Nick Griffin
Encyclopedia
Nicholas John "Nick" Griffin (born 1 March 1959) is a British
politician, chairman of the British National Party
(BNP) and Member of the European Parliament
for North West England
.
Griffin was born in Barnet
, and was educated at Woodbridge School
in Suffolk
. He joined the National Front at the age of fifteen, and became a political worker for the party following his graduation from Cambridge University. In 1980, he became a member of its governing body, and later wrote articles for several right-wing magazines. He was the National Front's candidate for the seat of Croydon North West
in 1981 and 1983 before leaving in 1989. In 1995, he joined the BNP, and, in 1999, became its leader. He stood as the party's candidate in several elections, and was elected as a member of the European Parliament for North West England in the 2009 European Elections
.
In 1998, Griffin was convicted of distributing material likely to incite racial hatred, for which he received a suspended prison sentence. In 2005, he was acquitted of separate charges of inciting racial hatred
. He has been criticised for many of his comments on political, social, ethical and religious matters, though since becoming leader of the BNP he has sought to distance himself from some of his previously-held positions, which include Holocaust denial
. In recent years, where Griffin has been invited to participate in public debates or political discussions, the events have proven controversial, and have often resulted in protests and cancellations.
in Suffolk
aged eight. There he was educated at Woodbridge School before winning a sixth–form scholarship to the independent Saint Felix School
in Southwold, one of only two boys in the all girls school.
Griffin read Mein Kampf
when he was fourteen, and "found all but one chapter extremely boring." He joined the National Front in 1974, while he was still fourteen, though he had to pretend he was fifteen, and at the age of sixteen is reported to have stayed at the home of National Front organiser Martin Webster
. In a four-page leaflet written in 1999, Webster claimed to have had a homosexual relationship with Griffin, then the BNP's publicity director. Griffin has denied any such relationship.
In 1977, Griffin went to Downing College, Cambridge
, where he studied history, then law. His affiliation with the National Front was revealed during a Cambridge Union
debate, and his photograph was published in a student newspaper. He later founded the Young National Front Student organisation. He graduated with a second-class honours degree in law (2:2
), and a boxing blue
, having taken up the sport following a brawl in Lewisham
with a member of an anti-fascist party. He boxed three times against Oxford in the annual Varsity match, winning twice and losing once. In an interview with The Independent, he said he gave it up because of a hand injury. He is a fan of Ricky Hatton
and Joe Calzaghe
, and an admirer of Amir Khan
.
. In 1980, he became a member of the party's governing body, the National Directorate, and in the same year launched Nationalism Today with the aid of Joe Pearce
, then editor of the NF youth paper Bulldog. As a National Front member, Griffin contested the seat of Croydon North West twice, in 1981 and 1983, securing 1.2% and 0.9% of the vote.
Membership of the National Front declined significantly following the election of the Conservatives
under Margaret Thatcher
. As a result the party became more radicalised, and a dissatisfied Griffin, along with fellow NF activists Derek Holland and Patrick Harrington
, began to embrace the ideals of Italian fascist Roberto Fiore
(Fiore had arrived in the UK in 1980). By 1983, the group had broken away to form the NF Political Soldier
faction, which advocated a revival of country "values" and a return to feudalism
with the establishment of nationalist communes. Writing for Bulldog in 1985, Griffin praised the black separatist
Louis Farrakhan
, but his comments were unpopular with some members of the party. He also attempted to form alliances with Libya's Muammar al-Gaddafi
and Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini, and praised the efforts of Welsh nationalist movement Meibion Glyndŵr
.
Following a disagreement with Harrington (who subsequently formed the Third Way
), and objections over the direction the party was headed, in 1989, Griffin left the National Front. Along with Holland and Fiore, he helped form the International Third Position
(ITP), a development of the Political Soldier movement, but left the organisation in 1990. In the same year, he lost his left eye when a discarded shotgun cartridge exploded in a pile of burning wood, since when he has worn a glass eye. The accident left him unable to work, and owing to other financial problems he subsequently declared bankruptcy (the accident occurred in France, where he later lost money in a failed business project). For several years thereafter, he abstained from politics and was supported financially by his parents. He later stewarded a public Holocaust denial
meeting hosted by David Irving
.
