British National Party

{{bronze}}[[File:BNP_logo.svg|165px|right|thumb|{{wpl|Union Jack}} rolls over in his grave (old BNP logo).]]{{UKpolitics}}
{{cquote|<center>Yes. There is a wider range of takeaway food. That's it.</center>|||Nick Griffin, when asked if there was anything good about immigration<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20170328141659/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26vL88SAlHk The Battle for Barking] (Jun 26, 2016) ''YouTube'' (archived from March 28, 2017).</ref>}}
The '''British National Party''' (BNP) is a [[far-right]] and [[fascism|neo-fascist]] [[British]] political party tracing back to a 1980 split with the [[National Front]]. The party was created by [[John Tyndall]] and in the 1980s had a {{wpl|bovver boot}} image because of [[racist]] [[skinheads]] and football hooligans. A [[populism|populist]] faction in the early 1990s tried to lose the violent subcultures and [[fascist]] [[bully]]-boys attracted to the party for professional local-electioneering which resulted in the BNP gaining a councillor in Tower Hamlets. The populist wing of the party was later led by '''Nick Griffin''' who replaced Tyndall as chairman in October 1999 with the intention of modernising the party by removing what he called "careless [[extremism]]"<ref name=copsey2004>''Contemporary British Fascism: The British National Party and the Quest for Legitimacy'' by Nigel Copsey (2004) Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 1403902143.</ref>{{rp|101-102}} and "swapping bovver boots for sober suits"<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8275282.stm Who's afraid of the BNP?] (10:32 GMT, Monday, 28 September 2009 11:32 UK) ''BBC News''.</ref><ref>[http://www.economist.com/node/13837354 The BNP's breakthrough: Booted and suited. Britain is not about to go fascist, but the BNP’s success is worrying all the same] (Jun 11<sup>th</sup> 2009) ''The Economist''.</ref> to gain electoral support. The heyday of the BNP (2006-2009) saw the party win 55 local councillors, including 12 on Barking and Dagenham council and a seat on the London Assembly. At their height, the BNP achieved nearly a million votes in the 2009 [[European Parliament]] election; Griffin and [[Andrew Brons]] were elected as MEPs. In the 2010 general election the BNP failed to win a single seat and lost all of its councillors in Barking and Dagenham.

Infighting and [[Schism|party splits]] resulted in a collapse of the BNP's vote in the 2011 and 2012 local elections; its membership halved, with former members going off to join the [[English Democrats]]. By 2013 it was clear [[United Kingdom Independence Party|UKIP]] was the popular alternative to the BNP with [[Nigel Farage]] boasting: "I am proud to have taken a third of the BNP's support".<ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/ukip/10735155/Nigel-Farage-I-am-proud-to-have-taken-a-third-of-the-BNPs-support.html Nigel Farage: I am proud to have taken a third of the BNP's support: The Ukip leader says his party actively targeted BNP voters who were 'frustrated' and 'upset' by their changing communities] by Georgia Graham (31 March 2014 • 6:46pm) ''Telegraph''.</ref> Brons resigned from the BNP in October 2012 and lost his seat with Griffin in the 2014 European Parliament election; Griffin was replaced as chairman by Adam Walker. 

In January 2016 the BNP was deregistered as a political party by the Electoral Commission for failing to send in financial reports.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-35261637 BNP removed from official list of political parties] (8 January 2016) ''BBC News''.</ref> However, it was later re-registered.<ref>[http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2016/01/27/bnp-political-party-uk-political-register-re-register_n_9086228.html BNP Re-Registers As Political Party: BNP's Political Party Application Contains One Glaring Reason Why It Should Be Rejected] by Aubrey Allegretti (January 27, 2016) ''Huffington Post''.</ref>

While the version formed in 1980 is the best known, the name had also been used by other far-right bodies. One version was formed in 1960, led by {{wpl|John Bean (politician)|John Bean|;}} it merged into the newly-formed [[National Front]] in 1967.<ref>{{wpa|British National Party (1960)}}</ref> The name was also used by Edward Godfrey in 1942 for an [[antisemitic]] group sponsored by Duke of Bedford; in 1943 it was disbanded and reconstituted as the English National Association, which didn't last long either, due to attention from the security services and general unpopularity during [[World War II]].<ref>{{wpa|English National Association}}</ref>

==History==
===Origins===
[[File:Bates enforcer paratrooper boots.jpg|thumb|right|165px|Bovver boots, designed for kicking the shit out of innocent bystanders]]
John Tyndall left the [[National Front]] in June 1980 and set up the New National Front (NNF); Tyndall cooperated with Andrew Brons of the National Front creating a Committee for Nationalist Unity (1981) and managed to absorb the membership of various NF splinter groups (including the {{wpl|British Democratic Party}}). In 1982, the New National Front was renamed by Tyndall as the British National Party. The BNP throughout the 1980s had a bovver boot image like the NF, associated with racist skinheads. This image resulted in poor election results for the party and Tyndall in 1989 complained "during all these long years we cannot claim to have broken through to greatly increased public support".<ref name=copsey1996>"Contemporary Fascism in the Local Arena: The British National Party and Rights for Whites" by Nigel Copsey (1996) In: ''The Failure of British Fascism: The Far Right and the Fight for Political Recognition'', edited by Mike Cronin. Macmillan. ISBN 0333646746. Pages 118-140.</ref>{{rp|124}} Tyndall a virulent antisemite had little interest in trying to make the party moderate and respectable in terms of how the electorate perceived the BNP; in 1986 Tyndall was imprisoned in 1986 for inciting racial hatred.<ref name=laville>[https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2005/jul/20/otherparties.thefarright A racist, violent neo-nazi to the end: BNP founder Tyndall dies] by Sandra Laville & Matthew Taylor (20 July 2005 00.24 BST) ''The Guardian''.</ref> In 2005, Tyndall was again charged with inciting racial hatred, but he died shortly before his trial was set to begin.<ref name=laville/> ''The Sunday Times'' exposed that Richard Edmonds deputy leader of the party was a [[Holocaust denial|Holocaust denier]].<ref>"Holocaust hate sheet alarms British Jews" by Jon Craig & Jo Revill (6.3.1988) ''The Sunday Times''.</ref>

Tyndall is also known to have remarked, "''[[Mein Kampf]]'' is my bible"<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2003/aug/24/uk.thefarright Expelled BNP founder plans court battle] by Jamie Doward (23 Aug 2003 19.37 EDT) ''The Guardian''.</ref> and Edmonds had described the BNP in the 1980s as "100 per cent racist".<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/programmes/2001/bnp_special/roots/1984.stm BNP: under the skin] ''BBC''.</ref>

In contrast to the hardliners in the party, a [[populism|populist]] faction associated with {{wpl|Eddy Butler}} appeared by 1990 with the aim of losing the bovver boots and violence for professional local-electioneering:
{{cquote|Where during the 1980s the BNP had purposely refrained from heavy engagement in local electoral arenas, at the beginning of the 1990s the Tower Hamlets branch stole the initiative and set itself on a course of local electioneering. The origin of this strategy did not lie with John Tyndall, who rarely left his Sussex redoubt, but with Eddy Butler the Tower Hamlets branch organiser… Butler's strategy was local community politics, addressing neighbourhood concerns through a populist campaigning style.|||Nigel Copsey<ref name=copsey2004/>{{rp|55}}}}

