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Revision as of 13:14, 29 June 2004 by David Gerard (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)The British National Front (often referred to as simply the National Front or the NF) is a far right-wing British Political party that had its heyday during the 1970s and '80s.
History
It was founded on February 7 1967 under the chairmanship of Arthur K. Chesterton, a cousin of the novelist G.K. Chesterton and former leader of the League of Empire Loyalists, with the purpose of opposing immigration and multi-culturalist policies in Britain. It grew during the 1970s and had as many as 20,000 members by 1974. It did particularly well in local elections and polled an incredible 44% in Deptford, London (with a splinter group) almost beating the incumbent Labour candidate, who only won due to the split. Similarly it came third in three parliamentary by-elections, trouncing the Liberals.
Its electoral base were largely blue-collar workers and the self-employed who resented immigrant competition in the labour market. The party also attracted a few disillusioned Conservatives who gave the party much needed electoral expertise and respectability. The NF fought on a platform of opposition to communism, support for Ulster loyalism, anti-European Economic Community, was anti-liberal and most notoriously demanded the compulsory repatriation of New Commonwealth immigrants. The chief ideologue of the NF (and then editor of Spearhead from 1976-80) was Richard Verrall. A common sight in the 70s, it was well-known for its noisy demonstrations particularly in London where it often faced far-left and communist counter-marchers including the Anti-Nazi League.
Led at first by Chesterton, it was led for most of the 1970s by John Tyndall and Martin Webster (except for a brief period when the populist John Kingsley Read became chairman in 1974).
1979 was a disastrous year for the National Front, it was totally eclipsed by the rise to prominence of the newly re-invigorated Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher whose tough right-wing stance on immigration plus law and order saw support haemorrhage. Many ex-Tories returned to the fold. Its leaders Tyndall and Webster split in 1980; a further blow to NF. The former went on to form the British National Party (1982) which has since pushed out the NF as the dominant far-right party in Britain. The party rapidly declined during the 1980s although it retained some support in Northern Ireland during this period. Its opponents view it as a skinhead party with barely concealed neo-nazi views something which the Front themselves has vociferously denied. Internally the NF was dominated during the 1980s by the Political Soldier ideas of young radicals such as Nick Griffin and Derek Holland. Despite popular and media perceptions, the NF actually lost a lot of skinhead support as a result of the support shown for non-whites such as Louis Farrakhan and Ayatollah Khomeini. These lost followers moved towards the British National Party, the British Movement or simply to the skinhead umbrella group Blood and Honour.
Schisms led to the foundation of several other right-wing political parties, including the British National Party; the Third Way (UK), and the ITP International Third Position.
The current NF
The fortunes of the National Front have subsequently waned, although it still exists as a small party, and fielded 7 candidates at the 1997 General Election. The NF's current National Chairman is Tom Holmes.
Opponents of the National Front claim it to be a neo-Fascist organization, and its activities are often still opposed by far-left groups, most notably the Anti-Nazi League.