Stretford & Urmston by-election: another episode in the slow death of Faragism

Reform UK leader Richard Tice (above right) with his party’s ill-fated by-election candidate Paul Swansborough, campaigning in Stretford & Urmston

The result of the Stretford & Urmston parliamentary by-election was declared a few minutes ago. Predictably it resulted in a massive majority for Labour, but for H&D readers the more interesting aspect was another shockingly poor result for Reform UK, the latest vehicle for the political ideas of Nigel Farage, who was once among Europe’s most successful populist leaders.

Farage was most famous for his decade as leader of UKIP. He had a year out of office from 2009-2010, but was otherwise leader from 2006 until the Brexit referendum victory of 2016. Having made a huge contribution to the UK voting to leave the EU, Farage returned to electoral politics from 2019-2021 as leader of the Brexit Party, so as to ensure that the political establishment was unable to frustrate the referendum result.

In 2021 the Brexit Party was rebranded as Reform UK and Farage retired in favour of his close political ally Richard Tice, but he has remained a powerful voice in support of the party and has hinted that he might return to the arena at the next general election.

The problem is that Reform UK (despite being hyped recently by academics and journalists) seems to have very little public support and little ideological coherence.

Would you-buy a second-hand ideology from these men? Former UKIP and Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage (above left) with his Reform UK successor Richard Tice.

At yesterday’s by-election in Stretford & Urmston (a socially and racially divided constituency west of Manchester), Reform UK’s candidate Paul Swansborough polled only 3.5% (650 votes), an equivalent percentage but far lower numerical vote than the Brexit Party achieved in the same constituency in 2019: 3.5% (1,768 votes).

At its peak in 2015, UKIP polled 5,068 votes (10.9%) here.

This is the sixth successive parliamentary by-election at which Reform UK have lost their deposit, despite in this instance spending lavishly on their campaign and busing in activists from elsewhere in the region.

What makes it far worse is that the Tory vote predictably collapsed at this by-election, but disillusioned Tories stayed at home, unpersuaded by Reform UK even as a protest vote option.

One insuperable problem is that UKIP and the Brexit Party had a clear message that attracted large numbers of otherwise politically diverse voters: i.e. leaving the European Union.

That battle has been won – not even the most diehard pro-European nor the most paranoid Brexiteer believes that the UK will re-enter the EU in the foreseeable future. The issue is now settled, and the issues on which Reform UK is choosing to fight are mostly ones that cannot possibly enthuse the White working class who delivered the Brexit victory.

Reform UK have failed to capitalise on the unpopularity of Rishi Sunak, seen here hosting a Diwali reception at Downing Street soon after his accession as Tory Party leader and Prime Minister.

Reform UK are essentially a post-Thatcherite, right-wing version of the Tories – tax cuts, shrink the state, free market capitalism, ‘Singapore on Thames’.

They talk a good fight about immigration, but their devotion to international capitalism means that at root their ideological commitment is to the very force that drives migration and ‘One Worldism’.

In short, they have nothing to offer to White working-class voters, and unlike the Brexit Party are unable to disguise that fact. Moreover many voters are waking up to the reality that Brexit is failing to deliver the changes that were once expected, especially regarding immigration.

Civic nationalism, Brexitism, Faragism – all these populist forces are now dead or dying. It remains to be seen whether racial nationalism, which unlike Faragism is a coherent programme for national renewal, can revive and unite behind a serious political party. The British Democrats are on the way to achieving that, just as Patriotic Alternative are on the way to creating a broader challenge outside electoral politics, but there is a very long way to go before we can say that racial nationalism in the UK is back on its feet.

By-election voters reject entire nationalist movement: time for a reboot

Boris Johnson’s premiership is in crisis after two by-election defeats: but voters also rejected the entire spectrum of nationalist parties

Two dramatic parliamentary by-election results tonight delivered a potentially fatal blow to the authority of Boris Johnson. But they also showed that voters even in strongly pro-Brexit constituencies have rejected the entire nationalist movement as presently constituted.

A wide range of different nationalist parties and independents were on the ballot papers in the West Yorkshire constituency of Wakefield, and the Devon constituency of Tiverton & Honiton, offering various combinations of UKIP-style politics; criticism of immigration; rejection of ‘woke’; traditional patriotism; opposition to Islam; racial or semi-racial nationalism; and/or conspiracy theories about the pandemic. Yet the voters were decidedly unimpressed.

On the issues listed above (with the likely exception of CoVID conspiracism which has niche appeal at best) there are undoubtedly many thousands of voters across the two constituencies (as elsewhere in the UK) who agree with civic or racial nationalist policies.

As recently as 2010, the BNP (which of course no longer even pretends to function as a proper political party) polled 2,581 votes in Wakefield (5.8%).

Yet this week all six of the nationalist or anti-lockdown parties in Wakefield added together polled only half this total: just 1,293 votes!!

Ashlea Simon (above centre) at the Salford local election count last month. That was a good night for Ms Simon and her party Britain First, but they came down to earth with a bump tonight in Wakefield.

In Wakefield the most active nationalist campaign was fought by Ashlea Simon of Britain First, who had achieved the country’s best nationalist result at last month’s local elections, polling 21.6% in Walkden North ward, Salford.

Wakefield is of course on the other side of the Pennines, but this West Yorkshire city has many of the same racial problems that led to strong BNP votes in the 2000s. And the fact that the by-election was caused by a homosexual Muslim Conservative MP being jailed for sexual abuse of a 15-year-old boy, ought to have been a gift for even a semi-racial nationalist party.

Ms Simon and her team (including Britain First leader Paul Golding) put in a serious effort, but polled only 311 votes (1.1%), finishing 8th of 15 candidates.

This wasn’t a great result, but the outcome for other nationalist contenders in Wakefield was truly dire. Jayda Fransen of the British Freedom Party was bottom of the poll with only 24 votes (less than 0.1%).

Ms Fransen had to stand as an independent because her party isn’t yet registered. She and the two men who pull the strings in her ‘party’ – Ulster ‘businessman’ Jim Dowson and former MEP Nick Griffin – talk a good fight online, but are effectively seeking to con potential donors that they are running a serious political force (rather than the farce that it truly is).

In a rational world, Fransen, Dowson and Griffin would never show their face again in any political forum, online or in person. But doubtless they are shameless enough to keep the con going.

Serial political conman Nick Griffin (above left) with the nominal leader of the ‘British Freedom Party’, Jayda Fransen, who last night polled one of the most embarrassing votes in British nationalist history.

The best of a feeble bunch of civic nationalist results in Wakefield was Reform UK – successor to Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party – finishing sixth with 513 votes (1.9%). But given the comparatively vast resources expended by Richard Tice’s party, this is another shockingly meagre return. Tice’s donors must be running out of patience.