===Tower Hamlets, Rights for Whites===
Butler was responsible for creating a stronghold in {{wpl|London Borough of Tower Hamlets|Tower Hamlets}} for the BNP by focusing on a local political campaign for social housing. Butler's campaign highlighted a "bias" that [[Bangladesh]]i immigrants were being housed by the council before white residents who had family in the Tower Hamlets London borough going back decades. His campaign Rights for Whites benefited from the [[Liberal Democrats]] who made the same argument and therefore the BNP could not be accused of racism since a mainstream political party was saying the same thing.<ref name=copsey1996/>{{rp|125}} The BNP however put out leaflets stating the Liberal Democrats only pretend they are against immigration and the "trick failed, as local whites had heard it all before".<ref name=copsey1996/>{{rp|134}} In 1990, a BNP candidate polled 130 votes (8%) in a Tower Hamlets council ward; the BNP built on this success.<ref name=copsey1996/>{{rp|124-125}} In October 1992, a local by-election in Millwall ward of Tower Hamlets saw the BNP obtain 657 votes (20%) and the following year in the same ward, the BNP polled 1480 votes (34%) winning the seat; {{wpl|Derek Beackon}} was the first elected BNP councillor. In the 1994 local elections, Beackon lost his seat despite polling 2041 votes (28%). This was because a large turn out increased the [[Labour Party]] vote in opposition to the BNP. In three surrounding wards in Tower Hamlets, the BNP averaged 22% of the vote; in the neighbouring London borough of Newham, a BNP candidate came within 65 votes of winning a council seat.<ref name=copsey1996/>{{rp|125}} During the early 1990s the BNP had overtaken the NF in terms of electoral activity and its membership (estimated at 2000 in 1994.<ref name=copsey2004/>{{rp|72}}

{{cquote|Millwall was just the beginning. The British National Party will soon be enjoying greater electoral successes.|||''British Nationalist'' (BNP newspaper) October 1993, page 1}}

In total, 29 BNP candidates in the May 1994 local elections (mostly based in the {{wpl|East End of London}}) averaged 13% of the vote in council seats contested. Eddy Butler remarked, "Compared with results achieved by [[nationalist]] candidates in the recent past, our votes were nothing short of phenomenal".<ref name=copsey2004/>{{rp|65}} In June 1994 Tyndall stood in a parliamentary by-election in Dagenham retaining his deposit, polling 1,511 votes (7%). The BNP's rise in electoral support in the East End of London was met with hostility by the national and local press at the time; the ''Daily Mirror'' after Beackon's win printed its front-page: "SIEG HEIL… and now he's a British councillor".<ref name=copsey1996/>{{rp|137}} The ''East London Advertiser'', formerly neutral, also adopted an anti-BNP stance. The bad publicity may have caused a slump in the BNP vote; Beackon polled 562 votes (19%) in a Tower Hamlet council by-election ({{wpl|Tower Hamlets London Borough Council elections|Lansbury ward}}) in December 1994; another by-election in 1995 saw the BNP vote fall to 16%, although these are relatively high figures.

===Populists vs. Tyndall, 1996-1998===
Eddy Butler, the BNP's press-officer Michael Newland, and Mark Deavin a PhD student at the London School of Economics who had close ties to the BNP wanted the party to model itself on the right-wing populism of the [[Front National]] and [[Freedom Party of Austria|Austrian Freedom Party]] for the 1997 general election, by making the BNP "less abrasive" through non-threatening political discourse, i.e. moderating its policies on race and immigration.<ref name=copsey2004/>{{rp|102-103}} Tyndall disagreed, "who insisted that the drive for acceptability would lead the BNP down the path to oblivion".<ref name=copsey2004/>{{rp|69}} Butler and Newland briefly resigned from the BNP in 1996 joining the Bloomsbury Forum an ultra-conservative [[think tank]] founded by Adrian Davies, formerly an executive council member of the {{wpl|Conservative Monday Club||.}} Both though re-joined the BNP at the beginning of 1997 with the intention to reform the party for the  general election: "A properly run party free from Nazi [[cranks]] could do far better" remarked Newland.<ref name=copsey2004/>{{rp|69}} The populists were marginalised by Tyndall who invested £60,000 in contesting 57 parliamentary seats in the general election with minimal to no electioneering; the BNP's average vote was a mere 1% in contested seats and membership declined.<ref name=copsey2004/>{{rp|71}}

===Leadership election, Nick Griffin===
[[File:Nick griffin bnp from flickr user britishnationalism.jpg|thumb|right|275px|Nick Griffin with a poster of [[white nationalism|smiling white people]].]]After more disappointing election results (34 BNP candidates in the May 1998 local elections averaged only 3%<ref name=copsey2004/>{{rp|72}}) the populists challenged Tyndall for chairmanship of the party. Their candidate was Nick Griffin who joined the populist faction in November 1998 after defending Michael Newland's comments about immigration made on the James Whale Talk Radio show (however Griffin had previously opposed the populists as much as Tyndall, even describing them as a "spiral of sickly moderation"<ref name=copsey2004/>{{rp|70}}). Newland criticized the BNP's policy of compulsory repatriation as too extreme for the electorate:

{{quotebox|"NICK GRIFFIN says the 'extremists' need to grow up", was how his [Griffin's] ''Spearhead'' article started in its support for Newland's comments. Significantly, Griffin recommended that the party should drop its commitment to compulsory repatriation&nbsp;— a policy move that he had ridiculed less than three years earlier. By launching a stinging attack on those hardliners who this this move as a 'sell out'. Griffin was now all but certain of the support of the modernisers.<ref name=copsey2004/>{{rp|73}}}}

Griffin borrowed the language of Deavin who earlier wrote: "we must present ourselves nationally as the party of ''democracy'' against [[plutocracy]], of ''freedom'' against Euro-tyranny, of ''security'' against fear and of ''identity'' against [[multiculturalism|multi-culturalism]]".<ref name=copsey2004/>{{rp|103}} Griffin used these same four words as a "rejection of the verbal extremism of the past… a remodelling of the BNP's political style (if not its core [[ideology]]) on national-populism".<ref name=copsey2004/>{{rp|103}} In September 1999 Nick Griffin succeeded in winning the leadership contest against Tyndall; Griffin won with 1,082 votes (70%) of paid-up BNP members with a high turnout.<ref name=copsey2004/>{{rp|100}}

===Modernisation, 2000-2005===
For the 2000 local elections and London mayoral election, Griffin modernised the BNP by revamping its structure, softening its views on race and immigration (i.e. dropping the compulsory repatriation policy) and making the party voter-friendly by "seeking to shed the party of associations with skinheads and violent behaviour, for instance by recruiting more female election candidates".<ref name=wilksheeg>"The Canary in a Coalmine? Explaining the Emergence of the British National Party in English Local Politics." by Stuart Wilks-Heeg (2008) ''Parliamentary Affairs'' 62(3): 377-398. doi:10.1093/pa/gsn043.</ref> Griffin was impressed by the electoral gains achieved by [[Jean-Marie Le Pen]]'s [[Front National]] and the BNP's new journal ''Identity'' seems to have taken its title from the FN's ''Identité''. The BNP stood 13 candidates in the 2000 local elections, averaging 8% of the vote in contested seats.<ref name=tetteh>[https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN05064/SN05064.pdf Electoral performance of the British National Party in the UK] by Edmund Tetteh (15 May 2009) ''House of Commons Library''.</ref> While no councillors were elected, Stephen Edwards the BNP candidate in {{wpl|Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council election 2000|Sandwell}} polled 781 votes (24%).<ref name=copsey2004/>{{rp|116}} Newland, the BNP mayoral candidate polled 33,569 votes (2%) across London; his vote share in the East End was a high as 9%.<ref name=copsey2004/>{{rp|116}} In December 2000, Edwards left the party with Newland to form the ring-wing populist {{wpl|Freedom Party (United Kingdom)|Freedom Party}}, both criticised Griffin for not moderating its policies enough on immigration as well as financial irregularities.<ref name=copsey2004/>{{rp|121}} The Freedom Party's emphasis was [[culture]], not race. Subsequently, despite Griffin's "sober suit" modernisation he managed to keep "hardliner support in the BNP, because many activists regarded the Freedom Party as not being hard-line enough in their policies".<ref name=willis>[https://ucf.digital.flvc.org/islandora/object/ucf%3A49068/datastream/OBJ/view/Explaining_the_Support_of_the_British_National_Party__BNP__in_the_1999__2004__and_2009_European_Union_Elections.pdf ''Explaining the support of the British National Party (BNP) in the 1999, 2004 and 2009 European Parliament Elections''] by Jonathan Richard Willis (2011) M.A. Thesis, University of Central Florida.</ref>