, joined the British National Party
. He also became editor of two right-wing magazines owned by Tyndall, Spearhead and The Rune. Referring to the election of the BNP's first councillor at a 1993 council by-election in Millwall
, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets
, he wrote:
Tyndall founded the BNP in 1982, but his "brutal, streetfighting background" and admiration for Hitler
and the Nazis had prevented his cause from acquiring any political respectability. In his 1999 leadership campaign, Griffin embarked on a strategy to make the party electable, by taking it away from Tyndall's extremist image. He was helped by Tyndall's lack of familiarity with the mainstream media, and in the party's September election he defeated Tyndall to become head of the BNP. One of Griffin's changes included moderating the party's emphasis on the removal of multiculturalism, a policy it claims has a destructive influence on both immigrant and British cultures. This realignment was designed to position the BNP alongside successful European far-right groups, such as the French Front National. Street protests were replaced by electoral campaigning, and some policies were moderated (the compulsory repatriation of ethnic minorities was instead made voluntary). Other policies included the introduction of capital punishment
for paedophiles, rapists, drug dealers and some murderers, and corporal punishment
for less serious crimes such as juvenile delinquency. Griffin's image as a Cambridge-educated family man was in contrast to the extremist image presented by the BNP under Tyndall's leadership.
. He came fourth, with 794 votes (4.21% of those cast). Following the Oldham race riots he ran in Oldham West and Royton in the 2001 general election
. He received 6,552 votes (16% of those cast), beating the Liberal Democrats
for third place, closely behind the second place Conservatives
, who received 7,076 votes. He again stood for election in the 2003 Oldham Council election, for a seat representing the Chadderton
North ward. He came second to the Labour candidate, receiving 993 votes (28% of those cast). In the 2004 European Parliament election, when he was the BNP candidate for the North West England constituency, the party received 134,959 votes (6.4% of those cast), but won no seats. In the 2005 general election
he contested Keighley
in West Yorkshire, and polled 4,240 votes (9.2% of those cast), finishing in fourth place.
Griffin was the BNP candidate in the 2007 Welsh National Assembly Elections
, in the South Wales West region. The BNP received 8,993 votes (5.5% of those cast), behind the Labour party's 58,347 votes (35.8%). In October 2007, he was an unsuccessful candidate in the Thurrock Council election
. In November 2008, the entire membership list of the BNP was posted on the Internet (however the list may have included lapsed members of the party and people who had expressed an interest in joining the party, but had not signed up). Griffin claimed that he knew the identity of the individual responsible, describing him as a hard-line senior employee who had left the party in the previous year. He welcomed the publicity that the story generated, using it to describe the common perception of the average BNP member as a "skinhead oik" as untrue.
He was elected as a member of the European Parliament for North West England
in the 2009 European Elections
. The BNP polled 943,598 votes (6.2% of those cast), gaining 2 MEPs
. Griffin and fellow MEP Andrew Brons
were subsequently pelted with eggs as they attempted to stage a celebratory press conference outside the Houses of Parliament. A second venue — a public house near Manchester — was chosen the following day. A line of police blocked a large group of protesters, who chanted "No platform for Nazi Nick" and "Nazi scum off our streets". Griffin viewed the election as an important victory, claiming that his party had been demonised and blocked from holding public meetings. "In Oldham alone there have been hundreds of thousands of pounds spent on employing bogus community workers to keep us out. To triumph against that level of pressure as a political party has never been done before."