The rump of UKIP polled 124 votes (0.5%), beaten by the English Democrats with 135 votes (0.5%).

And while the anti-lockdown and anti-vaccination movement continues to make a lot of noise both online and in occasional demonstrations, their standard bearer in Wakefield – the Freedom Alliance – barely registered with 187 votes (0.7%).

Meanwhile in Tiverton & Honiton – a traditionally safe Conservative and strongly pro-Brexit seat in Devon – nationalist results were equally dismal.

Reform UK’s total here was even worse than in Wakefield: 481 votes (1.1%). UKIP again failed miserably with 241 votes (0.6%), just ahead of one of the splinter groups from UKIP, the Heritage Party (led by a half-Jamaican and focusing heavily on CoVID-scepticism) who took only 167 votes (0.4%).

The wooden spoon went to Frankie Rufolo of the anti-Islam party For Britain Movement, who polled 146 votes (0.3%). For Britain is led by a former UKIP leadership candidate Anne-Marie Waters, who is now allied to EDL founder ‘Tommy Robinson’ and claims that she is building towards winning a seat in Parliament at the next general election. On present trends she wouldn’t win a parliamentary seat if she lived for another millennium.

Frankie Rufolo (above right) with For Britain leader Anne-Marie Waters. The Tiverton & Honiton result was another in a recent series of disastrous results for their party.

Ever since the collapse of the BNP a decade ago there has been nothing even resembling a large-scale, successful racial nationalist party. The BNP no longer even pretends to function as a proper political party. Patriotic Alternative (the fastest growing racial nationalist force in the UK) is not registered as a party and so is unable to contest elections. And various smaller parties ranging from the British Democratic Party to the National Front are not yet a substantial presence in parliamentary elections.

Both of the constituencies that had by-elections yesterday were strongly pro-Brexit, and were won by Boris Johnson’s pro-Brexit Conservative Party in 2019. Yet the by-elections were caused by personal scandals forcing the resignation of Conservative MPs. So there ought to have been potential for various types of nationalist to attract voters who had previously backed the Tories.

In this context the Wakefield and Tiverton & Honiton results were frankly an embarrassment not just for the parties concerned, but for everyone who calls himself a British nationalist.

Many of those who were active in these campaigns are decent patriots. Yet their political strategies and in most cases their entire party structures should be consigned to the scrapheap.

If we cannot now escape from crank ideas and personal bitterness; if we cannot now agree some form of realistic yet principled agenda and create a serious political movement (whether that movement is electorally focused, or at least for now concentrates on non-electoral politics) – then we deserve the contempt of our fellow Britons and we are unworthy of our ancestors.

Nationalist and patriotic candidates at the 2022 elections

Note: The statistics below have been obtained from many hours of research on local council websites across the UK during the past few days. Inevitably there is the possibility of error either by ourselves or by council returning officers. H&D will continually update and correct all facts relating to this year’s elections and this site will continue to be the most accurate and impartial source for electoral news regarding British nationalist parties across the ideological spectrum.

Tony Martin, chairman of the National Front, at an NF Remembrance Day event with the late Richard Edmonds

National Front – 2 candidates
Tim Knowles, Langley Mill & Aldercar, Amber Valley 28 votes (2.6%) 4th of 4
Chris Jackson, Todmoden, Calderdale 101 votes (3.1%) 5th of 5

British Democrats – 4 candidates
Chris Bateman, Laindon Park, Basildon 100 votes (4.6%) 4th of 5
Michael Jones, East Wickham, Bexley 253 votes (5.7%) 8th of 8 in three vacancy election
Dr Jim Lewthwaite, Wyke, Bradford 214 votes (7.1%) 3rd of 6
Lawrence Rustem, Shepway South, Maidstone 117 votes (13.7%) 3rd of 4

For Britain leader Anne Marie Waters on the election campaign trail with former BNP election guru Eddy Butler

For Britain Movement – 14 candidates
Leo Robinson, Keighley West, Bradford 41 votes (1.2%) 7th of 7
Eddy Butler, Loughton Alderton, Epping Forest 11 votes (1.3%) 4th of 4
Pat Richardson, Loughton Broadway, Epping Forest 16 votes (2.0%) 4th of 4
Frankie Rufolo, Exwick, Exeter 192 votes (7.7%) 7th of 9 in two vacancy election
Chris Stone, St Thomas, Exeter 25 votes (0.9%) 6th of 6
Eric Bransden, Topsham, Exeter 35 votes (1.2%) 4th of 4
Anne-Marie Waters, De Bruce, Hartlepool 203 votes (14.5%) 3rd of 4
Barry McGrath, St Andrew’s & Docklands, Hull 65 votes (3.8%) 4th of 4
Christine Dillon, Shevington, Knowsley 18 votes (1.0%) 4th of 4
Terrence Oakes, Town Centre, St Helens 176 votes (15.3%) 4th of 4 in two vacancy election
Sam Harding, Charlemont with Grove Vale, Sandwell 74 votes (2.6%) 4th of 5
Nigel Pearson, Chard South, Somerset 171 votes (6.1%) 7th of 7
Mia Americanos-Molinaro, Welham Green & Hatfield South, Welwyn Hatfield 19 votes (1.1%) 5th of 5
Gary Bergin, Claughton, Wirral 57 votes (1.7%) 5th of 5

Britain First – 3 candidates
Nicholas Scanlon, Eltham Page, Greenwich 255 votes (10.6%) 6th of 7 in two vacancy election
Ashlea Simon, Walkden North, Salford 508 votes (21.6%) 2nd
Carl Burgess, Brynna and Llanharan, Rhondda 191 votes (5.6%) 8th of 8 candidates in three vacancy election

Robin Tilbrook, leader of the English Democrats

English Democrats – 5 candidates
Maxine Spencer, Dearne North, Barnsley 128 votes (8.3%) 3rd of 5
Janus Polenceusz, Dearne South, Barnsley 101 votes (5.5%) 4th of 5
Steve Morris, Besses, Bury 166 votes (5.3%) 10th of 11 in three vacancy election
David Black, Sinfin, Derby 56 votes (2.3%) 5th of 5
Robin Tilbrook, Chipping Ongar, Greensted & Marden Ash, Epping Forest 72 votes (7.5%) 4th of 5

English Constitution Party – 2 candidates
Colin Birch, Hylands & Harrow Lodge, London Borough of Havering 140 votes (4.5%)
Jane Birch, Hylands & Harrow Lodge, London Borough of Havering 125 votes