Disillusioned with the government over the 2001 {{wpl|2001 Oldham riots|Oldham}} and Burnley race riots, a significant number of white working class voters turned to the BNP. In the June 2001 general election, Griffin stood in Oldham West and Royton polling 6,552 votes (16%) and in Burnley, Steven Smith, the local BNP branch organiser also received quite a high vote share (11%). After the result, Griffin commented: "There are large numbers of whites who feel there is nothing for them in the political process."<ref>[http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2001/jun/08/uk.election200131 BNP makes its mark in Oldham] by Helen Carter and Paul Kelso (8 Jun 2001 12.56 EDT) ''The Guardian''.</ref> In other words the British National Party hoovered up {{wpl|protest vote|protest votes}} which had normally gone to the [[Liberal Democrats]]. In three Burnley council by-elections in November 2001, the BNP averaged 21% of the vote. The following year, the BNP won 3 councillors in Burnley.<ref name=copsey2004/>{{rp|149}} The BNP campaigned on the perceived imbalances in council spending on different ethnic communities as well as [[Muslim]] attacks on white British, [[Hindus]] and [[Sikhs]]; Griffin attempted to forge links with the Sikh and Hindu communities to appear non-racist.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/1527940.stm Sikhs urged to reject BNP approach] (6 September, 2001, 08:29 GMT 09:29 UK) ''BBC News''.</ref><ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2001/dec/23/race.politics Hindu and Sikh extremists in link with BNP] by Paul Harris (23 Dec 2001 12.10 EST) ''The Guardian''.</ref> Rajinder Singh working with Griffin set up an "Asian Friends of the BNP" group for Sikhs and Hindus sympathetic to the BNP's anti-Islamic stance. Although a handful of Sikhs and Hindus joined forces with the BNP, Singh's group was condemned by all leading Hindu and Sikh organisations at the time. In the 2003 local elections the BNP stood 217 candidates, averaging an impressive 17% of the vote in seats contested.<ref>Tetteh, 2009.</ref> The BNP won a further 7 councillors in Burnley, making it the official opposition to the Labour Party; Griffin described the gains as "absolutely fantastic".<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lancashire/2994563.stm BNP becomes Burnley's second party] (2 May, 2003, 12:10 GMT 13:10 UK) ''BBC News''.</ref>

The modernisation of the BNP was opposed by Tyndall who argued it was unnecessary since the success of the party was because of "favourable external circumstances" such as the Oldham and Burnley race riots.<ref name=copsey2007>[https://www.researchgate.net/publication/248934627_Changing_course_or_changing_clothes_Reflections_on_the_ideological_evolution_of_the_British_National_Party_1999-2006 Changing Course or Changing Clothes? Reflections on the Ideological Evolution of the British National Party, 1999–2006] by Nigel Copsey (2007) ''Patterns of Prejudice'' 41(1):61-82. doi:10.1080/00313220601118777.</ref> Tydnall wanted the compulsory repatriation policy restored. Griffin responded by expelling Tyndall in August 2003, but after an out of court settlement he was reinstated as a party member. In September 2003, a BNP candidate won a Thurrock council by-election, polling 552 votes (38%).<ref>[http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2003/sep/05/byelections.uk BNP takes Essex council seat] by Matthew Tempest (5 Sep 2003 08.26 EDT) ''The Guardian''.</ref> For the 2004 European election, Nick Griffin promised more policy moderation and ideological change: "the essential difference between the old BNP of John Tyndall and the new BNP, Griffin claimed, was the rejection of fascist [[totalitarianism]]".<ref name=copsey2007/> Griffin now allowed some ethnic minorities to join the party, despite the official party constitution restricting membership to "indigenous British".{{efn|"The BNP had actually begun discussing the possibility of allowing 'non-white' members in 2004, when Griffin hinted at the possible benefits that might accompany a more inclusive membership."<ref name=goodwin2011>''New British Fascism: Rise of the British National Party'' by Matthew Goodwin (2011) Routledge. ISBN 0415465001.</ref>{{rp|122)}}}} {{wpl|Patricia Richardson (politician)|Patricia Richardson}} was the first [[Jewish]] candidate to stand for the BNP, winning a seat on Epping Forest District Council.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20040616015449/http://www.somethingjewish.co.uk/articles/1009_bnp_jewish_win.htm BNP Jewish Win] by Leslie Bunder (11/06/2004) ''Something Jewish News'' (archived from June 16, 2004).</ref> In the 2004 European election the BNP polled 808,200 votes (5%) and came close to winning a seat in the {{wpl|North West England (European Parliament constituency)|North West|.}}<ref name=tetteh/> Griffin permanently expelled Tyndall from the party in December 2004 after he criticized Richardson's membership and Rajinder Singh being allowed to write an article in the BNP's newspaper (Singh also appeared in the 2004 local election broadcast<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2epLm34iNok British National Party Election Broadcast, 2004] from the [[YouTube]] channel ''RockAndRollMassacre'' 27 April 2007</ref> for the BNP). 

It is often argued that "even if the image and tactics have changed under Griffin there has been little modification of the party’s core ideology".<ref name=copsey2004/>{{rp|3}} Copsey (2007) who has analysed Griffin's modernisation of the party leading up to the BNP's 2005 general election manifesto, concluded that while the BNP opposes totalitarian government and has adopted a populist agenda, there is a "recalibration of fascism":<ref name=copsey2007/>

{{quotebox|…''ideological renewal under Griffin constitutes a recalibration of fascism rather than a fundamental break in ideological continuity. All the same, the party's ideological face-lift lends support to Griffin's broader normalization strategy''… The party's opposition to a central state, rejection of ID cards, its call for devolved and decentralized government, its demand for a bill of rights, and the introduction of citizens initiative referenda hardly conveys the impression of a fascist party that seeks totalitarian control over state, society and the individual… Outward appearances suggest that personal freedom and cultural pluralism would remain under a BNP government. But, if we probe its manifesto more closely, we soon find evidence of an instinctive susceptibility to illiberal thinking. The proposals include the introduction of a Clause-28 style proscription against the promotion of racial integration in schools and media… its promise that law-abiding minorities would "enjoy the full protection of the law against harassment or hostility" starts to ring somewhat hollow. (emphasis added){{fact}}}}

