John Bean
Encyclopedia
John Edward Bean is a long-standing participant in the British
far right
, who has been active within a number of movements during the course of his life and is the voice behind the BNP election broadcasts.
Bean briefly flirted with Communism
whilst at school, calling for support of the Soviet Union
. His initial fervour soon faded and by the time he began his National service
in 1945, Bean was largely apolitical. Initially he was a trainee navigator in RAF Volunteer Reserve and later as a sailor in the Royal Navy
. Bean became a radar mechanic and was placed on HMS Bulawayo a fleet supply ship which made several visits to Trinidad until the finish of his naval service in June 1948. He briefly lived in India
during 1950 to work as a chemist in a paint factory, although he failed to settle and returned to Britain six months later.
, being attracted by the Europe a Nation
policy and by the time Oswald Mosley
had spent in prison for his beliefs. Bean initially served as a member of the Special Propaganda Service, the main duty of which was to sell copies of the party's newspaper Union. Soon however he became a leading figure active on behalf of the UM in the East End of London
, before being appointed to head up a branch in Putney
in 1952. Despite these advancements, Bean grew disillusioned of the UM's chances of making any real headway and he left them altogether in February 1953. A brief stop-over in the local Conservative Party
in Barnes that followed lasted only two months.
, who had been attempting to form his own party, the National Front, and began to produce a journal, National Unity. His work attracted the attention of A. K. Chesterton
and, with the National Front idea failing to get off the ground, he decided to join the League of Empire Loyalists
, serving as Northern Organiser and then in the HQ in London
. Continuing to produce his paper, now called The Loyalist, Bean soon became frustrated at both the lack of political activity and the links to the Conservative Party that were the hallmarks of the LEL and so left in 1957 to set up the National Labour Party with Fountaine.
The NLP gained a few minor results in elections, but was always destined to be a small fringe movement, and as a result Bean decided to merge his party with another LEL splinter group, the White Defence League
in 1960 to form the British National Party
. Initially gaining some support in London
, the party soon ran into trouble when it became clear that Colin Jordan
was emerging as its spokesman. A journalist commented in 1962 that Jordan was becoming the British Adolf Hitler
, Bean jokingly responded to the Daily Mail
reporter that that made him "the British Joseph Goebbels
". Despite this, Bean, soon clashed with Jordan over his extremism and before long Jordan had left to form the National Socialist Movement
, taking emerging figures John Tyndall
and Denis Pirie
with him. Bean had blamed the associations with Nazism
that Jordan and Tyndall brought on the party's marginal position in British politics.
At the 1964 general election Bean stood as BNP candidate in Southall and obtained 3,410 votes (9.3%) which was the highest post-war vote for a minority party at that time. Another BNP candidate picked up nearly 2,000 votes in Deptford
. In 1966 he again stood in Southall but his vote fell to 2,600. With BNP membership only marginally increasing, Bean felt the need to try and create a nationalist front with like groups and arranged, with the help of Ted Budden
, a private meeting with his old mentor A.K. Chesterton and a spokesman of the Racial Preservation Society
. The result of the meeting was the founding of the National Front
in 1967.
and to take part in the Countryside Alliance
march of 1 March 1998.
During this period he wrote two books. Ten Miles From AnywhereHedgerow Publishing 1995, looked at the changes in a Suffolk village from the beginning of the 20th century.
Many Shades of Black, New Millennium 1999, was Bean's political memoires up to that date.
under the leadership of Nick Griffin
. He became an active official of the BNP (mostly in administration) and was a candidate for the party in the 2004 European elections
, where he was seventh on a list of seven candidates for the Scotland
constituency. He formerly ran his own website, but then wrote a regular column for the main BNP website, and served as editor of BNP magazine Identity until March 2010.
Due to dissatisfaction with his leadership, John Bean has demanded that Nick Griffin
resign as National Chairman and focus more on the North West region
.
In May 2011, as a respected party elder and intellectual, he endorsed Andrew Brons (the BNP MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber). He made significant contributions to the Brons team web site, including articles on Genetics and Inheritance and Nationalism and a European Confederation.
European Parliament elections
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
far right
Far right
Far-right, extreme right, hard right, radical right, and ultra-right are terms used to discuss the qualitative or quantitative position a group or person occupies within right-wing politics. Far-right politics may involve anti-immigration and anti-integration stances towards groups that are...
, who has been active within a number of movements during the course of his life and is the voice behind the BNP election broadcasts.
Early life
At the age of 13 he suffered the trauma of being bombed out with his family living in Blackfen, Sidcup, February 1941.Bean briefly flirted with Communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
whilst at school, calling for support of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. His initial fervour soon faded and by the time he began his National service
National service
National service is a common name for mandatory government service programmes . The term became common British usage during and for some years following the Second World War. Many young people spent one or more years in such programmes...
in 1945, Bean was largely apolitical. Initially he was a trainee navigator in RAF Volunteer Reserve and later as a sailor in the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
. Bean became a radar mechanic and was placed on HMS Bulawayo a fleet supply ship which made several visits to Trinidad until the finish of his naval service in June 1948. He briefly lived in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
during 1950 to work as a chemist in a paint factory, although he failed to settle and returned to Britain six months later.
