List of British far-right groups (1945–present)
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The
Far right politics usually involve supremacism — a belief that superiority and inferiority is an innate reality between individuals and groups — and a complete rejection of the concept of social equality as a norm.[2] Far right politics often support segregation; the separation of groups deemed to be superior from groups deemed to be inferior.[3] Far right politics also commonly include authoritarianism, nativism, racism and xenophobia.[4]
Many of these parties stem from either the legacy of
The ideologies usually associated with the far right include fascism, Nazism and other ultra-nationalist, religiously extreme or reactionary ideologies.[5][6][7][8][9]
The term radical right refers to sections of the far right that promote views which are very conservative in traditional left-right terms, but which aim to break with prevailing institutions and practices.[10] The radical right does not have a clear structure, but rather consists of overlapping subcultures with diverse styles of rhetoric, dress and symbolism whose cohesion comes from the use of alternative system of communications.[11]
1940s
British League of Ex-Servicemen and Women
The British League of Ex-Servicemen and Women had its roots in a 1937 former soldiers' welfare group.[12] This was taken over by Jeffrey Hamm in 1944 and became a Mosleyite group. It was absorbed into the Union Movement in 1948.
British Peoples' Party
The
English National Association
The
Union Movement
The Union Movement was established by Oswald Mosley in 1948 as an amalgamation of a number of groups formed by ex-members of the British Union of Fascists. The party advocated a Pan-European nationalism policy that Mosley termed Europe a Nation and on this basis sought close links with parties in other European countries through initiatives such as the National Party of Europe and the European Social Movement. It also campaigned domestically against immigration at home and contested a number of elections, albeit without having any candidates elected. The party continued in existence until 1973 when it became the Action Party.
1950s
British Empire Party
The
League of Empire Loyalists
The
White Defence League
The
The National Labour Party
The National Labour Party was another splinter group from the League of Empire Loyalists, founded by John Bean in 1957. The group was similar to the White Defence League, albeit along the lines of a political party rather than a pressure group, and the two merged to form the British National Party in 1960.[19]
1960s
British National Party
The
The National Socialist Movement
The
The Greater Britain Movement
The
The British Movement
The
The Racial Preservation Society
The
The National Democratic Party
The National Democratic Party was formed by Dr David Brown of the RPS in 1966. The group attracted local pockets of support but struggled to cope with the emergence of the National Front the following year and faded in the 1970s.
The National Front
The
The NF failed to make any headway at the
The National Independence Party
The National Independence Party was a minor far-right group established in the late 1960s that was close to John O'Brien.[27] Although never a national force the party enjoyed support in the London Borough of Haringey where it had a councillor elected.
Minor groups
The Anti-Communist Commando was led by Victor Norris, a pro-Rhodesia activist and sometime member of the National Socialist Group, throughout the 1960s. Targeting left-wing demonstrations where it attempted to provoke violence, the Commando disappeared when Norris was jailed in 1969.[28]
The National Socialist Group, led by the Olliffe brothers and Dave Courtney, was a paramilitary organisation linked to the British Movement in the late 1960s. Following the conviction of a number of members for possession of illegal weapons the NSG disappeared.[29]
1970s
National Party
The
9 November Society
The November 9th Society is a neo-Nazi group established by Terry Flynn in 1977 and subsequently led by Kevin Quinn.[31] A hardline Nazi group, it has since represented as a political party under the name British First Party.
British Democratic Party
The British Democratic Party (BDP) was a short-lived party formed in 1979 when the Leicester branch of the NF under the leadership of Anthony Reed Herbert broke away from the main party.[32] During his work with the BDP, Ray Hill secretly took part in a World in Action documentary about the party, during the course of which Reed Herbert and other leading members were put in touch with an American (who was also working with the show) from whom they could buy guns. When the programme was broadcast, the BDP was left badly discredited.[33] (Ultimately, when he returned to Britain, no charges were laid). It became a founder group of the British National Party in 1982.[34]
Constitutional Movement
The Constitutional Movement was another NF splinter group from 1979, this time led by Andrew Fountaine. right wing political group in the United Kingdom. It contested the 1981 GLC elections.[35] After it changed its name to the Nationalist Party, it contested only five seats in the 1983 general election. The party soon disappeared, with many members joining the BNP.
