In the ghetto

The British National Party (BNP) was formed on 7th April 1982. As the party recalled some three decades later, it was the result of ‘a merger of like-minded patriotic organisations’. ² Those who were most active in setting up the party came from either the National Front (NF) or the New National Front (NNF), a breakaway party established by Tyndall following his departure from the NF and which became a bridge between the second and third waves. ³ Strong continuity with the past was reflected in the fact that at least 40 per cent of the BNP’s 54 candidates who contested its first general election in 1983 had previously represented the NF at the previous election in 1979. Continuity was also apparent in the lineage of activists awarded with leading positions. Most had previously been influential players in the NF and were socialized in the racial nationalist tradition. Before standing for the BNP in 1983, Charles Parker represented the NF in elections in 1974 and 1979, and organized its activities in Surrey and Sussex. David Bruce, who became BNP organizer in North London (a position he retained until his death in 1998), had previously served as NF treasurer. Before being made responsible for the BNP youth wing, the Young Nationalists (YN), Richard Edmonds stood for the NF in elections, sat on its national directorate and led recruits in London. Similarly, John Peacock, who became BNP organizer in the East Midlands and its main point of contact with similar parties elsewhere in Europe, had also been active in the Front.