Goodwin & Ford (2014) similarly argue the BNP has not completely transformed into a right-wing populist party like [[United Kingdom Independence Party|UKIP]] and still has fascist undertones.<ref name=goodwin2014>''Revolt on the Right: Explaining Support for the Radical Right in Britain'' by Robert Ford & Matthew Goodwin (2014) Routledge. ISBN 041569051X.</ref> Others disagree with this analysis and categorize the BNP as "radical populist right" with the [[Front National]], {{wpl|Lega Nord}} and [[Party for Freedom]].<ref name=akkerman>"Inclusion and mainstreaming?" by Tjitske Akkerman et al. (2016) In: ''Radical Right-Wing Populist Parties in Western Europe'', edited by Tjitske Akkerman et al. Routledge. ISBN 1138914835.</ref> For Kessel (2015), the modern BNP is no longer a fascist party because: "In recent years, the BNP explicitly aimed to present itself as a democratic party. The manifesto for the 2005 general election was actually titled 'Rebuilding British democracy' and warned against excessive central state control."<ref name=kessel2015>''Populist Parties in Europe: Agents of Discontent?'' by Stijn van Kessel (2015) Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 1137414103.</ref>

Some have argued Griffin's own comments reveal his "modernisation" is a deceptive strategy:<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/audio_video/programmes/panorama/transcripts/transcript_25_11_01.txt Panorama: Under the Skin] Interview between Jane Corbin and Nick Griffin (November 25, 2000) ''BBC''.</ref>
{{cquote|Once we're in a position where we control the British broadcasting media, then perhaps one day the British people might change their mind and say, '[[Final solution|yes, every last one must go]]'. But if you hold that out as your sole aim to start with, you're not going to get anywhere. [[Dog whistle|So, instead of talking about racial purity, we talk about identity]] … The British National Party isn't about selling out its ideas, which are your ideas too, but we are determined now to sell them, and that means basically to [[Management speak|use the saleable words, as I say, freedom, security, identity, democracy.]] [[Triangulation|Nobody can criticise them. Nobody can come at you and attack you on those ideas.]] They are saleable.|||Nick Griffin, addressing an audience with [[David Duke]] by his side.{{fact}}}}

The BNP stood 117 candidates in the 2005 general election polling 192,746 votes (averaging 4% in seats contested<ref name=goodwin2011/>{{rp|45}}). In Barking, BNP candidate {{wpl|Richard Barnbrook}} polled 4,916 votes (17%) which remains the highest vote share for a far right party in a parliamentary seat; Griffin contested {{wpl|Keighley (UK Parliament constituency)|Keighley}} and gained 9%; in Burnley the BNP vote was 10%, a minor decrease from the previous election.

===Heydey of the BNP, 2006-2009===
The BNP launched an intensive campaign in Barking for the 2006 local elections; Eddy Butler the same year was made National Elections Officer by Griffin. By attempting to broaden its appeal to voters, more ethnic minorities stood as candidates for the party. These included Sharif Abdel Gawad, a [[Greek]]-[[Armenian]].<ref>[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/bnps-ethnic-man-defies-the-far-right-6104189.html BNP's 'ethnic' man defies the far right] by Shirin Aguiar-Holloway (09 April 2006 00:00 BST) ''Independent''.</ref> However this "provoked a backlash among BNP hardliners who described Gawad as an 'ethnic' who should be barred from the party on race grounds."<ref>[http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2006/apr/08/uk.race BNP in turmoil as members row about 'ethnic' candidate] by Michael White & Martin Wainwright (7 Apr 2006 21.11 EDT) ''The Guardian''.</ref> According to Griffin, the BNP is no longer a [[white nationalist]] party; writing in ''Identity'' he said: "unlike racial nationalist purists, we would be opposed to the arrival at Dover of several million [[German]] or [[Swedish]] immigrants".<ref>Copsey, 2007.</ref> The BNP clings still to an ethnic view of British identity, but calls its new ideology "Popular Nationalism":
{{cquote|…while we are determined to become a party of Popular Nationalism, we are not bend-with-the-wind populists. Our proposals are not a mishmash of simplistic short-term policies cynically designed to evoke maximum sympathy and minimum hostility from an electorate bored with political ideas. They are instead a tightly argued, moderately presented, blueprint for the radical transformation of Britain and British society.|||Nick Griffin<ref name=copsey2007/>}}

In May 2006 the BNP stood 363 council candidates and got 33 elected, averaging a record 18% of the vote in contested seats.<ref name=tetteh/> Twelve councillors were elected onto Barking and Dagenham council and Barnbrook won a seat in {{wpl|Barking and Dagenham London Borough Council election, 2006|Gorebrook ward|,}} polling 1,434 votes (42%). Elsewhere, the BNP won council seats in Epping Forest, Stoke-on-Trent and Sandwell.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4974870.stm BNP doubles number of councillors] (5 May 2006, 17:14 GMT 18:14 UK) ''BBC News''.</ref> This success led to a journalist to infiltrate the BNP. He reported in December 2006 that: "techniques of secrecy and deception [are] employed by the British National party in its attempt to conceal its activities and intentions".<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/dec/21/thefarright.topstories3 Exclusive: inside the secret and sinister world of the BNP] by Ian Cobain (21 Dec 2006 07.32 EST) ''The Guardian''.</ref> The BNP expected to keep up momentum at the 2007 local elections with 744 candidates, but their average vote in council seats fell to 13%.<ref name=tetteh/> They did though win a few more councillors.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6622285.stm Mixed poll results so far for BNP] (4 May 2007, 18:46 GMT 19:46 UK) ''BBC News''.</ref> In the Welsh Assembly elections held the same year the BNP came just short (2,580 votes) of gaining a regional seat on the Assembly.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/6622777.stm Record Welsh election for the BNP] (4 May 2007, 12:11 GMT 13:11 UK) ''BBC News''.</ref> In August 2007 the BNP won a council by-election in Epping Forest, polling 393 votes (32%).<ref>[http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/1655345.bnp_win_loughton_alderton_ward/ BNP win Loughton Alderton by-election] by Edmund Tobin (30<sup>th</sup> August 2007) ''Guardian-Series''.</ref>

Griffin fought off an attempted leadership challenge in December 2007. For the 2008 {{wpl|London Assembly election, 2008|London Assembly election|,}} the BNP spent £75,000 on producing and delivering over a million leaflets across London; Barnbrook narrowly secured a seat on the Assembly, polling 130,714 votes (5%). In the FPTP constituency seat covering Barking and Dagenham, the BNP won 18,020 votes (10%). The BNP also slightly increased their average vote (14%) in contested local council seats that year, winning three seats on Stoke-on-Trent council and another in Epping Forest.<ref name=tetteh/> In November 2008, the entire 11,000 BNP membership list with names, addresses, telephone numbers and employment details was leaked on the internet.<ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/3479612/BNP-membership-list-leaked-onto-internet.html BNP membership list leaked onto internet] by James Kirkup & Christopher Hope (18 November 2008 • 7:36pm) ''The Telegraph''.</ref> {{wpl|Simon Darby||,}} deputy leader of the BNP commented, "In a way it's a compliment, a sign of how worried people are about how well we're doing." Griffin has argued since the list contains members from all backgrounds, jobs and professions&nbsp;— the BNP is respectable: "What could do more to distance the party from its image as a reservoir of white working-class discontent than a ballerina&nbsp;- Simone Clarke&nbsp;- with a [[Cuban]] boyfriend espousing the party's anti-immigration policies?"<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7737651.stm Privacy issues for BNP members] by Iain Watson (14:52 GMT, Wednesday, 19 November 2008) ''BBC News''.</ref>
[[Image:BNP_Map.jpg|thumb|400px|[[WikiLeaks]] map showing geographical distribution of BNP members.]]