Minor groups
The British Defence League was a very short-lived group led by
The Integralists were a small body of intellectuals led by Russian emigre George Knuppfer active during the early 1970s. The body, which concerned itself with conspiracy theories regarding international finance, was close to
The National Party of St George was a local far right party based in
The Newcastle Democratic Movement was an anti-immigration group based in
The National Socialist British Workers' Party was largely the work of one man, G.R. Jenin, whose National Observer published Nazi Party material in the early 1970s.[29]
Trade Unions Against Immigration (TRU-AIM) was a joint initiative of the National Front and British Movement. Led by Bill Whitbread it hoped to infiltrate the mainstream trade union movement but was eventually scuppered by internal differences.[41]
The National Assembly was formed by Mary Stanton in 1974 as an umbrella organisation for various anti-immigration activists. Changing its name to the Anti-Communism Movement in 1977 it continued to exist until the early 1980s.[42]
The United Party was a minor group based in Derby that existed briefly during 1974. It merged with the supporters of Leicester NF chairman John Kynaston and the Enoch Powell support group of Stan Wright to form the English National Party, which presented candidates in the October 1974 United Kingdom general election.[43]
The British National Party was a
The National Democratic Freedom Movement was a violent group led by Morrison, David Myatt and Joe Short of Column 88.[45]
The Britannia Party was a short-lived breakaway from the NF, organised by Henry Lord and Marion Powell from 1978 to the following year.[28]
1980s
British National Party
The British National Party was formed by John Tyndall in 1982 from his New National Front and other minor groups. Subsequently, led by Nick Griffin the party achieved levels of political representation hitherto unseen by the far-right in Britain, including seats in the European Parliament in 2009. The party subsequently split, and declined to an electoral irrelevance winning only 1,667 votes at the 2015 election, thought as of 2015 it continues to exist.
The National Socialist Action Party
The National Socialist Action Party was formed in 1982 by
The group had connections in
Our Nation
Official National Front
The Official National Front was one of the two groups into which the NF split in 1986.[49] Its members belonged to the "Political Soldier" tendency that eschewed electoral politics. Leading members included Nick Griffin, Derek Holland and Patrick Harrington. It disappeared in 1990 with the emergence of the Third Way.
Flag Group
The Flag Group was the other of the two NF factions.[50] It sought to continue on the path previously followed by the NF in contesting elections and organising on a strongly anti-immigration basis. This group eventually regained control of the NF name.
International Third Position
The International Third Position was established in 1989 as a breakaway from the Official National Front after Patrick Harrington had sought a compromise with some radical Jews.[51] Sharing the Political Soldier mission of its predecessor the ITP is still in existence as a minor group.[citation needed]
Minor groups
White Nationalist Crusade was set up in 1981 in an attempt to bring a number of the divided far right groups under one banner. Although its members included veterans such as Robert Relf it failed to achieve its goal of providing a rallying point.[52]
The Association of British Ex-Servicemen (ABEX), a parody of the Association of Jewish Ex-Servicemen, was established by British National Party founder Kenneth McKilliam in the early 1980s as vigilant group for Brixton. The aim was not fulfilled and ABEX disappeared.[28]
The National Action Party was set up by Eddy Morrison and Kevin Randall in the early 1980s and existed in some from for around ten years. With a strongly
The UK Patriotic Front was a minor extreme right-wing party that contested some council seats in the urbanised parts
The National Socialist Workers Initiative, active in the early 1980s, was a Neo-Nazi group which also drew on elements of Ecofascism. Leading members included National Socialist Action Party leader Tony Malski, National Socialist Movement veteran David Thorne and other far-right stalwarts including Ian Kerr-Ritchie and Bill Whitbread.[53]
English Solidarity was established by
1990s
National Democrats
The National Democrats were established by Ian Anderson in 1995 as a new name for the Flag Group-controlled NF. The move resulted in a split in the movement. The party contested the 1997 general election but made little headway and several prominent members, including Simon Darby and Martin Wingfield, re-emerged as BNP members. The party was effectively defunct long before Anderson's death in February 2011.
National Socialist Movement
The
Minor groups
British Resistance was the brainchild of
2000s
White Nationalist Party
The White Nationalist Party (WNP) was founded in May 2002 as "the British political wing of Aryan Unity".[56][57] The party was formed by Eddy Morrison, and Kevin Watmough "a key figure in Combat 18" and webmaster of Redwatch.[58] A highly radical party, it no longer exists.[citation needed]
England First Party
The
Nationalist Alliance
The
British Peoples' Party
The British Peoples' Party was a splinter group from the Nationalist Alliance established by Eddy Morrison in 2005. It also contested the 2010 local elections, albeit with a single candidate.
