British Freedom Party

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For the similarly named defunct party active in the early 2000s, see Freedom Party (United Kingdom).
For the currently active organisation with the same name, see Jayda Fransen.

British Freedom Party
ChairmanKevin Carroll
FoundedOctober 2010
DissolvedDecember 2012 (de-registered)
Split fromBritish National Party
HeadquartersLondon
IdeologyBritish nationalism[1]
Euroscepticism
Anti-Islam[2][3][4]
Political positionFar-right[5]

The British Freedom Party (BFP) was a short-lived far-right political party in the United Kingdom.[5] The party was registered on 18 October 2010. It was de-registered by the Electoral Commission in December 2012[6] after failing to return the annual registration form and £25 fee by the due date of 31 October 2012.[4]

Formation[edit]

The BFP was registered on 18 October 2010 by Paul Weston (party leader), George Whale (nominating officer) and Richard Bateman (treasurer).[6] According to The Guardian it was created by "disgruntled members" of the British National Party (BNP).[7] The chairman until January 2013 was Paul Weston, a former UK Independence Party candidate in Cities of London and Westminster.[8] He described the party as "central" in orientation.[9]

The BFP formed a pact with the English Defence League (EDL), whereby members of the latter could stand as election candidates under the British Freedom Party name, given suitable circumstances.[8] It was announced in April 2012 that the EDL leader, Tommy Robinson, would be named deputy party leader. According to The Guardian he would focus on anti-Islamic strategies.[2] Weston was replaced in early January 2013 by Kevin Carroll, former deputy leader of the EDL.[10] Weston went on to found Liberty GB[11] which put forward three candidates, including Weston, for the 2014 European election.[12]

Mission statement[edit]

The stated objectives of the British Freedom Party were "to defend and restore the freedoms, traditions, unity, identity, democracy and independence of the British people, to establish full sovereignty over all our national affairs by restoring the supremacy of the British Parliament, to withdraw from the European Union, to promote democratic British nationalist principles, to promote the social, economic, environmental and cultural interests of the British people and to preserve and promote the ancestral rights and liberties of the British people as defined in the British Constitution."[13]

The party also had a 20 Point Plan[14] on its main website, highlighting some of its key policies. They ranged from economic issues to social ones.

Ideology[edit]

The British Freedom Party espoused what it called "cultural nationalism".[15] Weston said in an interview that the founders of the British Freedom Party "... believed that culture, not color, was the important thing in Britain especially multi-cultural Britain. We can have one culture and it's not important about what color or race you come from".[16][non-primary source needed]

Stephen Tweed, the BFP's local party organiser for Kings Lynn and West Norfolk,[17] objected in April 2012 to the creation of an Islamic centre in an old pub in King's Lynn, because it would be "exclusive, it will not be for the general public, it will be for Muslims only".[18]

Membership[edit]

According to the party's official return to the Electoral Commission, at the end of 2010 the party had 62 members. The report continues "Our membership to date is approximately 149", but no date is provided.[19]

Elections[edit]

In the 2012 local elections the British Freedom Party fielded six candidates, five of them in Liverpool. All polled very low, ranging from 0.6% of the vote to 4.2%. In Fazakerley, Peter Stafford received 50 votes, a 1.51% share of the total in that ward.[20]

The party stood Kevin Carroll, the deputy leader of the EDL, in the November 2012 Police and Crime Commissioner election in Bedfordshire.[21] He came fourth with 8,675 votes (10.6%),[22] saving his deposit.[citation needed]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Joint leader of English Defence League Kevin Carroll arrested on suspicion of race hate crime". The Independent. 14 January 2013.
  2. ^ a b Mark Townsend, "Britain's far right to focus on anti-Islamic policy", The Observer, 28 April 2012
  3. ^ Michael Holden, "UK anti-Islamist group to form "Freedom Party", Reuters, 23 March 2012
  4. ^ a b Sonia Gable (December 2012). "British Freedom Party deregistration: the truth". Searchlight. Archived from the original on 31 December 2012.
  5. ^ a b Kevin Rawlinson & Paul Cahalan, "Far right unites in European initiative", The Independent, 27 February 2012
    - "British Freedom Party leader to speak in Toronto". Toronto Sun. 17 February 2012. Archived from the original on 1 June 2012. Retrieved 26 February 2012.
  6. ^ a b "Registration summary British Freedom Party". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
  7. ^ Trilling, Daniel (12 September 2012). "10 myths of the UK's far right". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  8. ^ a b Kevin Rawlinson (25 November 2011). "English Defence League prepares to storm local elections". The Independent. Retrieved 13 December 2011.
  9. ^ "Michael Coren interviews Paul Weston". The Arena. 8 December 2011.
  10. ^ "Kev Carroll Becomes British Freedom Chairman". British Freedom. Archived from the original on 6 January 2013. Retrieved 3 January 2013.
  11. ^ Martin Evans, "Election candidate arrested over Churchill speech", The Telegraph, 28 April 2014
  12. ^ "Euro candidate Paul Weston arrested over Islam remarks", BBC News, 28 April 2014
  13. ^ "British Freedom Party Mission Statement". British Freedom Party. Archived from the original on 15 January 2013. Retrieved 2 May 2014 – via Wayback Machine.
  14. ^ "20 Point Plan". British Freedom. Archived from the original on 15 January 2013. Retrieved 2 May 2014 – via Wayback Machine.
  15. ^ British Freedom, What is British Cultural Nationalism? (Archived at Wayback Machine 15 January 2013; retrieved 2 May 2014)
  16. ^ Jerry Gordon (March 2012). "A Future for Britain Free from Islamization: An Interview with British Freedom Party Chairman, Paul Weston". New English Review.
  17. ^ "Free Speech Banned on YouTube". British Freedom Party. Archived from the original on 22 September 2012. Retrieved 2 May 2014 – via Wayback Machine.
  18. ^ "Racist messages about King's Lynn Islamic centre taken off website". BBC News Norfolk. 26 April 2012. Retrieved 2 October 2012.
  19. ^ British Freedom Party Statement of Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2010, page 3 (Available from Electoral Commission searchable database)
  20. ^ "Election results by wards, 3 May 2012". Liverpool City Council. 3 October 2022.
    - "Liverpool Council election results 2012". Liverpool Echo. 4 May 2012.
  21. ^ "Police and Crime Commissioners: Who's running?" (PDF). The Police Foundation. 31 October 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 August 2012. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
  22. ^ "Bedfordshire Tories criticise Nadine Dorries MP as Labour wins", BBC NEWS Beds, Herts & Bucks, 16 November 2012


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