In May 2009, he was invited by the BNP representative on the London Assembly
, Richard Barnbrook
, to accompany him to a Buckingham Palace
garden party hosted by Queen Elizabeth II. The invitation prompted objections from several organisations and public figures, including the Mayor of London Boris Johnson
, and the anti-fascist organisation Searchlight
. Griffin declined this first invitation, but when invited personally in 2010 he accepted:
The Palace later decided to deny Griffin entry to the event, claiming that he had used his invitation "for party political purpose through the media", and citing security concerns. Griffin claimed the decision was an "absolute scandal", and appeared to be "a rule invented for me."
In September 2009, he appealed to party activists for £150,000 of extra funding for the BNP. In the letter, he said that the party's ailing fortunes were a direct result of "attacks on the party". He also defended questions by the Electoral Commission
about the transparency of BNP funding. In November 2009, Griffin was a witness at the trial of an Asian man, Tauriq Khalid, at Preston Crown Court. The prosecution claimed that in November 2008 Khalid repeatedly drove past a demonstration that Griffin was attending, and on the second occasion shouted "white bastards". Khalid admitted shouting derisory comments at Griffin and other demonstrators, telling the jury he shouted "Nick Griffin, you fucking wanker" and "Get the fuck out of Burnley
, you're not welcome here", but denied shouting "white bastard". Griffin gave evidence against Khalid, and affirmed that Khalid had shouted "white bastard" at him. Griffin said the man "leaned out of the car and pointed at me and made a gun and gang gesture", and that he threatened him by shouting "I'm going to...". Griffin said he had left the demonstration early, fearing for his safety. The 23-year old defendant denied his comments had any racial intent, and was found not guilty. Griffin later commented "I think it's unfortunate and I think it's wrong, but that's the jury's right. They saw all the evidence, I accept their decision. I'm not going to lose any sleep over it."
In the 2010 general election he failed to become a Member of Parliament, polling 6,620 votes in Barking
, and finishing in third place. Subsequently, on 23 May 2010, Griffin announced that by 2013 he would stand down as leader, to focus on his European Parliament election campaign.
, relating to the offence of 'publishing or distributing racially inflammatory written material' in issue 12 of The Rune, published in 1996. Griffin's comments in the magazine were reported to the police by Alex Carlile
, then the Liberal Democrat
Member of Parliament for Montgomeryshire. Following a police raid at Griffin's home, he was charged with distributing material likely to incite racial hatred. Fellow BNP member Paul Ballard was also charged, but entered a guilty plea and did not stand trial. Griffin pleaded not guilty, and was tried at Harrow Crown Court. He called French Holocaust denier
Robert Faurisson
and Nationalist Osiris Akkebala as witnesses, was found guilty and given a nine-month sentence, suspended for two years, and a £2,300 fine. (Ballard was given a six-month sentence, also suspended for two years.)
Griffin claimed that the law under which he was convicted was an unjust law and he therefore had no obligation to follow it. He was secretly recorded by the ITV programme The Cook Report
in 1997 describing Carlile as "this bloody Jew ... whose only claim is that his grandparents died in the Holocaust".
On 14 December 2004, Griffin was arrested at his home in Wales, on suspicion of incitement to racial hatred, over remarks he made about Islam in an undercover BBC documentary titled The Secret Agent. He was questioned at a police station in Halifax, West Yorkshire
, before being freed on police bail
. He said that the arrest was "an electoral scam to get the Muslim block vote back to the Labour party" and that the Labour government was attempting to influence the results of the following year's general election.
Griffin's arrest was made two days after those of John Tyndall and several other people, over remarks they had made in the same programme. Following its broadcast on 15 July 2004, the police began an investigation into the programme's contents. The following April he was charged with four offences of using words or behaviour intended or likely to stir up racial hatred. The trial began in January 2006. Griffin stood alongside fellow party activist Mark Collett
, who faced similar charges. Prosecuting, Rodney Jameson QC
told the jury of six speeches that the accused had made in the Reservoir Tavern in Keighley on 19 January 2004. Reading excerpts from them, he claimed that they included threatening, abusive and insulting words directed at "people of Asian ethnicity", with the intention of "stirring up racial hatred".