Reform UK – 123 candidates
Sam Wood, Lligwy, Anglesey 108 votes (3.5%) 7th of 7 in two vacancy election
Norma Saggers, Lee Chapel N, Basildon 157 votes (8.7%) 3rd of 3
Ian Bishop, Billesley, Birmingham 93 votes (2.2%) 9th of 9 in two vacancy election
Aimee Monson, Astley Bridge, Bolton 108 votes (3.1%) 5th of 5
Daniel Swarbrick, Bradshaw, Bolton 191 votes (5.8%) 4th of 4
Martin Mcloughlin, Breightmet, Bolton 228 votes (7.4%) 3rd of 4
Amy Hare, Bromley Cross, Bolton 183 votes (4.5%) 4th of 5
Gareth Fitzsimmons, Crompton, Bolton 198 votes (5.0%) 3rd of 4
Sharon Whitworth, Farnworth, Bolton 143 votes (4.9%) 4th of 5
Alex McAllister, Great Lever, Bolton 149 votes (5.2%) 3rd of 5
Norman Cryer, Halliwell, Bolton 156 votes (5.6%) 3rd of 5
Phillip Worthington, Harper Green, Bolton 180 votes (5.6%) 4th of 5
Gordon Campbell, Heaton & Lostock, Bolton 596 votes (13.9%) 3rd of 4
Loren Richards, Horwich & Blackrod, Bolton 46 votes (1.2%) 6th of 6
Darren Lear, Horwich NE, Bolton 40 votes (1.1%) 6th of 6
Robert Lowe, Hulton, Bolton 171 votes (5.3%) 5th of 5
Julie Pattison, Kearsley, Bolton 221 votes (7.6%) 5th of 6
Keith Harris, Little Lever & Darcy Lever, Bolton 485 votes (14.8%) 4th of 5
Christopher Riley, Rumworth, Bolton 62 votes (1.7%) 4th of 5
Helen Shaw, Smithills, Bolton 183 votes (4.8%) 4th of 5
Trevor Jones, Tonge with the Haulgh, Bolton 401 votes (13.9%) 3rd of 4
Jeff Armstrong, Westhoughton N & Chew Moor, Bolton 84 votes (2.2%) 5th of 5
Richard Bates, Westhoughton S, Bolton 97 votes (2.8%) 5th of 5
Robert Prince, Brentwood North, Brentwood 31 votes (1.9%) 5th of 5
Kevin Cadwallader, East, Bury 236 votes (7.6%) 8th of 9 in three vacancy election
Paul Allen, Norton Canes, Cannock Chase 87 votes (5.0%) 3rd of 3
Steven Thomas, College, Cheltenham 47 votes (2.4%) 8th of 8 in two vacancy election
Allan Griffiths, Furnace Green, Crawley 91 votes (5.2%) 4th of 4
David Surtees, Seaton, Cumberland 69 votes (4.1%) 5th of 5
Julie Paxton, Abbey, Derby 103 votes (3.5%) 5th of 5
David Adams, Allestree, Derby 139 votes (2.9%) 5th of 5
Alan Graves, Alvaston, Derby [defending councillor] 1,692 votes (54.9%) 1st of 4
Stephen Handley, Arboretum, Derby 128 votes (4.9%) 4th of 4
James Wise, Blagreaves, Derby 103 votes (2.8%) 4th of 4
Alan Lindsey, Boulton, Derby [new candidate defending seat] 1,176 votes (41.0%) 1st of 4
Alfred Saxby, Chaddesden, Derby 89 votes (3.0%) 4th of 5
George Warren, Chellaston, Derby 100 votes (2.6%) 5th of 5
Lucy Murphy, Darley, Derby 104 votes (2.7%) 5th of 5
Gouy de Muyncke, Derwent, Derby 62 votes (2.8%) 4th of 4
Carol Bradley, Littleover, Derby 55 votes (1.3%) 5th of 5
Nigel Caulton, Mackworth, Derby 97 votes (3.7%) 5th of 5
Steve Peach, Mickleover, Derby 85 votes (1.7%) 5th of 5
Anthony Blaney, Normanton, Derby 135 votes (4.8%) 3rd of 4
Helen Caulton, Oakwood, Derby 82 votes (2.6%) 5th of 5
Brenden May, Sinfin, Derby 96 votes (3.9%) 4th of 5
Stephen Fowke, Spondon, Derby 248 votes (7.5%) 5th of 5
Austin Ward, Brierley Hill, Dudley 89 votes (3.7%) 4th of 4
Clare Fawcett, Eastleigh C, Eastleigh 70 votes (3.1%) 6th of 6
Peter Bell, Chipping Ongar, Greensted and Marden Ash, Epping Forest 26 votes (2.7%) 5th of 5
Steve Richards, Fareham West, Fareham 44 votes (1.9%) 6th of 6
Dave Vernon, Connah’s Quay – Golftyn, Flintshire 52 votes (4.7%) 5th of 5 in two vacancy election
Aaron Pinder, Leesland & Newton, Gosport 93 votes (4.6%) 7th of 7 in two vacancy election
Steve Wright, Manor House, Hartlepool 131 votes (10.7%) 4th of 4
Steve Sandick, Rossmere, Hartlepool 43 votes (3.6%) 4th of 4
Glynis Jones, Seaton, Hartlepool 295 votes (17.4%) 3rd of 3
Sarah Smith, Godmanchester and Hemingford Abbots, Huntingdonshire 206 votes (7.1%) 7th of 7 in three vacancy election
Ian Robinson, Netherton, Hyndburn 88 votes (7.9%) 3rd of 3
Wayne Fitzharris, Overton, Hyndburn 178 votes (11.6%) 3rd of 3
Sarah-Kay Fitzharris, Peel, Hyndburn 45 votes (6.1%) 3rd of 3
Paul Hacker, Rishton, Hyndburn 81 votes (5.1%) 4th of 4
Paul Brown, St Oswald’s, Hyndburn 120 votes (5.8%) 6th of 7 in two vacancy election
Richard Oakley, St Oswald’s, Hyndburn 35 votes 7th of 7 in two vacancy election
Susan Laird, Holme Valley N, Kirklees 63 votes (1.2%) 6th of 6
Michael Pastor, Blackfen & Lamorbey, London Borough of Bexley 325 votes (7.4%) 8th of 8 in three vacancy ward
Marc Mason, Blendon & Penhill, London Borough of Bexley 262 votes (6.2%) 8th of 8 in three vacancy ward
Marian Newton, Falconwood & Welling, London Borough of Bexley 245 votes (5.7%) 8th of 8 in three vacancy ward
Linda Purcell, St Mary’s & St James, London Borough of Bexley 125 votes (4.1%) 6th of 7 in two vacancy election
Graham Reakes, Kelsey & Eden Park, London Borough of Bromley 105 votes (2.2%) 10th of 10 in three vacancy election