Support for the BNP peaked in the 2009 European Parliament election when the party won 943,598 votes (6%); Nick Griffin and [[Andrew Brons]] were elected as MEP's by proportional representation. In {{wpl|Yorkshire and the Humber (European Parliament constituency)|Yorkshire and the Humber}}, Brons won a seat with 10% of the vote share and Griffin with 8% in the {{wpl|North West England (European Parliament constituency)|North West|.}} Griffin has stated the electoral breakthrough was the result of the [[Labour Party]], [[Liberal Democrats]] and [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservatives]] allowing mass-immigration from eastern [[European Union]] countries: "by leaving the door to Britain open, has forced people to turn to a party which speaks openly about the problem of immigration".<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8088381.stm BNP secures two European seats] (14:07 GMT, Monday, 8 June 2009 15:07 UK) ''BBC News''.</ref> 

[[File:Question time nick griffin protest.jpg|thumb|right|400px|The protest against Griffin appearong on ''Question Time'']]
Nick Griffin appeared in October 2009 on [[BBC]]'s political discussion show ''Question Time'' with 8 million viewers, three times its normal audience.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/oct/23/bnp-question-time-ratings BNP leader's Question Time appearance draws almost 8m viewers] by Jason Deans (23 Oct 2009 05.30 EDT) ''The Guardian''.</ref> There was an organised protest outside the BBC Television Centre; Griffin accused the protesters of "attacking the rights of millions of people to listen to what I've got to say and listen to me being called to account by other politicians".<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8321157.stm Angry scenes face Griffin at BBC] (22 October 2009 00:08 UK) ''BBC News''.</ref> Griffin was regarded to have performed poorly on the show by members of his own party.<ref>[http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/oct/25/nick-griffin-question-time-bnp Nick Griffin attacked by his own BNP supporters over Question Time] by Jamie Doward (24 Oct 2009 19.06 EDT) ''The Guardian''.</ref> A YouGov poll taken hours after Griffin’s appearance on the show, found 22% would "seriously consider" voting for the BNP in a future election.<ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/6417906/One-in-four-would-consider-voting-BNP.html One in five 'would consider voting BNP' after Nick Griffin Question Time appearance] by Rosa Prince (23 October 2009 • 9:45pm) ''The Telegraph''.</ref><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8323638.stm BNP support in poll sparks anger] (24 October 2009 08:56 UK) ''BBC News''.</ref> However of these, only 4% said they would "definitely" vote for the party. A 2009 study by Robert Ford found that the BNP is only "realising a fraction of its electoral potential".<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20170216175858/http://www.manchester.ac.uk/discover/news/article/?id=4677 Twenty per cent of British voters agree with BNP] (19 May 2009) ''The University of Manchester'' (archived from February 16, 2017).</ref> One in five of the British electorate agree with key BNP policies but the majority are "reluctant to endorse a policy when they become aware of a BNP connection" because of a "severe image problem".

In November 2009 the BNP contested a parliamentary by-election in {{wpl|Glasgow North East}}. The BNP candidate polled 1,013 votes (5%) and nearly pushed the Conservatives into 4<sup>th</sup> place, coming within 20 votes of saving his deposit, which was a shock to the Scottish parties; the BNP rarely stood any candidates north of England.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20091116190448/http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/2728395/BNP-come-close-to-third-place-in-Glasgow-North-East.html That was Brit close] by Andrew Nicoll & Kenny McAlpine (13 Nov 2009) ''The Scottish Sun'' (archived from November 16, 2009).</ref> At the end of 2009, BNP had 55 councillors.<ref>Tetteh, 2009.</ref>

===Membership policy change===
The Equality and Human Rights Commission took legal action against the BNP's "indigenous British" membership policy.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8308582.stm BNP to consider non-white members] (14:32 GMT, Thursday, 15 October 2009 15:32 UK) ''BBC News''.</ref> Griffin had already allowed ethnic minorities to join such as {{wpl|Lawrence Rustem}} a [[Northern Cyprus|Turkish Cypriot]], but a small section in the BNP constitution said membership was restricted to "indigenous British ethnic groups" including the "Anglo-Saxon (English) folk community" and the "Celtic Scottish folk community". In February 2010, the BNP agreed to amend the constitution with Griffin proclaiming: "We recognise legal reality... they can't call us racist anymore".<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8514736.stm BNP votes to ditch whites-only membership rule] (8:57 GMT, Sunday, 14 February 2010) ''BBC News''.</ref> Griffin used the change to persuade voters who consider voting BNP but are off-put by the party's "angry white men" image.<ref>"Angry White Men: Individual and Contextual Predictors of Support for the British National Party" by Robert Ford & Matthew J. Goodwin (2010) ''Political Studies''. 58(1):1-25. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9248.2009.00829.</ref> Rajinder Singh who became a member expressed his opinion: "They are trying to soften up. Shouldn't the nation welcome that? It's a positive move if they get people like me, and if I'm sitting in a BNP meeting they won't say 'Throw all of them out' because they'll realise one of 'them' is among 'us'."<ref>[http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/feb/11/bnp-nonwhites-members-sikh-join 'Every Hindu and Sikh should be praising the BNP'] by Jenny Kleeman (11 Feb 2010 04.00 EST) ''The Guardian''.</ref>

The membership was ''still'' ruled be [[Discrimination|discriminatory]] by a judge, who 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 12<sup>th</sup> addition of their constitution."<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8564742.stm BNP membership rules still discriminatory, court rules] (23:03 GMT, Friday, 12 March 2010) ''BBC News''.</ref> This remains a matter of legal compliance, and is unlikely to signify any more policy change.

===The Battle for Barking, 2010===
In the 2010 general election the BNP stood 338 candidates polling 564,321 votes. Their average vote (4%) for parliamentary seats contested was the same as the previous election.<ref>Goodwin, 2011: 45.</ref> A documentary was produced called {{wpl|''The Battle for Barking''}} which filmed the BNP campaign in Barking where Nick Griffin was a candidate. Griffin failed to win the seat, polling 6,620 votes (15%). In Burnley, the BNP vote share fell to 9%. Simon Darby stood for the party in Stoke-on-Trent Central and thought he had a good chance of winning.<ref>[http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/apr/08/election-bnp-stoke-immigration General election 2010: 'There is real risk from BNP here']. The Guardian. April, 2010.</ref> However, Darby polled only 2,502 votes (8%). Overall, the BNP won no seats and £132,500 was wasted on lost deposits.<ref>Goodwin, 2011: 45.</ref> In the 2010 local elections, the BNP lost 26 council seats, including all of its councillors in Barking and Dagenham.<ref>[http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/may/14/general-election-2010-fall-bnp General election 2010: the defeat of the BNP]. ''The Guardian''. May, 2010.</ref><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8668885.stm  BNP loses all 12 seats in Barking and Dagenham council]. ''BBC News''. May, 2010.</ref> The new image Griffin was trying to sell to the electorate — a respectable multi-ethnic BNP with a black member on the Barking campaign<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzSesQ5epwQ BNP's Ethnic Minority Member] (Apr 30, 2010) ''YouTube''.</ref> was jeopardised by violence when white BNP activists brawled with Asians on a street-corner.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8663681.stm Asian men and BNP candidate Bob Bailey clash in Barking]. ''BBC News''. May, 2010.</ref>

In June 2010 Eddy Butler challenged Griffin for the leadership of the party, but failed to obtain the nominations required. Infighting over Griffin as chairman led to around a hundred members to leave and create the {{wpl|British Freedom Party}} which made contacts with the [[English Defence League]]; Griffin in response called the BFP "militant [[homosexuals]]" (it had a gay member) and the EDL as "[[Zionism|Zionists]]", ending his phase of trying to appear moderate. In July 2010, Barnbrook stood in a council by-election in Barking (in the same ward he was formerly a councillor); he came second with 642 votes (34%).<ref>[http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/jul/09/bnp-beaten-labour-london-byelections BNP beaten by Labour in east London by-elections]. ''The Guardian''. July, 2010.</ref>