Griffin was also accused of calling murdered black teenager Stephen Lawrence
a drug dealer and bully who stole younger pupils' dinner money. In the witness box he defended himself by quoting passages from the Qur'an
, saying that his comments describing Islam as a "vicious, wicked faith" were attacking not a race, but a religion. During the two-week trial he used a laptop to post daily updates on a blog
on the BNP's website. In his closing address, defence barrister
Timothy King
QC said:
Griffin and Collett were cleared of half the charges against them—the jury remained divided on the other charges, and a retrial was ordered. On 10 November 2006, after five hours of deliberations, the jury cleared them of all charges. They were met outside the court by about 200 supporters, who Griffin addressed with a megaphone. He attacked Tony Blair
and the BBC
, and defended the BNP's right to freedom of speech. BNP Deputy Chairman Simon Darby
later claimed that had Griffin been convicted, the BNP leader planned to go on hunger strike
.
invited him to take part in a debate the following January. Titled "This house believes that Islam is a threat to the west", the resolution was controversial; alongside more moderate speakers, one of those invited was Abu Hamza al-Masri
, a fundamentalist Muslim cleric. Some participants threatened to withdraw, and several official bodies criticised the invitations. The two had met earlier in the year, in a debate chaired by Today programme
editor Rod Liddle
. He was also invited by the Cambridge Forum to a debate on extremism in December 2002, with Liberal Democrat
MP Lembit Öpik
. The venue was changed twice after protests from property owners, but the threat of a violent confrontation between the Anti-Nazi League
and BNP supporters forced the president of the Cambridge Forum, Chris Paley, to cancel the event. Paley called the decision an "own goal" for the values of free speech, and Öpik criticised it, emphasising his belief in "people's right to make their own decisions in a democracy".
In February 2005, Griffin was asked to take part in a debate on multiculturalism at the University of St Andrews
in Scotland
. He was invited by the president of the students' debating society, who said "We believe that the only way to get the truth of what the BNP are saying and to combat them is to do it in public in a debate." The move was attacked by anti-racist groups, some of whom refused to participate in the discussion. Griffin said "I am coming up because I was invited by the students at the university because they have a debate on an intelligent subject on which I have something to say. The people against it are the usual bunch of people who cannot win the argument and refuse to stand on a platform." The society withdrew the invitation before the event was to take place.
In May 2007, Griffin was invited to address a meeting at the University of Bath
by politics student and BNP youth leader Danny Lake. Lake wanted Griffin to visit the university and explain the BNP's policies to lecturers and students. The invitation was viewed by some as an attempt by the party to establish a foothold on the university campus. Eleven union general secretaries wrote to the university's vice-chancellor and asked her to reconsider the decision to allow the meeting. A large protest was planned, and following students' concerns over their personal safety, the University cancelled the invitation.
Several months later, the Oxford Union
invited Griffin to speak at a forum on the limits of free speech, along with other speakers including David Irving
. The invitation was condemned by the Equality and Human Rights Commission head Trevor Phillips
and the president of the Oxford Students' Union. The Conservative MP Dr Julian Lewis
resigned his membership of the Union. A rally against the invitation was held at Oxford Town Hall on 20 November, and included the Oxford Students' Union president, the National Union of Students black students' officer, and the Trades Union Congress
south east regional secretary. Representatives of Unite Against Fascism
also attended, as well as the University of Oxford's Jewish student chaplain. Several Holocaust survivors spoke at the rally. Stephen Altmann-Richer, co-president of the Oxford University Jewish Society, said "I don't think these people should be invited to the Oxford Union, by having them speak, it legitimises their views ..." On the night of the debate, about 50 protesters forced their way into the venue, and a crowd of hundreds gathered outside carrying banners bearing anti-racist slogans and voicing anti-BNP chants. Police blocked the entrances to the building, and removed the protesters encamped inside. Griffin was accompanied into the premises by security guards. The event was eventually split between two rooms, with Griffin speaking in one, and Irving in the other; many Union Society members were unable to gain access. Although many present found the debate objectionable, some were supportive of both Griffin and Irving's right to freedom of speech. The Oxford Union later endorsed the debate as a success.
