Reform UK’s ballot box failure continues
Yesterday’s local by-elections offered further confirmation that Reform UK is not making any impact in real contests (as opposed to opinion polls and friendly promotion on GB News).
In Belgrave ward, Tamworth, RefUK’s Ian Cooper polled 40 votes (4.1%), finishing fourth of five candidates. The protest vote seems to have gone instead to an Independent candidate who finished a strong third with 25.8%. On a split vote, the Tory just about held on to the seat with 34.8%.
This is a ward that UKIP contested six times during 2014-2021, on three occasions polling over 20%. It has tended to be a Con-Lab marginal, and the intervention of an Independent cost Labour what would otherwise have been a probable gain in present circumstances.
Further evidence from our movement’s standpoint that there is a substantial public mood of “plague on both your houses”, and that unlike UKIP and the Brexit Party in their day, RefUK is failing to mobilise that mood.
In the Watling South division of Staffordshire, which includes Belgrave ward but is usually a safer Tory seat, RefUK’s Barry Gwilt polled 110 votes (6.0%), finishing 4th of 4. Gwilt is a borough councillor in Lichfield, elected as a Tory, who defected to RefUK last month, so you would expect him to be far better than the average RefUK candidate (his borough council ward is adjacent to this county division). Therefore, although his 6% is in line with national opinion poll scores for RefUK, it actually suggests that RefUK’s true nationwide position is considerably below 6%. (Again the Tory held on, with a sharply reduced majority over Labour.)
Meanwhile the strange case of the Mosleyite who became a Tory county councillor ended in a fairly respectable vote for ex-Cllr Andy Weatherhead in Hythe West, Kent. After being ‘exposed’ a few months ago as a former activist in New British Union (a party inspired by the legacy of Sir Oswald Mosley), Mr Weatherhead resigned from the council and contested this week’s by-election as an independent, which readers might consider either brave, principled or foolish since there was nothing to prevent him serving out his term until May 2025, even after the Tories had thrown him out.
Mr Weatherhead finished bottom of the poll, but was far from disgraced, polling 237 votes (6.6%). Voters were faced with a confusing ballot paper, because there was another Independent – a former UKIP candidate, Ian Meyers, who finished fourth with 306 votes (8.6%).
It’s interesting that Meyers had not chosen to join RefUK or any of the other UKIP splinters but has ploughed a lone furrow, and that both he and Mr Weatherhead achieved votes that RefUK might envy. Again this suggests that the RefUK brand name doesn’t really add much to a dissident/populist campaign.
The big headline in Hythe was that the Greens gained the seat from the Tories, with a 12.5% swing. This has for some years been a Con-Green marginal – the Greens won it in 2017, only for Andy Weatherhead to take it back as a Tory in 2021 – so in present circumstances the result was no great surprise, though for the Green to win it by almost 500 votes was pretty impressive.
This is part of Michael Howard’s old constituency Folkestone & Hythe, presently held by technology minister Damian Collins, and it’s difficult to imagine it being anything other than Tory at the next general election. It’s surprising that the nationalist movement (racial or civic) hasn’t made more impact in these coastal areas, given the migrant crisis. Perhaps locals dislike ‘nationalist’ protesters arriving in their area from London, even more than they dislike immigrants?
Another Reform UK lost deposit: when will the Farage-Tice party achieve anything?
Within the past hour the result of yesterday’s parliamentary by-election in West Lancashire was declared.
Predictably it was an easy victory for Labour, and the swing between the two main parties was broadly in line with trends in other recent by-elections and national opinion polls, confirming that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his Conservative Party are on a path to defeat at the next General Election, which must be held within the next two years.
But for H&D readers a lot of attention will have focused on Reform UK, the rebranded version of Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party, led by Farage’s close ally Richard Tice.
Reform UK’s candidate Jonathan Kay polled 994 votes (4.4%): the party’s seventh successive lost deposit in parliamentary by-elections, despite months of hype from their allies at GB News and from academics such as Dr Matthew Goodwin, who continue to insist that the party’s brand of post-Thatcherite populism will achieve significant support from British voters.
On this occasion (unlike many of those earlier by-elections) Reform UK had no competition from any other candidate to the ‘right’ of the Tories. There was no candidate from UKIP or any of its many splinters, other than Reform UK.