===Vote collapse, 2011-present===
The BNP's vote fully collapsed in the 2011 and 2012 local elections when they lost all their councillors in Stoke-on-Trent and Burnley.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-13313069 Vote 2011: BNP suffers council seat losses]. ''BBC News''. May, 2011.</ref><ref>[http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2012/may/04/local-elections-bnp-crashes-out BNP crashes out in local elections]. ''The Guardian''. May, 2012.</ref> Brons resigned from the BNP in October 2012.<ref>[http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2012/10/fatal-blow-latest-split-within-british-national-party A fatal blow? The latest split within the British National Party]. ''New Statesman''. October, 2012.</ref> Half of the BNP's membership (including Eddy Butler) quit to join the [[English Democrats]] or form their own splinter-groups such as the {{wpl|British Democratic Party (2013)|British Democratic Party|,}} [[Britain First]], [[Andrew Emerson|Patria]] and Britannica Party. Hardliners like Richard Edmonds re-joined the [[National Front]]. The poor election results were not the only reason for members resigning; Griffin was accused of financial mismanagement and being a [[dictator]]. In the 2012 {{wpl|London Assembly election, 2012|London Assembly election|,}} the BNP polled 47,024 votes (2%) and failed to re-elect a candidate. By 2013, the [[United Kingdom Independence Party]] emerged as the popular alternative to the BNP:
{{cquote|What we did, starting with the Oldham by-election in the North of England is for the first time ever try to deal with the BNP question by going out and saying to BNP voters, if you are voting BNP because you are frustrated, upset with the change in your community, but you are doing it holding your nose because you don't agree with their racist agenda, come and vote for us. I would think that we have probably taken a third of the BNP vote directly from them.|||[[Nigel Farage]]<ref>[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/nigel-farage-says-he-is-proud-to-have-secured-former-bnp-supporters-9227478.html Nigel Farage says he is 'proud' to have secured former BNP supporters]. ''Independent''. April, 2014.</ref>}}

Farage admitted that UKIP had been campaigning to attract BNP voters since the 2011 parliamentary by-election in {{wpl|Oldham East and Saddleworth by-election, 2011|Oldham East and Saddleworth}} where UKIP polled 2,029 votes (6%) and the BNP, 1,560 (5%). In 2012 by-elections the BNP vote further declined, while the UKIP vote massively increased; an exception was {{wpl|Rotherham by-election, 2012|Rotherham}} where the BNP managed to retain a fairly significant vote share (9%) based on the local popularity of its candidate Marlene Guest. In the 2013 local elections the BNP stood 100 candidates averaging a mere 6% in seats contested; UKIP stood 1742 candidates and averaged a spectacular 24%.<ref>Goodwin & Ford, 2014.</ref> The BNP won no councillors, but UKIP gained 147. According to Matthew Goodwin, "There is a clear relationship between the rise of UKIP in local elections and the disintegration of the BNP".<ref>[http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/staggers/2016/01/what-killed-bnp What killed the BNP?]. ''New Statesman''. January, 2016.</ref> He also noted that UKIP can succeed where the BNP failed since UKIP "is not tainted by a violent, fascist past". Free of extremist baggage, it is able to appeal to a more diverse range of voters.

Griffin lost his seat in the 2014 European parliament election and was later expelled from the party and replaced as chair by Adam Walker, a former college lecturer and more recently a karate teacher.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jan/31/bnp-leader-coaching-children-despite-lifetime-teaching-ban BNP leader is coaching children despite lifetime teaching ban] by Nazia Parveen (31 Jan 2017) ''The Guardian''.</ref> By 2015, the BNP was left with a single councillor in Pendle, Lancashire. The collapse of the BNP has recently seen the party abandon trying to appear moderate and respectable, calling UKIP "plastic nationalists" and Farage having "sold out to the Zionist lobby".<ref>[http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/04/01/the-bnp-accuse-ukip-of-being-zionists_n_2991744.html BNP Accuses Ukip Of Being ‘Zionists’ Because Of Support For Israel] by Tom Moseley (April 1, 2013) ''Huffington Post''.</ref>

In January 2016, the BNP was temporarily stripped of official political party status by the Electoral Commission after failure to submit its annual accounts and other reporting formalities. At this time, it was estimated that BNP assets totalled less than £50,000.<ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/bnp/12089676/BNP-stripped-of-official-status-as-a-political-party-by-the-Electoral-Commission.html BNP stripped of official status as a political party by the Electoral Commission] by Kate Mccann & Steven Swinford (08 January 2016 • 3:19pm) ''Telegraph''.</ref> The BNP re-registered with the Electoral Commission for the May 2016 {{wpl|London Assembly election, 2016|London Assembly election|,}} but polled a dismal 15,833 votes (1%).

Griffin attempted to emigrate to [[Hungary]] in 2017, but was banned from the country.<ref>[https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/politics/2017/05/29/far-right-leader-nick-griffin-banned-from-hungary/ Far right leader Nick Griffin banned from Hungary] by Sue Austin (May 29, 2017) ''Shropshire Star''.</ref> Meanwhile the few remaining members of the party were up to their old tricks: Paul Sturdy, BNP candidate for Dagenham in Essex, was criticised after sharing a [[Facebook]] post with a cartoon [[Evil Jew]] saying, "we want to create a [[One world government|one world state]] [[International Jewish conspiracy|ruled by JEWS]]".<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20201128084226/http://www.barkinganddagenhampost.co.uk/election-2017-jews-use-islam-to-rule-world-claims-post-by-dagenham-bnp-hopeful-1-5052722 Election 2017: ‘Jews use Islam to rule world’ claims post by Dagenham BNP hopeful] by Sebastian Murphy-Bates (Published: 16:49 07 June 2017 | Updated: 12:51 08 June 2017) ''Barking and Dagenham Post'' (archived from November 28, 2020).</ref> 10 BNP candidates stood in the 2017 UK general election, the best showing being Adam Walker's 2.3% in Bishop Auckland (County Durham); he came fourth out of four candidates.<ref>{{wpa|British National Party election results}}</ref>

==Electoral performance==
===Local elections===
{| class="wikitable"
! colspan=5 | Local elections results for BNP (2000-2013)<ref name=goodwin2014/><ref name=tetteh/>
|-
! Year !! Candidates !! Average Vote % 
|-
| 2000 ||  13 ||  8%
|-
| 2001 || 4 || 4%
|-
| 2002 || 67 || 16%
|-
| 2003 || 217 || 17%
|-
| 2004 || 312 || 16%
|-
| 2005 || 41 || 11%
|-
| 2006 || 363 || 18%
|-
| 2007 || 744 || 13%
|-
| 2008 || 612 || 14%
|-
| 2009 || 442 || 11%
|-
| 2010 || 716 || 9%
|-
| 2011 || 264 || 9%
|-
| 2012 || 132 || 8%
|-
| 2013 || 100 || 6%
|}

==Policies==
[[File:BNPmanifesto.jpg|thumb|left|The BNP had long been "committed to stemming and reversing the tide of non-white immigration and to restoring, by legal changes, negotiation and consent, the overwhelmingly white makeup of the British population that existed in Britain prior to 1948."<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20070629010001/http://www.bnp.org.uk/resources/constitution_8ed.pdf ''Constitution of the British National Party''] (2004) British National Party. Eighth Edition. Archived from June 29, 2007. Note: pages are out of order in this copy.</ref>{{rp|3}} In 2009, Griffin said he "no longer wants to see an all-white United Kingdom" because "nobody out there wants it or would pay for it."<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8146585.stm BNP 'does not want all-white UK'] (12 July 2009 16:01 UK) ''BBC News''.</ref>]]