Union Movement
Upon his return, Bean began to attend meetings of the Union MovementUnion Movement
The Union Movement was a right-wing political party founded in Britain by Oswald Mosley. Where Mosley had previously been associated with a peculiarly British form of fascism, the Union Movement attempted to redefine the concept by stressing the importance of developing a European nationalism...
, being attracted by the Europe a Nation
Europe a Nation
Europe a Nation was a policy developed by British politician Oswald Mosley as the cornerstone of his Union Movement. It called for the integration of Europe into a single entity....
policy and by the time Oswald Mosley
Oswald Mosley
Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet, of Ancoats, was an English politician, known principally as the founder of the British Union of Fascists...
had spent in prison for his beliefs. Bean initially served as a member of the Special Propaganda Service, the main duty of which was to sell copies of the party's newspaper Union. Soon however he became a leading figure active on behalf of the UM in the East End of London
East End of London
The East End of London, also known simply as the East End, is the area of London, England, United Kingdom, east of the medieval walled City of London and north of the River Thames. Although not defined by universally accepted formal boundaries, the River Lea can be considered another boundary...
, before being appointed to head up a branch in Putney
Putney
Putney is a district in south-west London, England, located in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is situated south-west of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London....
in 1952. Despite these advancements, Bean grew disillusioned of the UM's chances of making any real headway and he left them altogether in February 1953. A brief stop-over in the local Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
in Barnes that followed lasted only two months.
National Labour Party and BNP
After a spell on the sidelines he then linked up with Andrew FountaineAndrew Fountaine
Andrew Fountaine was a veteran of the far right scene in British politics.Born into a land-owning Norfolk family, Fountaine was educated at the Army College in Aldershot and was the son of Vice Admiral Charles Fountaine who had been naval ADC to King George V...
, who had been attempting to form his own party, the National Front, and began to produce a journal, National Unity. His work attracted the attention of A. K. Chesterton
A. K. Chesterton
Arthur Kenneth Chesterton MC was a far right-wing politician and journalist who helped found right-wing organisations in Britain, primarily in opposition to the break-up of the British Empire, and later adopting a broader anti-immigration stance. His cousin, the author G. K...
and, with the National Front idea failing to get off the ground, he decided to join the League of Empire Loyalists
League of Empire Loyalists
The League of Empire Loyalists was a British pressure group , established in 1954, which campaigned against the dissolution of the British Empire. The League was a small group of current or former members of the Conservative Party led by Arthur K...
, serving as Northern Organiser and then in the HQ in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Continuing to produce his paper, now called The Loyalist, Bean soon became frustrated at both the lack of political activity and the links to the Conservative Party that were the hallmarks of the LEL and so left in 1957 to set up the National Labour Party with Fountaine.
The NLP gained a few minor results in elections, but was always destined to be a small fringe movement, and as a result Bean decided to merge his party with another LEL splinter group, the White Defence League
White Defence League
The White Defence League was a British far-right political group. Using the provocative marching techniques popularised by Oswald Mosley, its members included a young John Tyndall.-Formation:...
in 1960 to form the British National Party
British National Party (1960s)
The British National Party was a far right political party that operated in the United Kingdom from 1960 to 1967. Led by John Bean the group, which was subject to internal divisions during its brief history, established some areas of local support before helping to form the National Front in...
. Initially gaining some support in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, the party soon ran into trouble when it became clear that Colin Jordan
Colin Jordan
John Colin Campbell Jordan was a leading figure in postwar Neo-Nazism in Britain. In the far-right nationalist circles of the 1960s, Jordan represented the most explicitly 'Nazi' inclination in his open use of the styles and symbols of the Third Reich.Through organisations such as the National...
was emerging as its spokesman. A journalist commented in 1962 that Jordan was becoming the British 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...
, Bean jokingly responded to 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...
reporter that that made him "the British Joseph Goebbels
Joseph Goebbels
Paul Joseph Goebbels was a German politician and Reich Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. As one of Adolf Hitler's closest associates and most devout followers, he was known for his zealous oratory and anti-Semitism...
". Despite this, Bean, soon clashed with Jordan over his extremism and before long Jordan had left to form the National Socialist Movement
National Socialist Movement (1960s)
The National Socialist Movement was a British Neo-Nazi group formed on 20 April 1962, Adolf Hitler's birthday, by Colin Jordan, with John Tyndall as his deputy as a splinter group from the original British National Party of the 1960s.-Formation:...