This West Lancashire constituency is very divided socially, including some very poor areas in Skelmersdale but also some affluent and traditionally Tory-voting villages. In 2015 UKIP candidate Jack Sen (who became a very controversial figure within nationalism and has since disappeared from politics) polled 12.2% here (6,058 votes), despite having been expelled and denounced by his own party before polling day for ‘anti-semitism’!
Yet this week UKIP’s successor party Reform UK polled only 994 votes (4.4%), despite the Tory vote having collapsed to a record low for this area. Most of the previous Tory voters (and pro-Brexit voters) stayed at home rather than backing Reform UK, even at a by-election. This suggests that the party needs a fundamental rethink if it is to pose any significant challenge at the next general election.
The truth is that Farage, Tice and Reform UK have little of any relevance or interest to offer to the voters of West Lancashire, or to other Britons (especially those in impoverished areas).
The Farage-Tice agenda of a US-style largely privatised economy, with ‘free markets’ (i.e. global capitalism) very much dominant, is a recipe for internationalism, mass immigration and continued impoverishment for the White British working class.
Farage and his fellow City spivs always intended Brexit to turn London into Singapore-on-Thames, with other British towns and cities as its satellites in a small-state, low tax, low spending, ultra-capitalist, Disunited Kingdom.
The only serious challenge to that vision will come when racial nationalists abandon their recent cranky obsessions and factionalism, and unite with a clear and credible vision for national and racial renaissance. There are some signs that such a renaissance will not be too long delayed, and H&D looks forward to reporting more positive news later this year.
Sunak’s Tories start 2023 in deep trouble – but Reform UK’s challenge is weaker than it looks
Five opinion polls have been taken since Christmas, and all show Rishi Sunak’s government in deep trouble with British voters. Traditionally the Tories might expect to benefit from industrial unrest: strikes famously helped Margaret Thatcher win her first general election in 1979 and weakened Labour in the run-up to her third victory in 1987. But Sunak seems to be failing in his main (political) task of restoring the Conservative Party’s reputation for economic competence.
From H&D readers’ point of view, the big question is whether a civic nationalist party is capable of making the sort of breakthrough that Nigel Farage’s parties achieved during the 2010s: first UKIP, and then the Brexit Party – making such an impact that the Tories were forced to allow British voters a referendum on EU membership in 2016, then forced to deliver Brexit against the wishes of most Tory grandees.
For reasons we have examined repeatedly in the magazine (and which we re-examine in the January-February 2023 edition that has just gone to press) Farage’s latest (and probably last) party, Reform UK, does not seem capable of achieving similar results.
Reform UK (presently led by Farage’s right-hand man Richard Tice) has failed badly at six successive parliamentary by-elections (most recently polling 2.7% in Chester and 3.5% in Stretford & Urmston). None of these lost deposits suggest that its nationwide opinion poll scores (much hyped by some academics and by the GB News channel where Farage has a regular show) are anywhere near accurate.
The most recent polls differ widely in this respect: for example the new company People Polling (commissioned by GB News) gave Reform UK 8%, and showed Sunak’s Tories falling to just 19%, 26 points behind the Labour Party; while a rival firm Redfield Wilton gave Reform UK 5%, but again showed the Tories losing heavily, this time 20 points behind Labour. Three other polls taken during the first week of 2023 show Labour leads of 21% or 22%, with Reform UK scoring anywhere between 4% and 8%.
Part of the explanation for this disparity might be straightforward, involving: (a) prompting of voters with the name of Reform UK included in the initial question, rather than held back for a supplementary question; and (b) a different method of adjusting the raw figures, taking less account of previous voting preference. Most pollsters use this method in an attempt to tease out ‘shy Tories’; if People Polling do not, or use it less radically, it could account for their lower Tory and higher Reform and Green vote shares.
Whatever the technical reason, H&D would be very surprised to see Reform UK poll higher than 2% of the nationwide vote at a general election. For ideological and other reasons, Faragism is finished as a serious political force. If Farage himself stands, then he along with Tice and a handful of others might manage 10% or more and (most crucially) help push the Tories to defeat in a small number of marginal seats, but in most of the country Reform UK will remain an irrelevance.
Which leaves the big question – if not Farage and Reform UK, then who and what will present the badly needed challenge to the UK’s failing political mainstream.
Recent polls suggest that 20% or more of those who voted Conservative at the last general election three years ago are now answering “Don’t Know”. Even the People Polling survey that seems to exaggerate Reform UK’s strength suggests that it is taking 12% of that previous Conservative vote, and little or nothing from the other parties; while 17% of those Tory voters have switched to Labour.