Griffin travelled to the United States and spoke at Clemson University
and Texas A&M University
, but the reception he received in October 2007 at Michigan State University
was markedly different to that in the other venues. Intending to address the "overpopulation of Islamists in Europe", he was repeatedly interrupted, to the point where the event became a question and answer session. He was heckled by hostile elements of the audience, and at one point the fire alarm was activated.
On 22 October 2009, Griffin took part in the BBC's topical debate programme, Question Time
, as a representative of the BNP. He appeared alongside Bonnie Greer
, Jack Straw
, Baroness Warsi and Chris Huhne
. He was challenged by members of the studio audience, and questioned by host David Dimbleby
on comments he had previously made on the Holocaust. His invitation followed the election of two BNP MEPs to the European Parliament, and led to significant debate over the merits of the BBC's decision. The appearance sparked a protest outside the BBC Television Centre
prior to the recording of the programme, in which an estimated 500 people picketed the front entrance of the complex. Six protesters were arrested, and three members of the police service were injured. The programme dominated the following day's newspapers. In an editorial, The Guardian
wrote: "Certainly, the week has provided the first serious scrutiny on BNP policies, and they have proved to be as vicious as feared." Max Hastings
wrote "… the panel had little difficulty making Griffin seem slippery and indeed repugnant …" in the Daily Mail
, and The Sun
columnist Kelvin MacKenzie
said "He emerged as the lying piece of work you always suspected." However, Minette Marrin, writing in The Sunday Times
, later said that Griffin had been "tormented like a crazed bull in a bullring" and "thrown to a sanctimonious mob", and Independent writer Stephen Glover said "In short, there was a lot of sound and fury but virtually no illumination, and Mr Griffin was largely spared."
In a press conference held on 23 October, Griffin stated that he would make a formal complaint about the format of the programme, which he said was "… not a genuine Question Time; that was a lynch mob". He suggested that he should appear again, but that "… [we] should do it properly, and talk about the issues of the day", and added: "That audience was taken from a city that is no longer British … That was not my country any more. Why not come down and do it in Thurrock, do it in Stoke, do it in Burnley? Do it somewhere where there are still significant numbers of English and British people, and they haven't been ethnically cleansed from their own country."
writer Francis Wheen, was "contemptuous" of the party's traditional supporters. He has changed the BNP's traditional focus on immigration and race, to a defence of what it sees as "our traditional principles against the politically correct agenda" espoused by mainstream politicians. He has portrayed himself as a defender of free speech, and has repeatedly spoken about multiculturalism
. During 2000, he attempted to further the BNP's popular appeal by targeting specific groups, including lorry
drivers — some of whom were at the time engaged in mass protests against fuel prices — and farmers. The BNP also produced a journal devoted to rural matters.
The BNP's constitution grants its chairman full executive power over all party affairs, and Griffin thus carries sole responsibility for the party's legal and financial liabilities, and has the final say in all decisions affecting the party. The BNP's policies include a halt to all immigration, the forced repatriation of all illegal immigrants, and the deportation of criminals whose original nationality was not British. It is opposed to a single European currency, and supports British withdrawal from the European Union
(EU). It promises to "free the police and courts from the politically correct straitjacket that is stopping them from doing their job properly". It believes that British industry should be prioritised, that foreign imports should be strictly regulated, and that defence spending should be increased. Northern Ireland
and the Republic of Ireland
would be invited to join a "federation of the nations of the British Isles". Its policy on education includes improving discipline in classrooms, and selective industry training for students. Greater production of home-grown food would be encouraged, and the party supports the National Health Service
. It would restore the pensions earnings link, and the decentralisation of government decision-making.
