BNP activities, they were prevented and arrested by riot police.

Activists belonging to the far-left Socialist Workers Party protesting against the BNP at University College London in 2009

More liberal sections of the anti-fascist movement sought to counter the BNP through community-based initiatives. Searchlight encouraged trade unions to establish localised campaigns that would ensure that ethnic minority and other anti-BNP locals voted. It suggested that such campaigns should avoid associating with the mainstream parties from which BNP voters felt disenfranchised and that they should not be afraid of calling out Islamic fundamentalists and extremists active in the area. The Unite Against Fascism group also sought to maximise anti-BNP turnout at elections, calling on the electorate to vote for "anyone but fascists". Evidence suggests that such anti-fascist activities did little to erode the far-right vote; this was in part because anti-fascist groups had encouraged the stereotype that BNP candidates were violent skinheads, something which conflicted with the more normal, friendly image that BNP activists cultivated when canvassing.

The BNP often received a hostile response from other sections of the British extreme-right. Some extreme-right-wingers, such as the British Freedom Party, expressed frustration at the party's inability to moderate itself further on the issue of race, while those such as Colin Jordan and the NF accused the BNP—particularly under Griffin's leadership—of being too moderate. This latter view was articulated by an extreme-right groupuscule, the International Third Position, when it claimed that the BNP "has been openly courting the Jewish vote and pumping out material which confirms what most us knew years ago: the BNP has become a multi-racist, Zionist, queer-tolerant anti-Muslim pressure group".

In ASLEF v. United Kingdom, the European Court of Human Rights overturned an employment appeal tribunal ruling that awarded BNP member and train driver Jay Lee damages for expulsion from a trade union. In Redfearn v United Kingdom, the court ruled that members of racist organisations could lawfully be dismissed on health and safety grounds if there was a danger of violence occurring in the workplace. In November 2012, the European Court of Human Rights made a majority ruling (4 to 3) that in Redfearn's case against the UK government, his rights under Article 11 (free association) had been infringed, but not those under Article 10 (free expression) or Article 14 (discrimination).

See also

Notes

  1. The name British National Party had been used in politics by four organisations, most notably by the Mosleyite party which became the English National Association and by a 1960s party initiated by John Bean, which became part of the National Front. Tyndall was a leading member of the 1960s BNP and a founder of the present party.
  2. The "18" in its name is derived from the initials of Adolf Hitler. A and H are the first and eighth letters of the Latin alphabet.

References

Footnotes

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  •  ———  (2011). "Ambivalent Admiration? The Response of Other Extreme-Right Groups to the Rise of the BNP". In Copsey, Nigel; Macklin, Graham (eds.). British National Party: Contemporary Perspectives. London and New York: Routledge. pp. 103–122. ISBN 978-0-415-48383-4.

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