Sunak might yet win back some of those ‘Don’t Knows’, but many of them ought to be persuadable by a credible racial nationalist party (if and when such a party gets off the ground).
The British Democrats presently seem to be the best organised and most realistic option for those seeking a racial nationalist challenge at the ballot box, but even they are only just getting started in most of the country. 2023 will be an important transitional year for our movement, as Faragism is finally buried and the Brit Dems gradually build up a nationwide branch structure. Meanwhile Patriotic Alternative is building a broader political challenge away from the electoral arena (PA is not yet a registered political party and shows no sign of becoming one); the British Movement continues to maintain the core ideology that exposes the roots of British and European decline since 1945; and the National Front keeps the flame alive for the first UK party to present a serious electoral challenge to multiracialism during the 1970s.
Whatever nationalist party or group you belong to, or if for the time being you are working independently for our cause, H&D wishes you an active and successful New Year!
Stretford & Urmston by-election: another episode in the slow death of Faragism
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.
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 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.
Civic nationalism fails again in Chester by-election
Last night’s by-election result in the City of Chester constituency gave further proof that the Farage era is over – a fact that will not surprise regular H&D readers but might be news to others.
During recent weeks there had yet again been media hype (encouraged by some academic observers) suggesting that civic nationalism of the Nigel Farage variety might again be on the rise in the UK.
Farage is no longer a party leader, but is closely associated with Reform UK, led by his close associate Richard Tice and backed by some of the same donors who financed Farage’s previous ventures, the Brexit Party and UKIP.
Pollsters and academics have recently argued that Reform UK might be the beneficiary of public disgust with the Conservative governments of Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, and Farage has hinted he might make a comeback to assist Tice.
Yet as regular H&D readers will know from our detailed analyses of local elections across the UK, the truth is that Reform UK barely exists at grassroots level. It hardly ever contests local elections, and when it does the results have been dismal.
Parliamentary by-elections are a different matter, because Reform UK is lavishly funded by Eurosceptic tycoons, so its lack of activists can be masked by throwing money at glossy leaflet and poster campaigns.
Even so, the ballot box is pitiless in revealing the truth about a dying party. Reform UK’s candidate Jeanie Barton polled only 773 votes (2.7%), losing her deposit and finishing a distant fifth.
In Chester yesterday the circumstances should have been ideal for a ‘right-wing’ protest party. Everyone knew the Tories couldn’t win this by-election, so the ‘wasted vote’ argument that often damages smaller parties did not apply. Moreover, Sunak’s Conservative Party is unpopular in any case. We are facing an economic crisis with many households struggling to make ends meet. And in the very week of the by-election, UK census figures were released that should have alarmed every racially-conscious voter. Nigel Farage did his best to make immigration an election issue, but voters simply aren’t interested in Reform UK.
And there’s a good reason for that lack of interest. You can’t fool the voters for ever, and it’s now obvious to even the uneducated that Farageism is simply a form of ultra-Toryism. Reform UK is dedicated to the values of global capitalism: the very values that have driven mass immigration for decades. Its ‘free market’ ideology would (as Liz Truss showed when she attempted a milder version) be disastrous for most Britons.
Since last December when Tice himself spent a fortune in the Old Bexley & Sidcup by-election and polled 6.6%, his party has contested a further five parliamentary by-elections and lost its deposit each time, with its highest vote being 3.8% in North Shropshire almost a year ago.
Reform UK’s latest lost deposit reflected its utter irrelevance in the eyes of almost all Chester’s electorate, and similarly dire results can be expected at the next parliamentary by-elections, again in North-West constituencies, at Stretford & Urmston on December 15th, and West Lancashire on a date yet to be fixed in January or February.
The only good news for Tice and Farage is that their party finished well ahead of its two populist rivals (which is scarcely surprising since they are equally irrelevant to the concerns of most voters, and have far less money than Reform UK to spend on their campaigns).
UKIP – the party Farage led in its heyday – now barely exists. Its candidate Cain Griffiths finished seventh with 179 votes (0.6%).
And the anti-lockdown, anti-vaccination party Freedom Alliance finished bottom of the poll with only 91 votes (0.3%) for its candidate Chris Quartermaine. There are many H&D readers who sympathise with Mr Quartermaine’s interest in what might politely be termed fringe science and contrarian attitudes to the CoVID pandemic. These things are of course open to debate, but frankly only a fool would now believe there is any electoral potential in CoVID conspiracy theories.