Edward Apostolides, Shortlands & Park Langley, London Borough of Bromley 156 votes (3.1%) 10th of 10 in three vacancy election
Victor Jackson, West Wickham, London Borough of Bromley 133 votes (2.6%) 11th of 11 in three vacancy election
David Schofield, Bush Hill Park, London Borough of Enfield 71 votes (1.6%) 11th of 11 in three vacancy election
Jeff Evans, Ridgeway, London Borough of Enfield 88 votes (1.8%) 11th of 11 in three vacancy election
Deborah Cairns, Whitewebbs, London Borough of Enfield 85 votes (1.7%) 11th of 12 in three vacancy election
Wendy Beaumont, Eltham Park & Progress, London Borough of Greenwich 98 votes (2.3%) 7th of 7 in two vacancy election
Tom Bright, Eltham Town & Avery Hill, London Borough of Greenwich 164 votes (3.5%) 10th of 10 in three vacancy election
Terry Wheeler, Greenwich Peninsula, London Borough of Greenwich 48 votes (2.3%) 13th of 13 in three vacancy election
Sharon Kent, Kidbrooke Park, London Borough of Greenwich 127 votes (4.9%) 7th of 7 in two vacancy election
Mark Simpson, Mottingham, Coldharbour & New Eltham, London Borough of Greenwich 149 votes (3.4%) 8th of 8 in three vacancy election
Ruth Handyside, Shooters Hill, London Borough of Greenwich 89 votes (2.8%) 7th of 7 in two vacancy election
Jimmy Wu, Woolwich Arsenal, London Borough of Greenwich 74 votes (2.4%) 10th of 10 in three vacancy election
Ian Price, Hatch End, London Borough of Harrow 208 votes (6.2%) 7th of 7 in two vacancy election
Zbigniew Kowalczyk, Pinner South, London Borough of Harrow 108 votes (1.8%) 9th of 9 in three vacancy election
Howard Koch, Stanmore, London Borough of Harrow 95 votes (2.4%) 11th of 11 in three vacancy election
Lynne Huxtable, Beam Park, London Borough of Havering 23 votes (2.0%) 8th of 8 in two vacancy election
David Small, Bunhill, London Borough of Islington 51 votes (2.1%) 13th of 14 in three vacancy election
Edward Cole, Clapham Common & Abbeville, London Borough of Lambeth 23 votes (0.8%) 9th of 9 in two vacancy election
Kay McKenzie, Custom House, London Borough of Newham 93 votes (3.2%) 14th of 14 in three vacancy election
Daniel Oxley, Royal Albert, London Borough of Newham 48 votes (3.3%) 9th of 9 in two vacancy election
David Sandground, Wall End, London Borough of Newham 103 votes (2.4%) 13th of 14 in three vacancy election
Alex Wilson, Bridge, London Borough of Redbridge 274 votes (6.8%) 9th of 10 in three vacancy election
Paul Randolfi, Dulwich Village, London Borough of Southwark 50 votes (1.1%) 9th of 9 in two vacancy election
John Cronin, Old Kent Road, London Borough of Southwark 121 votes (3.2%) 11th of 11 in three vacancy election
Matt Davis, Chingford Green, London Borough of Waltham Forest 150 votes (3.4%) 9th of 9 in three vacancy election
Robin Williams, Endlebury, London Borough of Waltham Forest 54 votes (1.9%) 7th of 7 in two vacancy election
Richard King, Larkswood, London Borough of Waltham Forest 70 votes (1.6%) 11th of 11 in three vacancy election
Nick Buckley, Deansgate, Manchester 30 votes (1.7%) 5th of 5
Gordon Fletcher, Valley, North Tyneside 110 votes (3.9%) 4th of 4
Robert Everall, Cayton, North Yorkshire 130 votes (11.0%) 4th of 4
Sue Morris, Park, Peterborough 116 votes (4.1%) 5th of 5
Tony Allen, Paston & Walton, Peterborough 142 votes (7.1%) 5th of 5
Frank Knight, Batchley & Brockhill, Redditch 103 votes (5.3%) 3rd of 4
Chris Scott, Horley C & S, Reigate & Banstead 181 votes (8.2%) 4th of 4
Joseph Fox, South Park & Woodhatch, Reigate & Banstead 90 votes (4.0%) 4th of 4
Phil Bourqui, Uppingham, Rutland 36 votes (2.9%)
Peter Durnell, Bristnall, Sandwell 150 votes (6.2%) 3rd of 4
Graham Nock, Charlemont with Grove Vale, Sandwell 53 votes (1.9%) 5th of 5
John Booker, West Ecclesfield, Sheffield 356 votes (8.4%) 4th of 5
Alan Grace, St Luke’s, Southend 45 votes (1.9%) 7th of 7
Amodio Amato, Woodfield, Stevenage 50 votes (3.5%) 4th of 4
Taff Davies, Cheadle Hulme South, Stockport 64 votes (1.5%) 5th of 5
Dottie Hopkins, Davenport & Cale Green, Stockport 108 votes (3.4%) 5th of 6
Lynn Schofield, Edgeley & Cheadle Heath, Stockport 60 votes (2.0%) 5th of 5
John Kelly, Offerton, Stockport 91 votes (2.7%) 5th of 5
Stephen Speakman, Stepping Hill, Stockport 46 votes (1.1%) 5th of 5
Barbara Mitchison, Denton NE, Tameside 100 votes (4.7%) 4th of 4
Mike Hancock, Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan 190 votes (5.7%) 9th of 9 in three vacancy election
David Dews, Wrenthorpe & Outwood W, Wakefield 160 votes (3.9%) 6th of 6
Elaine Williams, Birchills-Leamore, Walsall 156 votes (7.1%) 3rd of 3
Graham Eardley, Pelsall, Walsall 278 votes (10.4%) 3rd of 3
Neal Webber, Oxhey, Watford 37 votes (1.8%) 4th of 4
Max Windsor-Peplow, Bedwardine, Worcester 30 votes (1.1%) 6th of 7
Paul Hickling, St Peter’s Parish, Worcester 29 votes (1.4%) 5th of 5
Charles Dodman, Little Acton, Wrexham 12 votes (1.5%) 4th of 4

