Anthony Reed-Herbert was a leading member of the British National Front

British National Front

The National Front is a far right, white-only political party whose major political activities took place during the 1970s and 1980s. Its popularity peaked in the 1979 general election, when it received 191,719 votes ....

 (NF) during the 1970s, organising the party in Leicester

Leicester

Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...

 and serving as its chief legal adviser (he was a lawyer by profession).

Having previously been chairman of his local Young Conservatives, Reed Herbert became disillusioned with the Tories in 1972 when a Party Conference motion sponsored by Enoch Powell

Enoch Powell

John Enoch Powell, MBE was a British politician, classical scholar, poet, writer, and soldier. He served as a Conservative Party MP and Minister of Health . He attained most prominence in 1968, when he made the controversial Rivers of Blood speech in opposition to mass immigration from...

, condemning the government for admitting Uganda

Uganda

Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...

n Asian

South Asia

South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...

 refugees, was defeated. He subsequently joined the NF and swiftly rose to the leadership. To counter accusations from the 'populist

Populism

Populism can be defined as an ideology, political philosophy, or type of discourse. Generally, a common theme compares "the people" against "the elite", and urges social and political system changes. It can also be defined as a rhetorical style employed by members of various political or social...

' faction of the NF that the leadership was too right wing, in June 1974 he was co-opted onto the NF's Directorate; not being tainted with a fascist

Fascism

Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...

 past like so many of the NF leaders, he was acceptable as a moderate in the populists' eyes. As a consequence, it was Reed Herbert who cast the deciding vote which unseated John Tyndall

John Tyndall (politician)

John Hutchyns Tyndall was a British politician who was prominently associated with several fascist/neo-Nazi sects. However, he is best known for leading the National Front in the 1970s and founding the contemporary British National Party in 1982.The most prominent figure in British nationalism...

 as leader and gave the leadership to John Kingsley Read

John Kingsley Read

John Kingsley Read was chairman of the British National Front from 1974 to 1976 and a founder of the National Party.A former member of the Conservative Party and chairman of the Blackburn Young Conservatives, Read left to join the NF in 1973 having addressed a rally against the arrival of Ugandan...

 in 1974. Although he thus became associated with the populist wing of the party, he stopped short of joining the National Party

National Party (UK, 1976)

The National Party was a short-lived British far right political party formed on 6 January 1976 and which dissolved before the 1979 general election...

 when Tyndall regained control and the populists left, instead remaining within the NF. This is not to say that his views are moderate in the wider sense. He is quoted as saying:

"The immigrants and the British are racially and genetically incompatible, which is why immigrants must be repatriated. I wish them all the luck in the world, but not here.... I experience tension whenever I see a group of Indians walking down the street. I feel they are alien, a threatening presence."

He contested the Leicester East

Leicester East (UK Parliament constituency)

- Elections in the 2000s :In 2005 this seat bucked the national trend as there was a swing to Labour whereas the national swing was 2.5% to the Conservatives.- Elections in the 1990s :- Elections in the 1970s :...

  constituency for the NF in the October 1974 general election

United Kingdom general election, October 1974

The United Kingdom general election of October 1974 took place on 10 October 1974 to elect 635 members to the British House of Commons. It was the second general election of that year and resulted in the Labour Party led by Harold Wilson, winning by a tiny majority of 3 seats.The election of...

, polling 2967 votes (6%). He also stood as NF candidate in the by-election

By-election

A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....

 for the Birmingham Ladywood constituency on 18 August 1977, polling 888 votes (5.7%) and forcing the Liberal

Liberal Party (UK)

The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...

 candidate into fourth place.

In 1979, Reed Herbert broke with the NF to lead his own British Democratic Party

British Democratic Party

The British Democratic Party was a short-lived far-right political party in the United Kingdom. A breakaway group from the National Front the BDP was severely damaged after it became involved in a gun-running sting and was absorbed by the British National Party.-Formation and naming...

. He went on to merge the party into the newly formed British National Party

British National Party

The British National Party is a British far-right political party formed as a splinter group from the National Front by John Tyndall in 1982...

 in 1982.

Elections contested

Date of election	Constituency	Party	Votes	%
October 1974 general election United Kingdom general election, October 1974 The United Kingdom general election of October 1974 took place on 10 October 1974 to elect 635 members to the British House of Commons. It was the second general election of that year and resulted in the Labour Party led by Harold Wilson, winning by a tiny majority of 3 seats.The election of...	Leicester East Leicester East (UK Parliament constituency) - Elections in the 2000s :In 2005 this seat bucked the national trend as there was a swing to Labour whereas the national swing was 2.5% to the Conservatives.- Elections in the 1990s :- Elections in the 1970s :...	NF British National Front The National Front is a far right, white-only political party whose major political activities took place during the 1970s and 1980s. Its popularity peaked in the 1979 general election, when it received 191,719 votes ....	2967	6.0
18 August 1977 by election Birmingham Ladywood by-election, 1977 The Birmingham Ladywood by-election of 18 August 1977 was held after Labour Member of Parliament Brian Walden resigned in order to concentrate on his career as a journalist and broadcaster. A safe Labour seat, it was retained by the party....	Birmingham Ladywood	NF	888	5.7