It’s time for nationalists to cut the crankism and return to the basics of racial nationalist politics. While there is a long hard road ahead to achieve either an ideologically credible movement or an electorally credible party (or ideally both), the recent Census results have emphasised that only racial nationalists – not civic nationalists or conspiracist cranks – have answers to the UK’s long-term crisis.
Post-Brexit civic nationalists face High Noon in Yorkshire and Devon by-elections
Nominations closed this afternoon for two parliamentary by-elections to be held on 23rd June in the West Yorkshire constituency of Wakefield and the Devon constituency of Tiverton & Honiton.
Each of these by-elections follows scandals that disgraced the previous Conservative MP. In Wakefield a homosexual Muslim Conservative – overseas readers might think we are making this up but it’s absolutely true – resigned after being convicted for sexually assaulting a teenage boy. He has since been imprisoned.
In Tiverton & Honiton, the local Conservative MP resigned after he admitted viewing pornography on his phone while at work in the chamber of the House of Commons. Readers will appreciate that parliamentary proceedings can be boring, but this was probably not the best way to relieve the tedium.
Each by-election has attracted a range of civic nationalist, populist and/or anti-Islam candidates.
In Wakefield voters can choose between:
Ashlea Simon of Britain First, an anti-Islamist party backed by former BNP official Paul Golding – as reported in the current edition of H&D, Miss Simon achieved the best nationalist vote at the recent local council elections, polling 21.6% in Walkden North, Salford;
Jayda Fransen, Mr Golding’s former partner both in Britain First and in private life, who is now based in Northern Ireland where she works for Christian businessman Jim Dowson and his political frontman Nick Griffin – they call their outfit the British Freedom Party but it is not in fact a registered political party, so Ms Fransen is listed as Independent on the ballot paper;
Chris Walsh, a Wakefield gym owner and the most local of the civic nationalist candidates, representing the Reform UK party backed by former Brexit Party and UKIP leader Nigel Farage;
Therese Hirst, a frequent candidate in Yorkshire elections for the English Democrats, a party led by Essex solicitor Robin Tilbrook which campaigns for an English Parliament – Ms Hirst (a Theology graduate of Durham University) finished runner-up at the Batley & Spen parliamentary by-election in 2016, polling 4.8%;
Jordan Gaskell, who at the age of 19 received UKIP’s best vote at the recent local government elections: 10.4% in Hindley ward, Wigan – like Ashlea Simon he has what might prove a big disadvantage of coming from the wrong side of the Pennines, though unlike Jayda Fransen he is at least based in England.
Other anti-establishment parties contesting Wakefield include the CoVID-sceptic ‘Freedom Alliance’, the Christian Peoples Alliance, the Yorkshire Party, and the left-populist Northern Independence Party.
Wakefield’s Conservatives have (perhaps surprisingly) selected another Asian candidate. There is also an Asian independent standing, as well as the ‘Monster Raving Loony Party’, and the usual Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green parties.
The by-election is almost certain to be won either by Labour or the Conservatives, but an unusually poor or good result might either finish off one of the crowded field of nationalist or semi-nationalist parties, or give one of them the boost required to raise their profile.
At present none of these parties has anything like the profile achieved by the National Front in the 1970s, the BNP in the 1990s and 2000s, or UKIP and the Brexit Party in the 2010s.
Tiverton & Honiton in contrast to Wakefield is almost certain to be a battle between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats.
Here there is a slightly different range of civic nationalist candidates:
Frankie Rufolo is Exeter organiser of the For Britain Movement, the anti-Islamist party founded by former UKIP leadership candidate Anne-Marie Waters. Mr Rufolo has stood several times in Exeter City Council elections, most recently polling 7.7%.
Andy Foan, a former Royal Navy and RAF pilot, is standing for Reform UK.
Ben Walker, also a Royal Navy veteran, is standing for UKIP, for whom he was once a councillor in South Gloucestershire. In 2019 he was fined more than £11,000 for breaking building regulations.
Jordan Donoghue-Morgan is standing for the Heritage Party, which has absolutely no connection to H&D and is a splinter from UKIP.
Since UKIP were runners-up with 16.5% in this constituency in 2015, there is a fairly substantial civic nationalist or populist right-wing vote to share between these candidates, especially given the Conservative Party’s recent problems.