New Nationalist Party
The
Epping Community Action Group
Ian Anderson was the leader of the short-lived and allegedly far right Epping Community Action Group, which was registered with the
2010s
National Action
National Action attempted to gain attention through demonstrations and flashy videos. This included instances of violence towards police and counter-protestors. One of its supporters, Zach Davies, was convicted of attempted murder, which he stated was motivated by wanting to "avenge Lee Rigby's murder", and he spoke of "white power". National Action sought to deny any link with Davies, but other members have been arrested for threats or violence, including Garron Helm for religiously motivated threats against Luciana Berger MP on Twitter. National Action spread propaganda on at least 12 university campuses. Their first protest involved an attempt to deface the statue of Nelson Mandela in London.[65][66] The group was proscribed in December 2016 after they celebrated the murder of Jo Cox MP by Thomas Mair, with comments including "Don't let this man's sacrifice go in vain."
Britannica Party
The Britannica Party was a small party founded by Charles Baillie.[67][68]
Britain First
Britain First, a far-right group founded by Jim Dowson who had formerly worked a call centre for the BNP before leaving after allegedly groping a female employee.[69] The party is known for invading mosques[70][71] and its "Christian patrols".[72]
British Democrats
In February 2013, the British Democrats were launched by former Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and National Front chairman Andrew Brons, who resigned from the BNP in October 2012 after narrowly failing in his campaign to unseat Nick Griffin as leader of the BNP in 2011.[73] Brons remains the party's inaugural president, and the chairman is James Lewthwaite.[74] The BDP has attracted former members of the British National Party (BNP), Democratic Nationalists, Freedom Party, UK Independence Party (UKIP),[75][73] For Britain Movement, and Civil Liberty, including long-standing far-right political leader John Bean. Nick Lowles of Hope not Hate believed the party would be a serious threat to the BNP, commenting "The BDP brings together all of the hardcore Holocaust deniers and racists that have walked away from the BNP over the last two to three years, plus those previously, who could not stomach the party’s image changes".[76] And in 2022 the BDP experienced a sharp increase in membership, with several nationalist local councillors and prominent far-right activists like Derek Beackon joining the party.[77][78] They are currently the only far-right British political party to have any elected representation, with 5 local councillors.[79][80][81][82][83]
Patriotic Alternative
Patriotic Alternative, is a political organisation founded by Mark Collett in late 2019, the former director of publicity of the British National Party. Since then, PA has held camping and hiking trips as well as paint balling events. PA has also held days of action including White Lives Matter banners and light projections onto the White Cliffs of Dover.[84]
The British Hand
The British Hand,[85] is a group founded by a 15 year old teenager, in late 2020. Since then, The British Hand have been at the root of hundreds of far-right propaganda being released online, especially on the social media app, Telegram, which led Hope not Hate to start an undercover investigation on this group and later writing an article on it, exposing the far-right terror cell.
The British Hand started by a teenage boy recruiting fellow extremists on social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.
Homeland
Webpages, newspapers and magazines
Candour is a British far-right magazine founded and edited by
Spearhead was a British
Redwatch was a British website associated with members of the far-right, neo-fascist British People's Party.[citation needed]
See also
- Anti-Defamation League
- Anti-Nazi League
- Board of Deputies of British Jews
- British Freedom Party
- British Nationalism
- Casuals United
- Christian Council of Britain
- Daily Mail
- English Defence League
- League of Saint George
- Muslim Council of Britain
- Swinton Circle
- 1964 United Kingdom general election
- 2007 United Kingdom local elections
- White supremacy
References
- ^ Betz & Immerfall 1998; Betz 1994; Durham 2000; Durham 2002; Hainsworth 2000; Mudde 2000; Berlet & Lyons, 2000.
- ^ Merkl, Peter H. and Leonard Weinberg, Right-wing Extremism in the Twenty-first Century (London, England, UK; Portland, Oregon, USA: Frank Cass Publishers), p. 127
- ^ Merkl, Peter H. and Leonard Weinberg, Right-wing Extremism in the Twenty-first Century (London, England and Portland, Oregon, USA: Frank Cass Publishers), p. 127.