, taking emerging figures 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...
and Denis Pirie
Denis Pirie
Denis Pirie is a veteran of the British far right scene who took a leading role in a number of movements.He began his career as a member of the 1960s British National Party and was appointed a member of the party's national council not long after its foundation...
with him. Bean had blamed the associations with Nazism
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
that Jordan and Tyndall brought on the party's marginal position in British politics.
At the 1964 general election Bean stood as BNP candidate in Southall and obtained 3,410 votes (9.3%) which was the highest post-war vote for a minority party at that time. Another BNP candidate picked up nearly 2,000 votes in Deptford
Deptford
Deptford is a district of south London, England, located on the south bank of the River Thames. It is named after a ford of the River Ravensbourne, and from the mid 16th century to the late 19th was home to Deptford Dockyard, the first of the Royal Navy Dockyards.Deptford and the docks are...
. In 1966 he again stood in Southall but his vote fell to 2,600. With BNP membership only marginally increasing, Bean felt the need to try and create a nationalist front with like groups and arranged, with the help of Ted Budden
Ted Budden
Edward Budden was a veteran of the far right in the United Kingdom who was well known in such circles for his satirical columns that appeared in a number of publications down the years....
, a private meeting with his old mentor A.K. Chesterton and a spokesman of the Racial Preservation Society
Racial Preservation Society
The Racial Preservation Society was a right-wing pressure group opposed to immigration and in favour of white nationalism, national preservation and protection in the United Kingdom in the 1960s.-Background:...
. The result of the meeting was the founding of the 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 ....
in 1967.
NF and political retirement
Bean became something of a peripheral figure in the NF, as the BNP element was somewhat sidelined. He held the post of Deputy Chairman of the Executive Directorate, a body which was largely subordinate to the Policy Directorate, until resigning in 1968. Still an NF member, he was recalled to positions of minor influence from time to time until 1972 when he largely ceased active involvement. Retreating into political retirement, his membership lapsed in 1977 and he emerged only briefly to lend some support to his old friend Andrew Fountaine's Constitutional MovementConstitutional Movement
The Constitutional Movement was a right wing political group in the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1979 by Andrew Fountaine as the National Front Constitutional Movement, a splinter group from the National Front...
and to take part in the Countryside Alliance
Countryside Alliance
The Countryside Alliance is a British organisation promoting issues relating to the countryside such as country sports, including hunting, shooting and angling...
march of 1 March 1998.
During this period he wrote two books. Ten Miles From AnywhereHedgerow Publishing 1995, looked at the changes in a Suffolk village from the beginning of the 20th century.
Many Shades of Black, New Millennium 1999, was Bean's political memoires up to that date.
Bean in the BNP
Bean eventually ended his retirement after the political fall of John Tyndall and joined the British National PartyBritish 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...
under the leadership of 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....
. He became an active official of the BNP (mostly in administration) and was a candidate for the party in the 2004 European elections
European Parliament election, 2004
Elections to the European Parliament were held from 10 June 2004 to 13 June 2004 in the 25 member states of the European Union, using varying election days according to local custom...
, where he was seventh on a list of seven candidates for the Scotland
Scotland (European Parliament constituency)
Scotland constitutes a single constituency of the European Parliament. For 2009 it elects 6 MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.- Boundaries :...
constituency. He formerly ran his own website, but then wrote a regular column for the main BNP website, and served as editor of BNP magazine Identity until March 2010.
Due to dissatisfaction with his leadership, John Bean has demanded that 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....
resign as National Chairman and focus more on the North West region
North West England (European Parliament constituency)
North West England is a constituency of the European Parliament. For the 2009 elections it elects 8 MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.-Boundaries:...
.
In May 2011, as a respected party elder and intellectual, he endorsed Andrew Brons (the BNP MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber). He made significant contributions to the Brons team web site, including articles on Genetics and Inheritance and Nationalism and a European Confederation.
Elections contested
UK Parliament elections| Date of election | Constituency | Party | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 United Kingdom general election, 1964 The United Kingdom general election of 1964 was held on 15 October 1964, more than five years after the preceding election, and thirteen years after the Conservative Party had retaken power... |
Southall Southall (UK Parliament constituency) Southall was a parliamentary constituency centred on the Southall district of west London. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.... |
BNP | 3,410 | 9.1 |
| 1966 United Kingdom general election, 1966 The 1966 United Kingdom general election on 31 March 1966 was called by sitting Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson. Wilson's decision to call an election turned on the fact that his government, elected a mere 17 months previously in 1964 had an unworkably small majority of only 4 MPs... |
Southall Southall (UK Parliament constituency) Southall was a parliamentary constituency centred on the Southall district of west London. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.... |
BNP | 2,768 | 7.4 |
European Parliament elections
| Date of election | Region | Party | Votes | % | Results | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Scotland Scotland (European Parliament constituency) Scotland constitutes a single constituency of the European Parliament. For 2009 it elects 6 MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.- Boundaries :... |
BNP 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... |
19,427 | 1.7 | Not elected | Multi-member constituencies; party list |