Neil Hamilton – former Tory MP and government minister – is the most recent leader of the dying UKIP

UKIP – 28 candidates
George Cowen, North Berwick Coastal, East Lothian 18 first prefs (0.3%) 8th of 8 in three vacancy election
Stuart Martin, Grangemouth, Falkirk 27 first prefs (0.5%) 8th of 8 in three vacancy election
Gerald Haddrell, Kirkcaldy N, Fife 45 first prefs (0.9%) 8th of 8 in three vacancy election
Christopher Ho, Greater Pollok, Glasgow 46 first prefs (0.5%) 11th of 11 in four vacancy election
Melanie Roberts, Colne Valley, Kirklees 106 votes (1.9%) 5th of 5
Kathleen Garner, South Croydon, London Borough of Croydon 117 votes (2.5%) 13th of 13 in three vacancy election
Julie Carter, Ealing Common, London Borough of Ealing 101 votes (1.7%) 11th of 11 in three vacancy election
Nicholas Markwell, Greenford Broadway, London Borough of Ealing 158 votes (3.9%) 11th of 11 in three vacancy election
Geoff Courtenay, Colham & Cowley, London Borough of Hillingdon 199 votes (4.8%) 11th of 11 in three vacancy election
Daryl Gardner, Airdrie N, North Lanarkshire 25 first prefs (0.4%) 8th of 8 in four vacancy election
Neil Wilson, Motherwell SE & Ravenscraig, North Lanarkshire 40 first prefs (0.7%) 8th of 8 in four vacancy election
Jane McEachan, Battle Hill, North Tyneside 113 votes (4.4%) 4th of 4
Jack Thomson, Chirton, North Tyneside 89 votes (4.4%) 5th of 5
Pamela Hood, Cullercoats, North Tyneside 60 votes (1.6%) 4th of 5
William Jackson, Preston, North Tyneside 49 votes (1.6%) 5th of 5
Henry Marshall, Tynemouth, North Tyneside 69 votes (1.7%) 4th of 4
Lynda Davis, Almond & Earn, Perth & Kinross 50 first prefs (1.3%) 6th of 6 in three vacancy election
Michael Virgo, Stannington, Sheffield 122 votes (2.2%) 6th of 6
Peter Richardson, Somerton, Somerset 97 votes (2.6%) 6th of 6 in two vacancy election
Janice Mackay, Clydesdale S, South Lanarkshire 52 first prefs (1.0%) 8th of 8
David Mackay, East Kilbride Central S, South Lanarkshire 30 first prefs (0.6%) 9th of 9
Yvonne Mackay, East Kilbride W, South Lanarkshire 18 first prefs (0.3%) 8th of 8
Donald Mackay, Larkhall, South Lanarkshire 21 first prefs (0.3%) 9th of 9
Reg Coulson, Copt Hill, Sunderland – Mr Coulson died during the campaign so this election was countermanded
Alun Elder-Brown, Broadwater, Tunbridge Wells 18 votes (1.4%) 6th of 6
Victor Webb, Culverden, Tunbridge Wells 85 votes (3.5%) 4th of 4
Jordan Gaskell, Hindley, Wigan 231 votes (10.4%) 4th of 4
Philip Griffiths, Oxton, Wirral 38 votes (1.0%) 5th of 5


Heritage Party – 16 candidates
Glenn Beattie, Upper Bann constituency, Northern Ireland Assembly, 128 first prefs (0.2%) 12th of 12 in five vacancy STV election
Rob Gordon, Talybolion, Anglesey 48 votes (2.2%) 11th of 11 in three vacancy election
Andrew Ross, Craven, Bradford 60 votes (1.0%) 6th of 6
Ben Downton, St Mary’s, Castle Point 23 votes (1.2%) 4th of 4
Caroline Morra, Broadfield, Crawley 112 votes (6.0%) 4th of 4
William Dixon, Howgate, Cumberland 50 votes (3.4%) 4th of 5
Charlie Garrod, Walton South, Elmbridge 69 votes (2.3%) 4th of 4
Frances Crompton, Yateley West, Hart 52 votes (2.2%) 4th of 4
Zachary Stiling, Selsdon & Addington Village, London Borough of Croydon 45 votes (1.3%) 9th of 9 in two vacancy election
Michelle Dray, Baldock Town, North Hertfordshire 32 votes (1.5%) 5th of 5
Bernard Toolan, Peverell, Plymouth 92 votes (2.0%) 5th of 5
Nick Smith, Cippenham Green, Slough 138 votes (7.9%) 3rd of 3
David Cox, Carterton NW, West Oxfordshire 39 votes (3.3%) 5th of 5
Judith Squire, Heathlands, Woking 58 votes (1.9%) 4th of 4
Richard Squire, Mount Hermon, Woking 53 votes (1.7%) 4th of 4
Tim Read, St John’s, Woking 87 votes (3.1%) 4th of 4

Alliance for Democracy and Freedom – 5 candidates
Sarah Packman, Bramley, Basingstoke & Deane 175 votes (7.2%) 3rd of 3
Marianne Fitzgerald, Binley & Willenhall, Coventry 113 votes (3.4%) 5th of 5
Sandra Sparrow, Stoke Park, Ipswich 31 votes (1.7%) 5th of 5
Phillip Moulson, South, NE Lincolnshire 102 votes (7.3%) 3rd of 4
Paul Goldring, Royton N, Oldham 79 votes (3.1%) 5th of 5

Independents
Gary Butler, Heath, Maidstone 49 votes (3.3%) 5th of 5
Melanie Butler, Shepway North, Maidstone 94 votes (5.8%) 5th of 5

further details to follow

Is Nigel Farage plotting yet another comeback?

Nigel Farage resigned several times and made several comebacks as leader of UKIP and then the Brexit Party – is he going to be tempted back?

Prof Matthew Goodwin, one of Britain’s leading academic commentators on the partly connected worlds of Brexit and civic nationalism, published an article this morning speculating that Nigel Farage – former leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party and the Brexit Party, and seen as a main architect of Brexit – is planning a return to front-line politics.

It’s easy to see why Farage might be tempted back into the political limelight. Despite his referendum triumph in 2016, his Conservative rivals in the pro-Brexit camp – Boris Johnson, Michael Gove, and their backroom guru Dominic Cummings – took far more of the credit and political benefit. Johnson remains for the moment Prime Minister, Gove is among the potential candidates to succeed him, and Cummings (despite his own acrimonious exit from the corridors of power) probably sees himself as kingmaker in the next Conservative leadership contest.

Meanwhile Farage failed even to be elected an MP, and is now a television presenter for the often risibly inept GB News.

Farage is tipped to return to party politics as part of Reform UK led by his former aide Richard Tice (seen above in Sidcup during a recent failed by-election campaign).

There are only two decent reasons to be in politics: either to win, or to make a serious and consistent contribution to an ideological legacy that one day might win. Farage has done neither, and that failure probably annoys him.