As in Wakefield, an especially good or bad result for any of the above four candidates could propel their party either into significance or into extinction.
Other candidates in Tiverton & Honiton are the usual ‘big four’: Conservative, Liberal Democrat, Labour and Green.
Neither of the two fastest-growing nationalist organisations in Britain is contesting either of these by-elections. Patriotic Alternative is not yet a registered political party so cannot yet appear on ballot papers. The British Democratic Party has decided (probably wisely) not to enter a crowded field that is likely to turn into a media circus.
Nationalist results at 2022 local elections
Votes have been counted across most of the UK in local council elections, as well as crucial contests for the Northern Ireland Assembly.
As previously explained in H&D, there were much reduced numbers of candidates this year from the UK’s various racial and civic nationalist parties. The once-mighty BNP now seems totally defunct, having no candidates anywhere in the country and no longer even a functioning website.
By far the best result so far was achieved by Ashlea Simon of Britain First, who finished runner-up in Walkden North, Salford with 508 votes (21.6%). H&D has been very critical of Britain First’s leader Paul Golding on both ideological and personal grounds, but we have to admit this is a very good result and a credit to Ms Simon and her campaign team.
The other nationalist party making progress this year is the British Democrats, and even they only had four candidates nationwide. Lawrence Rustem achieved 117 votes (13.7%) in Shepway South ward, Maidstone. Last year Mr Rustem polled 25 votes (2.6%) in the same ward as a For Britain candidate.
British Democrat leader Dr Jim Lewthwaite finished third of six candidates in Wyke ward, Bradford, with 214 votes (7.1%), slightly up from 6.2% in the same ward last year.
Among other Brit Dem candidates, Chris Bateman polled 100 votes (4.6%) in Laindon Park, Basildon. This was the first ever British Democrat campaign in Basildon. Similarly breaking new ground for the Brit Dems was former BNP candidate Michael Jones who polled 253 votes (5.7%) in East Wickham ward, Bexley.
By contrast the For Britain Movement seems to be going backwards: its leader Anne-Marie Waters was heavily defeated in De Bruce ward, Hartlepool. Click here for our analysis of that result.
What had been For Britain’s strongest branch in Epping Forest was marking time this year with token campaigns. Eddy Butler polled just 11 votes (1.3%) in Loughton Alderton, and former BNP councillor Pat Richardson 16 votes (2.0%) in Loughton Broadway.
Former BNP activist Gary Bergin polled 57 votes (1.7%) as For Britain candidate in Claughton ward, Wirral, down from 1.9% last year, while in nearby Shevington ward, Knowsley, Christine Dillon managed only 18 votes (1.0%). One of the party’s few substantial branches is Exeter, where organiser Frankie Rufolo polled 192 votes (7.7%) in Exwick ward. Mr Rufolo’s Exeter colleagues fared a lot worse: Eric Bransden polling 35 votes (1.2%) in Topsham ward, and Chris Stone 25 votes (0.9%) in St Thomas.
Among the other early results was Langley Mill & Aldercar, Amber Valley, where the National Front’s Tim Knowles polled 28 votes (2.6%), a fraction down from 2.7% in 2018. Another veteran NF candidate Chris Jackson (once North West regional organiser for the BNP) yet again contested his home ward of Todmorden, Calderdale, polling 101 votes (3.1%), up from 2.3% last year.
On the civic wing of nationalism, Reform UK – the main faction of the old UKIP, backed by Nigel Farage and led by Richard Tice – is fading badly. In Chipping Ongar, Greensted and Marden Ash ward, Epping Forest, Reform UK’s Peter Bell finished bottom of the poll with 26 votes (2.7%), behind Robin Tilbrook of the English Democrats with 72 votes (7.5%).
Other English Democrat results included 8.3% for Maxine Spencer in Dearne North, Barnsley and 5.5% for her neighbour Janus Polenceusz in Dearne South.
Reform UK seems now to have just one strong branch – Derby, where they held on to the two council seats they were defending – plus one semi-strong branch, Bolton, where as in Derby they had a full slate of candidates, three of whom managed above 10%. In the rest of the country the party barely exists.
The remaining fragment of UKIP – which was the country’s largest party at the 2014 European Parliamentary elections – had only seventeen candidates for English councils plus eleven candidates for Scottish councils. Only Jordan Gaskell in Hindley ward, Wigan with 10.4% achieved a remotely credible vote.