- ^ Hilliard, Robert L. and Robert L and Michael C. Keith, Waves of Rancor: Tuning in the Radical Right New York: M. E. Sharpe Inc., 1999
- ^ Davies & Derek Lynch, The Routledge Companion to Fascism and the Far Right, Psychology Press, 2002
- ^ Martin Durham, The Christian Right, the Far Right and the Boundaries of American Conservatism, Manchester University Press, 2000
- ^ Peter H. Merkl & Leonard Weinberg, Right-wing Extremism in the Twenty-first Century, Psychology Press, 2003
- ^ Roger Eatwell & Cas Mudde, Western Democracies and the New Extreme Right Challenge, Taylor & Francis, 2004
- ISBN 978-0-415-37550-4.
- ^ Plotkem, David and Daniel Bell,The Radical Right, 3rd ed. (Transaction Publishers, 2001) p. xiii
- ^ Militias, Christian Identity and the Radical Right Archived 28 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine by Michael Barkun, accessed 11 April 2010
- ^ Peter Barberis, John McHugh, Mike Tyldesley, Encyclopedia of British and Irish Political Organizations: Parties, Groups and Movements of the 20th Century, Continuum International Publishing Group, 2000, p. 176
- ^ D. Boothroyd, The History of British Political Parties, London: Politico's Publishing, 2001, p. 24
- ^ a b Peter Barberis, John McHugh, Mike Tyldesley, Encyclopedia of British and Irish Political Organizations, 2002, p. 177
- ^ Peter Barberis, John McHugh and Mike Tyldesley, Encyclopedia of British and Irish Political Organizations
- ^ S. Taylor, The National Front in English Politics, London: Macmillan, 1982, p. 12
- ^ a b S. Taylor, The National Front in English Politics, London: Macmillan, 1982
- ^ a b M. Walker, The National Front, Glasgow: Fontana Collins, 1977
- ^ Peter Barberis, John McHugh, Mike Tyldesley, Encyclopedia of British and Irish Political Organizations: Parties, Groups and Movements of the 20th Century, Continuum International Publishing Group, 2000, p. 189
- ^ Peter Barberis, John McHugh, Mike Tyldesley, Encyclopedia of British and Irish Political Organizations: Parties, Groups and Movements of the 20th Century, Continuum International Publishing Group, 2000, p. 177
- ^ a b c Barberis et al, Encyclopedia of British and Irish Political Organizations, p. 178
- ^ Roger Eatwell "Obituary: John Tyndall"[dead link], The Independent, 21 July 2005
- ^ N. Copsey, Contemporary British Fascism, Palgrave Macmillan, 2004, p. 15
- ^ N. Lowles & S. Silver, White Noise, London: Searchlight, 1998
- ^ Peter Barberis, John McHugh, Mike Tyldesley, Encyclopedia of British and Irish Political Organizations: Parties, Groups and Movements of the 20th Century, Continuum International Publishing Group, 2000, pp. 192–193
- ^ Nigel Fielding, The National Front, Taylor & Francis, 1981, p.38
- ^ Peter Barberis, John McHugh, Mike Tyldesley, Encyclopedia of British and Irish Political Organizations: Parties, Groups and Movements of the 20th Century, Continuum International Publishing Group, 2000, p. 188
- ^ a b c Peter Barberis, John McHugh, Mike Tyldesley, Encyclopedia of British and Irish political organizations: parties, groups and movements of the 20th century, Continuum International Publishing Group, 2000, p. 175
- ^ a b Barberis et al, Encyclopedia of British and Irish political organizations, p. 189
- ^ "The National Party", World in Action, Granada TV, 1976 (on British Film Institute website)
- Jewish Chroniclestory, 17 November 2006
- ^ R. Hill & A. Bell, The Other Face of Terror – Inside Europe’s Neo-Nazi Network, London: Collins, 1988, pp. 91–94
- ^ Hill & Bell, The Other Face of Terror, pp. 101–115
- ^ David Boothroyd, The History of British Political Parties, Politico's Publishing, 2001, p. 17
- ^ Richard Thurlow, Fascism in Britain A History, 1918-1985, Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1987, p. 291
- ^ Barberis et al, Encyclopedia of British and Irish political organizations, p. 176
- ^ Martin Walker, The National Front, Glasgow: Fontana, 1977, p. 95
- ^ a b Martin Walker, The National Front, Glasgow: Fontana, 1977, p. 99
- ^ Barberis et al, Encyclopedia of British and Irish political organizations, p. 184
- ^ Walker, The National Front, p. 101
- ^ Barberis et al, Encyclopedia of British and Irish political organizations, p. 193
- ^ Barberis et al, Encyclopedia of British and Irish political organizations, p. 174
- ^ Walker, The National Front, pp. 173–174
- ^ Barberis et al, Encyclopedia of British and Irish political organizations, p. 178
- ^ a b Barberis et al, Encyclopedia of British and Irish political organizations, p. 186