Upon his election to the European Parliament Griffin unsuccessfully tried to form an alliance with right-wing parties (which would have entitled them to extra funding). He has also held talks with other far-right European parties, such as Vlaams Belang
and Jobbik. The BNP maintains ties with Roberto Fiore
and fascist groups across Europe. Griffin has criticised the Labour government for its attitude toward the BNP, accusing it of treating elected representatives of the BNP as "second-class citizens". Following his election, in a press conference held at a public house in Manchester, he criticised the privatisation of national industries, such as the railway network, and accused MPs generally of being involved in this "… giant looting of Britain". He accused private corporations and the "ruling elite" in Britain of building a "Eurocratic state", a process he called "Mussolini
fascism […] under Gordon Brown." He supported the Gurkhas
, stating that the BNP would allow them and their families entry to the country for medical treatment "for as long as they needed treatment, or for as long as they lived." He also suggested the removal of 100,000 Muslims "disloyal to Britain" and their replacement with the Gurkhas.
Griffin has frequently expressed views on Judaism
, Islam
and homosexuality
. His comments on the Holocaust
(which he once referred to as "the Holohoax") made as an editor of The Rune, demonstrate revisionism
. He criticised Holocaust denier David Irving
for admitting that up to four million Jews might have died in the Holocaust; he wrote "True Revisionists will not be fooled by this new twist to the sorry tale of The Hoax of the Twentieth Century
." In 1997, he told an undercover journalist that he had updated Richard Verrall
's booklet Did Six Million Really Die?
and, in the same year, he wrote Who are the Mindbenders?, about a perceived domination of the media by Jewish figures. Despite this, the BNP has a Jewish councillor, Patricia Richardson
, and spokesman Phil Edwards has stated that the party also has Jewish members. The BNP has stated that it does not deny the Holocaust, and that "Dredging up quotes from 10, 15, 20 years ago is really pathetic and, in a sense, rather fascist." In an interview with BNP deputy leader Simon Darby, Griffin claimed that the English Defence League
was a "Zionist false flag operation", and added that the organisation is "a neo-con operation". He also claimed that the EDL's activities are an attempt to provoke civil war.
Since assuming control of the party, Griffin has sought to move it away from its historic identity, although on the BBC
's Newsnight
on 26 June 2001 he stated that Hindu
s and whites had both been targeted in the "Muslim" riots of 2001, and in the August 2001 issue of Identity (a BNP publication) he claimed that radical Muslim clerics wanted "... militant Muslims to take over British cities with AK-47
rifles". When interviewed in August 2009 for RT
, he distanced himself from the present-day National Front, which he claimed is "... a group of skinhead
s running around with no political direction, other than that we suspect which their masters give them." On The Politics Show
on 9 March 2003, he appeared to accept ethnic minorities who were already legally living in the country, and, on 6 March 2008, he was again interviewed on Newsnight; when told of a poll that demonstrated that most working-class Britons were more concerned about drugs and alcohol than immigration, he linked the UK's drug problem with Islam, specifically Pakistani immigrants. His inclusion on the programme was criticised by contributor and radio presenter Jon Gaunt
, who branded the decision as "pathetic". When asked by The Times
about concerns that his recent success was presaged in Enoch Powell
's Rivers of Blood speech
, Griffin replied:
In a June 2009 interview with Channel 4 News
, Griffin claimed that "There's no such thing as a black Welshman
", which was criticised by Vaughan Gething
(the first black president of the Welsh NUS and the Welsh TUC
, and the first black candidate for the Welsh assembly). Commenting on Griffin's claim, he said "On that basis, most white people wouldn't qualify. It's quite clear that Nick Griffin just doesn't accept that black British people or black Welsh people are entitled to call themselves proper, full citizens of the country." Griffin's interview with Channel 4 News was in response to a decision by the Equality and Human Rights Commission to investigate the BNP's membership criteria, which, it stated, "appeared to discriminate on the grounds of race and colour, contrary to the Race Relations Act." He rejected claims that the BNP was "acting unlawfully" and said "... because we are here, as it was pointed out, for specific ethnic groups — it's nothing to do with colour, your reporter there said that we'll only lift a finger for white people — that's a simple lie." In an interview with the BBC on 8 July 2009, during a discussion on European immigration, he proposed that the EU should sink boats carrying illegal immigrants, to prevent them from entering Europe. Although the interviewer (BBC correspondent Shirin Wheeler) implied that Griffin may have wished the EU to "murder people at sea", he quickly corrected her by saying "I didn't say anyone should be murdered at sea — I say boats should be sunk, they can throw them a life raft and they can go back to Libya" (a staging post for migrants from Egypt
and sub-Saharan Africa).