This week’s latest of many scandals that might just sink Boris Johnson will simultaneously add to Farage’s temptation. Is there a gap in the political market?

The short answer is yes, there is a political vacuum on what some would call the ‘right-wing’; but no, Nigel Farage is no longer the man to fill it.

In the Brexit era, Farage’s parties could be all things to all voters, with their ideological hollowness and opportunism disguised by an overriding focus on Brexit.

Yet behind all the populist banter, Farage and his inner circle were and remain essentially sub-Thatcherite libertarians. Their ideal post-Brexit Britain did not involve anything resembling racial nationalism, but rather a ‘Singapore-on-Thames’ built on low taxes, a smaller state, and continuing mass immigration to hold down wages.

Nigel Farage (above left) with his party’s Manchester mayoral candidate, Rabbi Shneur Odze, who was later disgraced by scandal.

The Reform UK party which Farage helped create is very obviously based on that type of ‘free market’ ideology, which has little or no appeal to most of the northern working-class who voted for Brexit in 2016 and in large numbers for Boris Johnson’s Tories in 2019. That’s one reason why Reform UK has failed so badly, and though Farage would certainly be a more charismatic leader than its president frontman Richard Tice, he is unlikely to make any dramatic difference.

If Johnson really is finished, the short-term winners will be the Labour Party, not Reform UK or any other Farage party. And the long-term challenge to the political establishment will have to come from a racial nationalist force rising from the ashes of the BNP, not from the remnants of UKIP and the Brexit Party.

Civic nationalism’s last stand fails in Bexley by-election

Richard Tice – leader of Reform UK – on the campaign trail at Sidcup station

The United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) changed British politics under Nigel Farage’s leadership. Despite the British electoral system preventing Farage from ever winning a Westminster seat, electoral pressure from UKIP forced Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron to hold the 2016 Brexit referendum, and Farage’s campaign skills played a large part in the narrow victory for ‘Leave’ at that referendum.

Yet UKIP never built anything like a proper infrastructure of branches and activists. Its members (indeed almost all of its councillors) were a ragbag of contrarians and cranks, without a coherent ideology beyond Euroscepticism.

Eventually UKIP split in several directions: its most anti-immigration faction (containing a few good racial nationalists but unfortunately at leadership level obsessed by Islam) created the For Britain Movement, led by Anne-Marie Waters. Multiple other splinters ensued, and as in every party split the majority of members simply gave up.

The main successor party to UKIP was the Brexit Party, what remains of that becoming Reform UK, launched by Nigel Farage (who has since given up party politics in favour of broadcasting) and now led by Farage’s ally Richard Tice.

The leader himself was Reform UK’s candidate at a parliamentary by-election yesterday in Old Bexley & Sidcup, on the outer borders of South East London. Richard Tice and his party spent a fortune on their campaign, mobilising their entire London activist base.

Moreover they were up against a weak Tory candidate and a (temporarily at least) weakened Tory Prime Minister. The constituency was strongly pro-Brexit, and the election took place right at the moment when the government’s Covid strategy, until now seen by the vast majority of voters as broadly successful, seemed to be wobbling.

Richard Tice with his political mentor Nigel Farage

Yet Reform UK’s last stand fizzled out. At least they avoided the sort of joke vote that their handful of local candidates have polled. Tice saved his deposit and finished in third place: but it was a very distant third place indeed, 6.6% (1,432 votes). The seat stayed fairly safe for the Conservatives, though their majority over Labour was slashed from 18,952 to 4,478.

To put this in perspective, this constituency was never especially strong for the BNP even in that party’s glory days, but even the BNP – with a mere fraction of Tice’s financial resources – polled seven hundred votes more, though a lower percentage, 4.7% (2,132 votes) here at the 2010 general election.

Needless to say, Tice’s various rivals for the civic nationalist vote fared even worse yesterday: Elaine Cheeseman for the English Democrats polled 1.3% (271 votes); John Poynton for the rump UKIP 0.9% (184 votes); and the mixed-race. ex-UKIP, ex-GLA member David Kurten – leader of the Heritage Party – just 0.5% (116 votes).

Of the eleven by-election candidates, Kurten was the most outspokenly anti-vaccination, anti-lockdown, Covid-sceptic. His joke vote should be a sobering influence on those in the broader nationalist movement who believe that Covid conspiracy theories can be politically fruitful.

David Kurten, half-Jamaican leader of the Heritage Party and the main Covidsceptic candidate, polled just 0.5%

More seriously, Tice’s Reform UK campaign – despite spending a fortune for a pretty miserable return – just about avoided disaster and might keep his donors interested for a while longer. Racial nationalists have long known that the UKIP legacy would have to fade away before our own movement could have any realistic chance of renewing its electoral impact at the level of the 1990s and 2000s, let alone anything more ambitious than that.

Tice’s failure was a step in that direction, and we can safely predict an even worse result for the assorted candidates of civic nationalism in a fortnight’s time at the next parliamentary by-election in North Shropshire.

For us the message should be: get our own ideological and organisational house in order. We no longer have the excuse of an unbeatable civic nationalist obstacle on UK ballot papers – and there is no insuperable anti-White conspiracy. Both in electoral politics and in the broader cultural struggle, our future and the future of White Britons is in our own hands.

Early results from ‘Super Thursday’ elections

This week saw the largest set of local and regional elections in the UK since the reorganisation of local government almost half a century ago.

Most counts will take place during Friday or Saturday, but a few were counted overnight.

As H&D has previously explained, the 2021 elections mark the end of the Nigel Farage era: his old party UKIP is now almost extinct, and the Brexit Party which he launched in 2019 has been rebranded (ineffectively) as Reform UK.

Racial nationalist parties are still in the process of reviving and reorganising themselves after a decade in Brexit’s shadow, but we expect a handful of strong results for several nationalist/populist candidates.

H&D editor Mark Cotterill is contesting Preston City Council and Lancashire County Council seats: when not involved in counts we shall be reporting here on these and other results.

Labour’s Sean Fielding – leader of Oldham Council – has lost his seat to a local independent

Overnight the biggest breaking news was the defeat of Oldham Council leader Sean Fielding (Labour), who lost his seat to former police officer Mark Wilkinson, leader of the Failsworth Independent Party. Perhaps even more sensational for those of our readers who remember the glory days of Oldham BNP was that young Conservative candidate Beth Sharp defeated Labour in St James ward. In the old days this was the top BNP target and a no hope area for the Tories.

Ms Sharp’s victory is an early sign of what will surely be the main narrative of this week’s elections: the continuing success of Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party in areas that were once solidly Labour. This fragmentation could in the long-term be good news for nationalist parties, if we can get our act together.