- ^ Peter Barberis, John McHugh, Mike Tyldesley, Encyclopedia of British and Irish Political Organizations, 2002, p. 189
- ^ Racist taunts land neighbour in court
- ^ Peter Barberis, John McHugh, Mike Tyldesley, Encyclopedia of British and Irish Political Organizations, Pinter (2000) p 192
- ^ Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, Black Sun: Aryan Cults, Esoteric Nazism, and the Politics of Identity, New York University Press, 2003, p. 68
- ^ Gerry Gable, 'The Far Right in Contemporary Britain', L. Cheles, R. Ferguson, and M. Vaughan, Neo-Fascism in Europe, London: Longman, 1992, p. 252
- ^ N. Copsey, Contemporary British Fascism: The British National Party and the Quest for Legitimacy, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004, pp. 45–46
- ^ Barberis et al, Encyclopedia of British and Irish political organizations, p. 195
- ^ Barberis et al, Encyclopedia of British and Irish political organizations, p. 190
- ^ Barberis et al, Encyclopedia of British and Irish political organizations, p. 182
- ^ Barberis et al, Encyclopedia of British and Irish political organizations, p. 179
- ^ Sykes, Alan The Radical Right in Britain Palgrave (2005), p 147
- ^ Aryan Unity website
- ^ Searchlight Magazine
- ^ Searchlight, No. 391, January 2008, p. 23
- ^ "BNP councillor is ousted by court". BBC News. 26 July 2006. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
- ^ Birmingham Kingstanding – the hidden story (archived version)
- ^ Register of Political Parties: New Nationalist Party (archived version)
- ^ Electoral Commission registration Archived 29 May 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ District Election Results 3 May 2007 (archived version)
- Huffington Post. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
- ^ Wright, Simon; Glaze, Ben; Cortbus, Colin (7 June 2014). "Exposed: Rise of Hitler-loving National Action group who want to 'ethnically cleanse' the UK". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
- ^ Goodwin, Matthew (19 August 2012). "The far right is fragmenting". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
- ^ Gable, Sonia (8 April 2012). "Britannica Party fields four candidates". Searchlight. Archived from the original on 13 November 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
- ^ BNP money man quits after model accuses him of groping her in hotel room. Daily Record. 31 October 2010.
- ^ Exposed: Scottish BNP No.2 unmasked as man behind Britain First Defence Force's sickening invasion of mosques Archived 30 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Daily Record. 26 May 2014.
- ^ "Britain First's leader Paul Golding on BNP breakaway". BBC News. 15 May 2014. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
- ^ Moore-Bridger, Benedict (6 February 2014). "Far-Right group filmed on 'patrol' at East End mosque". Evening Standard. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
- ^ a b Colin Liddell (14 February 2013). "The launch of the BDP". Radix. Archived from the original on 6 July 2017.
- ^ Electoral Commission: Registration summary
- ^ "General Election: Andrew Moffat Candidate for: Bognor Regis & Littlehampton". The Argus. Archived from the original on 7 April 2018.
- ^ Collins, Matthew (8 February 2013). "Neo-Nazi former BNP members launch new far-right party". New Statesman. Retrieved 8 February 2013.
- ^ "Former London Mayoral candidate David Furness joins the British Democrats!". Twitter. 8 July 2022.
- ^ "Derek Beackon Joins the British Democrats!". British Democratic Party. 11 August 2022.
- ^ "Councillor John Robinson joins the British Democrats". British Democratic Party. 14 March 2022.
- ^ "Councillor Julian Leppert joins the British Democrats". British Democratic Party. 16 July 2022.
- ^ "Councillor Roger Robertson joins the British Democrats". British Democratic Party. 2 August 2022.
- ^ "Lawrence Rustem elected to Detling Parish Council". British Democratic Party. 19 August 2022.
- ^ "Election results for Noak Bridge". Basildon Council. 13 October 2022.
- ^ "RT UK - 'Migrants not welcome' beamed onto White Cliffs over Dover, days after Led By Donkeys protest | Facebook". Facebook. 11 September 2020. Archived from the original on 11 September 2020.
- ^ "HOPE not hate magazine – New Terror Youth Group Exposed". HOPE not hate. 27 September 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
- ^ Brady, Jon (27 April 2023). "Notorious far-right extremist in plan to register new neo-Nazi group as a political party". Daily Record.
- The Ferret.
External links