Two UKIP splinter groups still just about function. The Heritage Party, led by half-Jamaican former London Assembly member David Kurten, had fourteen English council candidates and one Welsh, plus one candidate for the Northern Ireland Assembly. Their best vote was 7.9% for Nick Smith in Cippenham Green ward, Slough, while most others polled tiny votes. An even smaller UKIP splinter is the Alliance for Democracy and Freedom, the best of whose five English council results was 7.3% for Phillip Moulson in South ward, NE Lincolnshire.
Gary Butler – who has contested elections during the past twelve years for the National Front, BNP and English Democrats – this year polled 49 votes (3.3%) as an Independent in Heath ward, Maidstone. His wife Melanie Butler polled 94 votes (5.8%) in Shepway North, Maidstone.
Graham Williamson – a leading activist in the National Front during the 1980s – has long since abandoned racial nationalism in favour of ‘community politics’. He was easily re-elected in South Hornchurch ward, Havering, for his ‘Rainham Independent Residents Association’.
Click here to see full breakdown of nationalist / UKIP type candidates and their results.
A party on its deathbed: no BNP candidates in this year’s elections
See also updated list of candidates
Regular H&D readers will know that our editor and assistant editor were once leading activists in the British National Party. Twenty years ago our editor raised money for Nick Griffin (then party leader) and paid for the Griffin family’s holiday in the USA.
Unfortunately Griffin betrayed us all and destroyed the party, leaving a political wreck to be steered round hopelessly by his successor Adam Walker and his crooked treasurer Clive Jefferson.
The BNP now only exists to obtain donations and legacies for the benefit of its leaders, not for any sort of serious politics: and now the slow death of the party has been confirmed by its failure to field a single candidate anywhere in the UK at this year’s local council elections.
Other nationalist parties are at least making an effort, devoting their far more modest financial resources to actual politics rather than to their leaders’ personal benefit.
The National Front has two candidates this year, Chris Jackson in Calderdale and Tim Knowles in Amber Valley.
H&D expects Dr Jim Lewthwaite, leader of the British Democrats, again to run the most effective nationalist campaign, standing again in Wyke ward, Bradford. This year he has three fellow British Democrat candidates, all in the south of England and all ex-BNP: Michael Jones in Bexley, Chris Bateman in Basildon, and former councillor Lawrence Rustem in Maidstone.
Eddy Butler who masterminded the BNP’s first ever election victory in East London in 1993, is now in the For Britain Movement, a populist anti-immigration party whose leader Anne Marie Waters (a former UKIP leadership candidate) is sincerely ‘anti-racist’ but many of whose candidates and activists are ex-BNP, including its only elected councillor Julian Leppert.
Ms Waters will make a second attempt to win De Bruce ward, Hartlepool, after her near-miss last year, while Eddy Butler and former BNP councillor Patricia Richardson are contesting wards in Epping Forest. There are a total of 14 For Britain candidates nationwide.
Paul Golding, who twenty years ago was one of Nick Griffin’s young favourites, had promised fifty candidates or more from his anti-Muslim party Britain First, newly re-registered with the Electoral Commission, but has delivered only three. One of these is Golding’s girlfriend Ashlea Simon, standing in Salford; while another is ex-BNP candidate Nicholas Scanlon in Greenwich.
Robin Tilbrook’s English Democrats, at the opposite end of the spectrum from Paul Golding in terms of respectability but very much a ‘civic nationalist’ party, have five candidates including Mr Tilbrook himself in Epping Forest and Steve Morris in Bury, each of whom have been doggedly contesting the same wards for several years.
The only remaining unresolved controversy about Brexit is how it will affect the Union with Northern Ireland. We shall be looking at Ulster politics soon in another article. On the mainland it seems that the various pro-Brexit parties are steadily declining. The largest of them is Reform UK who have 123 candidates this year, and who are contesting every seat in two council areas: Bolton and Derby.
UKIP is now almost dead but has managed to find 28 candidates, while the Heritage Party (no connection to H&D!) led by half-Jamaican former UKIP leadership candidate David Kurten has 15 candidates.
H&D will have full reports on the local election campaign and analysis of the results in Issue 108 of our magazine which will be published the week after polling day in May.
Note: The statistics in this article and the accompanying candidate list have been obtained from many hours of research on local council websites across the UK during the past two 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.
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.
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 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
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
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?
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.
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.
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.
