Dominic Carman is a British journalist, writer and Liberal Democrat

Liberal Democrats

The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...

 politician.

Family

Carman is the son of barrister George Carman

George Carman

George Alfred Carman, QC , was a leading English barrister of the 1980s and 1990s. He first came to the attention of the general public in 1979, when he successfully defended the former Liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe after he was charged with conspiracy to murder...

. He wrote a controversial biography of his father, No Ordinary Man: A Life of George Carman (2002).

Politics and anti-BNP campaigner

In his youth, Carman spent a brief time as a member of the National Front. When asked why he did this, he said "Becoming a member was done rashly, angrily, without any thought of what it meant, or of the consequences. It was a stupid decision, undertaken with one purpose: to annoy my father." He also said "When I eventually sat down and opened National Front News, my sense of euphoric defiance ended – very abruptly", as it was filled with "hate-filled articles" about Jewish people, Holocaust denial and black and Asian immigration into Britain. "Disgusted and shocked, my stomach churned, my thoughts ran wild. So this is what they believed. Oh God, what had I done? ... I immediately resigned from the NF, less than a month after joining."

In 2005, he took part in ITV

ITV

ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...

's Vote for Me television programme in which the public selected an individual to stand at the next general election, losing to Rodney Hylton-Potts.

Carman extensively researched an unofficial biography of 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...

 leader Nick Griffin

Nick Griffin

Nicholas John "Nick" Griffin is a British politician, chairman of the British National Party and Member of the European Parliament for North West England....

, but this has not been published. Carman's research has been used to criticise Griffin on a number of occasions (e.g. ). He used his research to support his campaign as the Liberal Democrat

Liberal Democrats

The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...

 candidate in Barking

Barking (UK Parliament constituency)

Barking is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election. It has elected Labour MPs since its creation in 1945, usually with strong majorities.- Boundaries :The...

 at the 2010 General Election, where he stood against Griffin.

He contested the 2011 Barnsley Central by-election

Barnsley Central by-election, 2011

The Barnsley Central by-election was a by-election for the Parliament of the United Kingdom's House of Commons constituency of Barnsley Central which took place on 3 March 2011...

 for the Liberal Democrats, coming in sixth place and losing his deposit

Deposit (politics)

A deposit is a sum of money that a candidate must pay in return for the right to stand for election to certain political offices, particularly seats in legislatures.-United Kingdom:...

, an unusual occurrence for a candidate for a major political party in the UK. In an article in the Daily Mail

Daily Mail

The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...

 Carman was critical of some of the Barnsley electorate, stating that "diversity and difference are not welcome here". Defending his comments on the BBC's The Politics Show

The Politics Show

The Politics Show is an hour long BBC One television political programme broadcast in the United Kingdom on Sundays. The programme usually starts at midday, but is often earlier or later when sporting events clash in the schedules. It was launched in 2003 and was originally presented by Jeremy...

, he went on to say that Andrew Brons

Andrew Brons

Andrew Henry William Brons is a British politician. Long active in far right politics in Britain, he was elected as a Member of the European Parliament for Yorkshire and the Humber for the British National Party at the 2009 European Parliament election...

 (one of Barnsley's MEPs

Member of the European Parliament

A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...

) is a "Nazi and an admirer of Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...

". In response Brons made a statement saying that, "It is on record that I was a member of the National Socialist Movement between the ages of seventeen and eighteen. I am now sixty-three, nearly sixty four - forty six years ago, nearly half a century! From the age of eighteen, I have been a committed supporter of Parliamentary democracy and the rule of law."

Elections contested

UK Parliament Elections

Date of election	Constituency	Party	Votes	%
United Kingdom general election, 2010	Barking Barking (UK Parliament constituency) Barking is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election. It has elected Labour MPs since its creation in 1945, usually with strong majorities.- Boundaries :The...	Liberal Democrat Liberal Democrats The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...	3,719	8.2
2011 Barnsley Central by-election Barnsley Central by-election, 2011 The Barnsley Central by-election was a by-election for the Parliament of the United Kingdom's House of Commons constituency of Barnsley Central which took place on 3 March 2011...	Barnsley Central	Liberal Democrat Liberal Democrats The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...	1,012	4.2