British Isles

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Lore & Background

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

In Their Own Story

The BNP was formally launched on 7 April 1982 at a press conference in Victoria, led by John Tyndall. In the 1983 general election, the BNP stood 54 candidates but only campaigned in five seats, averaging 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. 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 playing to local whites angry at perceived preferential treatment of Bangladeshi migrants in social housing. Following an anti-BNP campaign 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. After the BNP's poor performance at the 1997 general election, opposition to Tyndall's leadership grew, and in October 1999 he was ousted when two-thirds of those voting backed Nick Griffin, who offered improved administration, financial transparency, and greater support for local branches.

Reader's Guide

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, once espousing that only white people should be citizens of the United Kingdom, and calls for an end to non-white migration into the UK. It initially called for compulsory expulsion of non-whites but, since 1999, 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 antisemitism 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 antisemitism 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.

Did You Know?

• The BNP was founded by John Tyndall, who had been involved in neo-Nazi groups since the late 1950s and led the far-right National Front throughout most of the 1970s.
• Combat 18, the paramilitary group formed to protect BNP events, has a name that is a coded reference to Nazi German leader Adolf Hitler.
• In a 1993 local by-election, the BNP gained its first council seat in the East London district of Millwall, won by Derek Beackon.
• Under Nick Griffin's leadership, the BNP became the most electorally successful far-right party in British history, with over fifty local government seats, one London Assembly seat, and two Members of the European Parliament.
• The BNP has been largely inactive since 2019.