===Immigration===
{{cquote|We are pledged to stemming and reversing the immigration and migration of peoples into our British Homeland that has, without the express consent of the Indigenous British, taken place since 1948, and to restoring and maintaining, by legal changes, negotiation and consent, the Indigenous British as the overwhelming majority in the make up of the population of and expression of culture in each part of our British Homeland.|||BNP Constitution 2010, v12.2, Section 3, Clause 3.2.3, page 7.<ref>''Citizenship, the Self and the Other: Critical Discussions on Citizenship and How to Approach Religious and Cultural Difference'' by Malik Ajani (2015) Cambridge Scholars Publishing. ISBN 9781443875127.</ref>{{rp|114-115}}}}

The ''raison d'etre'' of the BNP has always been strong opposition to immigration with few exceptions; Griffin has described this as "exceptional immigration". The 2005 BNP manifesto stated that immigration from "Africa, Asia, China, Eastern and South Eastern Europe, the Middle East and South America would all be placed on an immediate ‘stop’ list", but would accept foreign students with visas.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/BNP_uk_manifesto.pdf ''Rebuilding British Democracy: British National Party General Election Manifesto, 2005''] via ''BBC''.</ref> The BNP would deport all illegal immigrants and oppose refugees since "international law provides that such persons must be given – and must seek – refuge in the nearest safe country. So, unless a flood of refugees from a civil war in France or Denmark shows up on our shores, these refugees are simply not Britain’s responsibility and have no right to refuge here." In their 2010 manifesto, the BNP said it would allow for foreign work permits, but "only [to] be issued in exceptional circumstances, for example, when the Government determines there is a need to rebuild British industry or when there is a genuine shortage of skills." Regarding ethnic minorities, "The BNP recognises the right of legally settled and law-abiding minorities to remain in the UK and enjoy the full protection of the law, on the understanding that the indigenous population of Britain has the right to remain the majority population of our nation."<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20141222101023/https://www.bnp.org.uk/sites/default/files/british_national_party_manifesto_2010.pdf ''Democracy, Freedom, Culture and Identity: British National Party General Election Manifesto, 2010''] (archived from December 22, 2014).</ref>

===Voluntary repatriation===
The BNP would offer immigrants already settled ₤50,000 per person to leave the country as part of its "voluntary repatriation" programme.<ref>[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/bnp-would-offer-pound50000-to-leave-the-country-1957668.html BNP would offer £50,000 to leave the country] by Jon Smith (29 April 2010 09:22 BST) ''Independent''.</ref>

The BNP's voluntary repatriation policy would apply not to just to recent immigrant arrivals in the last few decades, but all members of the sizeable [[Asia]]n and [[Caribbean|West Indian]] communities that have grown in Britain since the 1950s (two or three generations).

===European Union===
The British National Party since 1982 advocated British withdrawal from the [[European Union]].

==Racism==
In a statement of the party's policies and intentions, Griffin repeatedly emphasised that the party is "[[Not racist, but...|not racist]]," while describing Britain as a "fundamentally white nation," condemning [[miscegenation]] as unnatural, and reiterating that he considers non-[[Caucasian]]s, or white citizens who choose non-whites as [[sex]]ual or [[marriage]] partners, as unsuitable for party membership. He stated that, once the BNP has removed the majority of immigrant groups from the country, "[t]hose non-Europeans who stay will have British passports and will be protected by our laws, but they will be regarded as permanent guests, and not as native [[England|English]], [[Scots]], [[Welsh]] or [[Irish]], because such status [[Racism|springs from blood]] and not from printers’ ink."<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20030619230455/http://bnp.org.uk/articles/race_reality.htm The BNP: Anti-asylum protest, racist sect or power-winning movement?] by Nick Griffin, ''British National Party'' (archived from June 19, 2003).</ref> Griffin claims to be opposed to racism, describing the [[Ku Klux Klan]] as "a vile organisation" despite meeting with its Grand Dragon, [[Don Black]].<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/6410324/Nick-Griffin-met-US-head-of-Ku-Klux-Klan.html Nick Griffin met US head of Ku Klux Klan] by Andrew Pierce (22 October 2009 • 8:31pm) ''The Telegraph''.</ref> He also claims to be "the most loathed man in Britain in the eyes of Britain's [[Nazi]]s",<ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/griffin-i-am-not-a-nazi-1807557.html Griffin: 'I am not a Nazi'] by Gavin Cordon (22 October 2009 22:00 BST) ''Independent''.</ref> saying that they see him as "a sell-out". Clearly he hasn't read his article on [[Metapedia]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20180303041154/https://en.metapedia.org/wiki/Nick_Griffin Nick Griffin] ''Metapedia'' (archived from March 3, 2018).</ref>

[[Antisemitism]] has also been a significant aspect of BNP ideology, and BNP leaders have made several statements of [[Holocaust denial]]. On ''Question Time'', Nick Griffin was challenged on it but refused to comment on why he changed his views or why he originally denied it, muttering something about it being illegal and [[free speech]] or something, even after Justice Secretary [[Jack Straw]] pointed out that he could not, and would not be prosecuted for it (Holocaust denial is ''not'' a crime in the UK, as it is some European countries<ref>{{wpa|Legality of Holocaust denial}}</ref>). However, in recent years the party has decided that its major enemy is&nbsp;— you guessed it&nbsp;— [[Islam]]. A BNP statement during 2006 asserted that "[t]he real enemies of the British people are home grown Anglo-Saxon Celtic liberal-leftists who seek to [[Family values|destroy the family]] as the building blocks of society and impose [[multiculturalism]] on a reluctant indigenous population and the Crescent Horde&nbsp;- the [[Eurabia|endless wave of Islamics]] who are flocking to our shores to bring our island nations into the embrace of their [[Not even wrong|barbaric desert religion]]."<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20071014195726/http://www.bnp.org.uk/news_detail.php?newsId=1057 News article filed by BNP news team] (28<sup>th</sup> July 2006) ''British National Party'' (archived from October 14, 2007).</ref>

The BNP's attempts to disguise its [[Racialism|racialist]] roots and pose itself as a legitimate political force are hardly convincing, especially as many of its prominent members have past convictions for violent offences and [[hate crime]]s. Its attempts to sound the alarm about the supposed Islamic "threat to all of us" also comes off as hollow in the wake of this quote from Griffin, which manages to be both [[bigot]]ed ''and'' unprincipled: 

{{cquote|''We bang on about Islam. Why? Because to the ordinary public out there it's [[Populism|the thing they can understand]]. It's the thing the newspaper editors sell newspapers with. If we were to attack some other ethnic group&nbsp;— some people say we should attack the Jews… But… 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… 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 [[Zionist]]s just because you want to take poor Manny Cohen the tailor and [[Holocaust|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>''Islamic Movements of Europe: Public Religion and Islamophobia in the Modern World'', edited by Frank Peter & Rafael Ortega (2014) I.B. Tauris. ISBN 1848858442.</ref>}}

Predictably, their law and order policies follow the "hang 'em and flog 'em" line. But they mean it ''literally''. They would "re-introduce [[corporal punishment]] for petty criminals and vandals" and "Restore [[capital punishment]] for [[paedophile]]s, [[terrorist]]s and murderers as an option for judges in cases where their guilt is proven beyond dispute."