An extraordinary civil war within Oldham’s Asian community saw Asian Labour candidates lose one Asian ghetto (St Mary’s) and almost lose another (Coldhurst) to Asian independents, while losing the racially split Medlock Vale ward to an Asian Conservative! (This is partly a consequence of local Labour bosses choosing to defy Muslim elders in a row over an Asian feminist councillor.)

In Oldham, UKIP and Reform UK did at least manage to avoid standing against each other, but nevertheless obtained appalling results with all four of their respective candidates finishing bottom of the poll: their votes ranged from 0.8% to 3.8%.

John Evans – re-elected as Reform UK councillor for Alvaston ward, Derby

Elsewhere early results mostly confirmed that Reform UK (the rebranded Brexit Party) will fizzle out within months of its launch. Overnight there were just two Reform UK victories, both in Derby, with Tim Prosser elected in a freak result for Boulton ward, after the Conservative candidate withdrew to give him a free run against Labour; and John Evans retaining the Alvaston ward seat that he first won for UKIP in 2016 before his move first to the Brexit Party and now to Reform UK. The party’s other Derby candidates were heavily defeated.

Most other Reform UK results were very poor indeed: notably in the Hartlepool parliamentary by-election. This had been the Brexit Party’s main target seat only seventeen months ago at the 2019 General Election, where their candidate was Richard Tice, now leader of the rebranded party.

Yet Reform UK polled only 1.2% yesterday, down from Tice’s 25.8% in 2019. Almost all of those pro-Brexit voters swung behind the Conservatives, whose candidate won a historic victory. Most humiliating for Reform UK was that Claire Martin, candidate of the tiny UKIP splinter Heritage Party, polled 468 votes (1.6%) to push Reform UK into fifth place.

Those in our movement who believed that anti-lockdown or Covid-sceptic politics would prove an effective electoral strategy will be sobered by the mere 72 votes (0.2%) won by the Freedom Alliance candidate who finished bottom of a sixteen-strong field in Hartlepool.

In the old UKIP stronghold of Thurrock, two Reform UK candidates finished bottom of the poll, and their rival ex-colleagues from the old UKIP, now standing as Thurrock Independents, lost all the seats they were defending.

Sunderland is one of the few UKIP branches that has remained largely intact with few activists defecting to Farage’s Brexit/Reform, and UKIP managed a substantial local slate of 19 candidates. However they were all heavily defeated: their best result was 18.4% in Redhill ward, which they had won in 2019. The two other Sunderland wards that UKIP won in 2019 were Tory gains from Labour this year, in one case electing an Asian Tory councillor, with UKIP polling 8.1% and 8.8%.

We expect the For Britain Movement (an anti-Islamist party whose leader Anne-Marie Waters is ‘anti-racist’ but whose candidates include high-profile BNP veterans) to poll very well in some areas. However the party’s overnight results were poor, including heavy defeats in two eastern Newcastle wards – 3.5% in Walker and 1.7% in Walkergate.

Three members of the same family contesting Southend wards as For Britain candidates polled 4%, 2.3% and 2.1% respectively.

2021 elections: Showdown for civic nationalist and Brexiteer parties

As we explained last week, the 2021 elections for a variety of local councils, mayoralties, and the Scottish and Welsh Parliaments take place at a time of transition for the racial nationalist movement.

It’s also the end of an era for the various civic nationalist, populist and Brexiteer parties, many of which emerged out of splits in the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), a force that changed the direction of British politics during the past decade but has been in prolonged death throes for the past few years.

The largest faction of the old UKIP followed Nigel Farage into his new Brexit Party, but Farage has now retired from frontline electoral politics. His ally Richard Tice now leads a party renamed and rebranded as Reform UK, which is still the largest of the post-UKIP factions but a lot weaker than its predecessor.

According to our analysis of documents produced by more than two hundred returning officers across England, Scotland, and Wales, Reform UK has 276 candidates for English councils. In addition they are fighting all 14 Greater London Assembly constituencies as well as putting up a GLA slate. (This citywide list, elected on a proportional basis, is one of the few elections where parties such as Reform UK stand a chance. The BNP’s Richard Barnbrook was elected to the GLA via the citywide slate in 2008.)

Nigel Farage has left frontline politics, while his Brexit Party has been rebranded as Reform UK

Reform UK have candidates for 13 of the 39 Police & Crime Commissioner posts up for election on May 6th; as well as three mayoralties.

The biggest showdown between Reform UK and the rump of UKIP is in Wales, where Reform UK is fighting all 40 constituencies as well as all five regional slates. UKIP is fighting all of the regions, but only has candidates in 14 of the 40 constituencies.

At the previous Welsh election in 2016, UKIP won seven seats via the regional list system.

Across the English councils, UKIP’s relative weakness compared to Reform UK is even more marked: we estimate that they have 131 English council candidates (fewer than half Reform UK’s total), plus a London slate. Unlike Reform UK, UKIP have a London mayoral candidate, and they are also contesting the North Tyneside mayoralty.

A Covid-sceptic party called Freedom Alliance (and its South Wales sister party ‘No More Lockdowns’) is fighting four of the five Welsh regional lists and 15 Welsh constituencies. Across England we estimate that they have 89 council candidates. A similar but higher-profile anti-lockdown party is led in London by Piers Corbyn, brother of the former Labour leader. This party – Let London Live – is fighting three GLA constituencies, the citywide list, and the London mayoralty (with Corbyn himself as mayoral candidate).

David Kurten left UKIP to form the Heritage Party

As we have previously reported, yet another anti-lockdown party contesting the London elections is the Heritage Party, founded by former UKIP leadership candidate David Kurten. The half-Jamaican Mr Kurten is standing for the London mayoralty and heads a GLA slate, in a bid to retain the seat he won as a UKIP list candidate in 2016.

The Heritage Party (which has absolutely no connection to H&D!) has 22 candidates nationwide in various English council contests: its strongest area seems to be Surrey, where it has five county council candidates – otherwise it has one or two candidates dotted around the country.

An even smaller UKIP splinter is the Alliance for Democracy & Freedom, founded by yet another former UKIP leadership candidate, ex-MEP Mike Hookem. This has just four council candidates around the country.

Some populists and Brexiteers have quixotically rallied behind the Social Democratic Party (SDP), rump of the party founded by prominent ex-Labour politicians in the 1980s. Most of the SDP was fanatically pro-EU and eventually merged into today’s Liberal Democrats, but the tiny group that kept up the name SDP have been joined by a surprising number of Brexiteers who were unhappy about the ‘far right’ direction of UKIP and its other splinters.

The SDP have 62 council candidates across England, as well as a London mayoral candidate and GLA list.