The party has also advocated the recognition of November as [[White History Month]].<ref>[http://www.newstatesman.com/uk-politics/2008/11/history-month-white-bnp Anger over BNP's 'white history month'] by Tim Lezard (26 November 2008) ''New Statesman''.</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20081113113458/http://hurryupharry.org/2008/11/12/bnp-white-history-month-whitewashes-history/ BNP ‘White History Month’ whitewashes history] by Edmund Standing (November 12<sup>th</sup> 2008, 11:11 pm) ''Harry's Place (archived from November 13, 2008).</ref>

==Splinters==
As with its predecessor the National Front, the BNP has spawned a good number of splinter groups. Generally, these were founded by people loyal to far-right politics but critical of Griffin's leadership. Examples include the [[British Freedom Party|British "Freedom" Party]], the {{wpl|British Democratic Party (2013)|British Democratic Party|,}} [[Britain First]] and [[Andrew Emerson|Patria]].

==People associated with the BNP==
[[File:Paul-golding-cenotaph-knickers.jpg|thumb|Man with the knickers on his head (or did Gumby<ref>[https://montypython.fandom.com/wiki/Gumbys Gumbys] ''Monty Python Wiki''.</ref> buy a suit?): [[Britain First]] leader, Paul Golding, former BNP activist (here he was still in the [[National Front]]). The man in the middle of the photo appears to be Mark Collett.]]

*John Tyndall: Founder; dethroned and deceased.
*Nick Griffin: Leader from 1999-2014. Quit to form the BUP. 
*Adam Walker: Current leader.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-28408039 Griffin defends record after stepping down as BNP leader], BBC News, 21 July 2014.</ref>
*Lee Barnes: Former legal officer, now a dissident after falling out with Griffin.
*[[Jonathan Bowden]]: Served as cultural officer before falling out with Griffin; deceased.
*[[Andrew Brons]]: One of the BNP's two MEPs, until he left to start his own party after falling out with Griffin.
*Jack Buckby: former BNP member who now claims to be a "counter-extremist". Many people however doubt he's really changed his racist views.
*[[Sarah Maid of Albion|Sarah "Maid of Albion" Davies]]: Blogger.
*Mark Collett: a young BNP leader, who featured in a Channel 4 documentary {{wpl|Young, Nazi and Proud|''Young, Nazi and Proud''}}<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7hYxYZbqtQ Young, Nazi and Proud] (Jun 3, 2012) ''BBC'' via ''YouTube''.</ref> and ''RE:BRAND Naziboy'', where he called [[HIV/AIDS]] a "friendly disease" and expressed his admiration for [[Adolf Hitler]] to the Jewish journalist, unaware he was being filmed.<ref>[https://youtu.be/gVRHsczLJrY Brand - Episode 2 - Naziboy] (Jul 6, 2013) Russell Brand's ''RE:Brand'' via ''YouTube''.</ref>
*[[Michael Coombs]]: a neo-Nazi Twitter [[troll]] who claims to have been a former BNP member and has described Nick Griffin as a "good man"
*Carlos Cortiglia: [[Irony|Uruguayan-born]] candidate for Mayor of [[London]] in 2012.
*[[Jim Dowson]]: Former fundraiser; later left the party to create [[Britain First]] with comrade Paul Golding (has since left BF)
*[[Kenneth McKilliam‎]]: Involved in the party in its early days; died in 1993.
*[[Alan O'Reilly]]: Activist and raving fundie.
*[[Clive Potter]]: Former parliamentary candidate and leader of alleged BNP front Solidarity; now involved with English nationalism.
*Jack "Boot" Renshaw, the leader of the Youth BNP{{efn|Not a typo, it's been through many incarnations. {{wpa|Resistance (YBNP)}}}} in the North West, Jack "Boot" Renshaw, made international news{{efn|Such as from [[The Young Turks]], who describe him as "conservative", showing that they really don't understand British politics ''at all''.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vy7hxf0yH_k Conservative Threatens Homosexual Dog] (Jul 21, 2014) ''The Young Turks'' via ''YouTube''.</ref>}} after claiming that his gay dog undermined his principles by "licking the penises of other male dogs" (The horror! It's almost as is this sort of thing happened in nature…{{efn|Yes, this is an [[appeal to nature]]}}), claiming that "my principles will likely win!.<ref>[http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/07/17/bnp-youth-member-jack-renshaw_n_5594461.html BNP Youth Member Jack Renshaw Has Principles Challenged By His 'Gay Dog'] (July 17, 2014) ''The Huffington Post UK''.</ref> The party consequently crashed dramatically in the {{wpl|European Parliament election, 2014 (United Kingdom)|European elections}} of that year.

==See also==
*[[Golden Dawn]]
*[[Oswald Mosley]]
*[[Persecution complex]]
*''[[Reductio ad Hitlerum]]''

==External links==
*[http://www.stopthebnp.org.uk/ Stop the BNP] 
*[http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/apr/20/bnp-handbook-european-elections BNP says some members are oddballs and liars], ''The Guardian''
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QAvkFS_cgk Cassetteboy remix of Nick Griffin on Question Time]
*[http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2446/4038713677_4759ee9d17_o.jpg Visualisation of BNP membership vs non-white populations]
*[https://youtu.be/ir_q5xps_Ds Newsnight: The Rise and Fall of the BNP]. The comments on this are truly something to behold.

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

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==Sources==
* Akkerman, T., De Lange, S. L., Rooduijn, M. (2016). "Inclusion and mainstreaming?" in: Akkerman, T (ed.) ''Radical Right-Wing Populist Parties in Western Europe: Into the Mainstream?''. Routledge.
* Copsey, N. (1996). "Contemporary Fascism in the Local Arena: The British National Party and Rights for Whites" in: Cronin, M. (ed.) ''The Failure of British Fascism''. Macmillan: 118-140.
* Copsey, N. (2004). ''Contemporary British Fascism: The British National Party and the Quest for Legitimacy''. Palgrave Macmillan.
* Copsey, N. (2007). "Changing Course or Changing Clothes? Reflections on the Ideological Evolution of the British National Party, 1999–2006". ''Patterns of Prejudice''. 41(1): 61-82. [http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~waltonj/404_rr/changing%20course.pdf]
* Ford, R., Goodwin, M. (2010). "Angry White Men: Individual and Contextual Predictors of Support for the British National Party". ''Political Studies''. 58(1): 1-25.
* Goodwin, M. (2011). ''New British Fascism: Rise of the British National Party''. Routledge.
* Goodwin, M., Ford, R. (2014). ''Revolt on the Right: Explaining Support for the Radical Right in Britain''. Routledge.
* Kessel, S. V. (2015). ''Populist Parties in Europe: Agents of Discontent?''. Palgrave Macmillan.
* Tetteh, E. (2009). "Electoral performance of the British National Party in the UK". House of Commons Library. [http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN05064/SN05064.pdf] 
* Wilks-Heeg, St. (2009). "The Canary in a Coalmine? Explaining the Emergence of the British National Party in English Local Politics. ''Parliamentary Affairs''. 62(3): 377-398.
* Willis, J. R. (2011). Explaining the support of the British National Party in the 1999, 2004 and 2009 European Parliament Elections. Florida State University. M.A. Thesis.

{{UKPoliticalParty}}
[[Category:Alt-right]]
[[Category:Antisemitism]]
[[Category:British political parties]]
[[Category:British right wing]]
[[Category:Far-right political parties]]
[[Category:Fascism]]
[[Category:Homophobia]]
[[Category:Islamophobia]]
[[Category:Nationalism in the UK]]
[[Category:Neo-Nazism]]
[[Category:Racism]]
[[Category:Sexism]]

Categories: Alt-right, Antisemitism, British political parties, British right wing, Far-right political parties, Fascism, Homophobia, Islamophobia, Nationalism in the UK, Neo-Nazism, Racism, Sexism