Robin Tilbrook, leader of the English Democrats

The English Democrats have long attempted to rival the various UKIP splinters by promoting their particular constitutional argument in favour of an English Parliament, and for a while attracted a number of defectors from Nick Griffin’s collapsing BNP.

Almost all of those ex-BNP types are now in the For Britain Movement, but the EDs retain a hardcore of English nationalists led by Essex solicitor Robin Tilbrook. They will have six council candidates, two mayoral and two for Police Commissioner elections.

Independent candidates in these elections include former ED Frank Calladine, standing for Mayor of Doncaster.

The bottom line is that Reform UK is by far the biggest of the parties to emerge from the chaos of a bitterly divided Brexiteer political scene. However we expect them to poll quite badly this year, despite killing off UKIP, the Heritage Party and other splinters.

There will be some strong independent results, and we expect Jim Lewthwaite of the British Democratic Party to poll well in his Bradford City Council ward. But the biggest successes of this year’s elections on the broadly nationalist side of things are likely to be for the For Britain Movement, which will draw support from both civic and racial nationalists despite fielding several non-White candidates.

While these elections will (by the standards of the early 2000s) produce very few nationalist or even broadly populist successes, they will help to clarify the post-Brexit, post-pandemic scene.

H&D will post full reports on the results and their implications, both here and in what will necessarily be a slightly delayed May-June edition of the magazine.

Brexit Party changes name to Reform UK

Nigel Farage (third from right) visiting Donald Trump in happier times at Trump Tower soon after the President’s election victory in 2016, together with Raheem Kassam, Arron Banks, and colleagues from UKIP and Breitbart

Having received approval from the Electoral Commission, the Brexit Party has changed its name to Reform UK.

Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage founded the Brexit Party in 2019 to contest the European Parliamentary elections at a time when it seemed possible the 2016 referendum result might be overturned or diluted.

Having won 29 European seats in that election, the party collapsed six months later when having selected almost 600 parliamentary candidates Farage agreed to withdraw from more than half of these contests in order to give Boris Johnson’s Conservatives a clear run.

This morning Farage and Brexit Party chairman Richard Tice have written to members and supporters explaining the change. In their email (seen by H&D) they write:

“We must reform our approach to Covid, the House of Lords, the Civil Service and the BBC. We need to campaign hard on reforming the voting system and critically, we must reform the economy so that it incentivises the self-employed, entrepreneurs and small businesses. Faster growth for all will be achieved by reforming our taxes, unnecessary regulation and wasteful government spending.”

This makes fairly clear that unlike UKIP, or the 2016 referendum campaign, or the Brexit Party itself, which sought to be ‘all things to all men’, the new party’s pitch is radically neo-Thatcherite, US-style libertarian.

One problem is that (with the exception of electoral reform, which Farage is promoting for self-interested reasons, as would most small parties) this pitch is similar to one wing of Boris Johnson’s cabinet – the likes of Priti Patel, Dominic Raab, Kwasi Kwarteng and Liz Truss.

Another problem is that such ‘free market’ policies would (at least in the short term) be a disaster for many of the ‘left behind’ areas of England that voted for Brexit.

The ‘Movement News’ section in the new Issue 100 of H&D being printed today includes an update on the new Reform Party, its antecedents and competitors in post-Brexit, post-Covid Britain.

Superspiv Farage now backs Blair!

Former UKIP and Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage once again displayed his lack of principle this week by publicly endorsing Tony Blair as head of a vaccination drive to end the Covid pandemic!

While H&D contributors and readers hold a range of divergent views about the merits of vaccination and the nature of the pandemic, I would guess that we would all agree Tony Blair is just about the last person who should ever be entrusted with political power ever again.

Yet Farage said this week:
“It is time to have a government, and to have people leading it, who’ve got genuine talent even if they disagree on many other policy matters. …Much as I don’t like Tony Blair, he does get things done, he commands respect, he is seriously bright. Why not get people like Tony Blair involved to help us solve a national crisis?”

Brexiteers at war: Farage’s criticisms of the government are rooted in bitter splits within the 2016 referendum campaign – Farage (above left) now prefers Tony Blair to Brexiteers such as Johnson and Dominic Cummings (above right).

The truth is of course that Nigel Farage knows absolutely nothing about Covid or the various medical/scientific issues involved.

The sole reason he is now boosting Blair is his residual resentment against Boris Johnson and Johnson’s former adviser Dominic Cummings. Now that the Brexit issue has (perhaps) been resolved, Farage is looking for another headline and ludicrously hopes he might secure some influence in a Blair-led or Blair-influenced “government of national unity”.

No serious analyst imagines that any such national unity government will happen; if it did, there is next to no chance of Blair leading it; and if by some incredibly remote chance Blair did so, there is zero chance of his rewarding or promoting Farage.

The whole idea is a scam, dreamed up to impress certain weakminded voters who periodically express halfbaked notions about national unity governments.

Only one thing is interesting about this bizarre Farage statement: the fact the this superspiv of British politics seems to have calculated that there is no mileage for him in aligning with lockdown sceptics and anti-vaxxers.

IRA supporter becomes Baroness

It’s not often that H&D readers would be likely to agree with the Labour Party leadership, but many will fully support the latest advert from Sir Keir Starmer’s HQ.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has awarded a peerage to Claire Fox, elected last year as an MEP for Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party, but better known as a notorious IRA supporter during her years of activism for the Revolutionary Communist Party.

H&D documented Ms Fox’s terrorist sympathies in an online article on May 1st 2019. The following day a Brexit Party candidate resigned because she felt unable to remain on the same slate as Ms Fox.

Oldham-born Munira Mirza, daughter of a Pakistani immigrants, was also a Revolutionary Communist Party activist, and is now head of the Downing Street policy unit. However Ms Mirza was too young to have been in the RCP at the time of its support for the IRA.

Ms Fox on the other hand was one of the leading RCP officials throughout the period when it was defending some of the most brutal terrorist acts ever committed in the British Isles, including the murder of 3-year-old Johnathan Ball and 12-year-old Tim Parry in the IRA bombing of Warrington.

Her ennoblement proves that the Conservative Party has abandoned any pretence of traditional principles and his become little more than a Brexit cult. It remains to be seen whether these antics will cost the Tories votes in the so-called ‘red wall’ areas of northern England – constituencies which they won from Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party in last year’s general election, in part because of Corbyn’s own record as an IRA apologist.

(A BBC investigation for which H&D provided some background research suggested that the Warrington bombing was probably carried out by far left IRA sympathisers based in England – not Claire Fox’s RCP but their rivals in Red Action, a group that split off from an opposing SWP faction.)

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