Following the Admiral Duncan pub
bombing by former BNP member David Copeland
, Griffin stated "The TV footage of dozens of 'gay' demonstrators flaunting their perversion in front of the world's journalists showed just why so many ordinary people find these creatures so repulsive." The BNP states that, privately, homosexuality should be tolerated, but that it "should not be promoted or encouraged". It opposed the introduction of civil partnerships and wishes to ban what it perceives as the promotion of homosexuality in schools and the media.
Writing for The Rune, Griffin praised the wartime Waffen SS and attacked the Royal Air Force
for its bombing of Nazi Germany
, and in 1996 during a public demonstration at Coventry Cathedral
he accused British airmen of "mass murder". Although unconnected, on 9 June 2009 the Royal British Legion wrote an open letter to Griffin asking him not to wear a poppy lapel badge.
In a BBC interview on 8 June 2009, Griffin claimed that "global warming
is essentially a hoax" and that it "is being exploited by the liberal elite as a means of taxing and controlling us and the real crisis is peak oil
". He was a representative of the European Parliament at the 2009 UN Climate Change Conference, where he repeated his claim that global warming is a hoax, and called advocates of action on climate change such as Al Gore
"mass murderers" by supporting biofuels, claiming that their use would lead to the "third and the greatest famine of the modern era". A Greenpeace
spokesman said, "In reality the environmental and development groups he has been disparaging have been in the forefront of concerns about biofuels. Griffin’s claims that climate change is a hoax is one of many curious things going on between his ears.”
, East Sussex
) was previously a long-standing Conservative Party
member and from 1959–1965 a councillor
for the Metropolitan Borough of St Marylebone
. He also served as a councillor on Waveney
District Council during the 1980s. Griffin's mother, Jean (née Thomas), whom Edgar married in 1950, was an unsuccessful BNP candidate for Enfield North in the 1997 general election
, in Chingford & Woodford Green for the 2001 general election
and for London
in the 1999 European elections.
, in Wales. He is married to Jackie Griffin, a former nurse who also acts as his assistant and a BNP administrator. He has four children, some of whom are actively involved with the party, and a sister.
Welsh Assembly elections (Additional members region; party list)
European Parliament elections (Multi-member constituency; party list)
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
politician, chairman of the 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...
(BNP) and Member of the European Parliament
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,...
for North West England
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:...
.
Griffin was born in Barnet
Barnet
High Barnet or Chipping Barnet is a place in the London Borough of Barnet, North London, England. It is a suburban development built around a twelfth-century settlement and is located north north-west of Charing Cross. Its name is often abbreviated to Barnet, which is also the name of the London...
, and was educated at Woodbridge School
Woodbridge School
Woodbridge School is an independent school in Woodbridge, Suffolk, England, founded in 1577, for the poor of Woodbridge. It was later supported by the Seckford Scheme.Woodbridge School has been co-educational since 1975.-History:...
in Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
. He joined the National Front at the age of fifteen, and became a political worker for the party following his graduation from Cambridge University. In 1980, he became a member of its governing body, and later wrote articles for several right-wing magazines. He was the National Front's candidate for the seat of Croydon North West
Croydon North West (UK Parliament constituency)
Croydon North West was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.- Politics and history of the constituency :...
in 1981 and 1983 before leaving in 1989. In 1995, he joined the BNP, and, in 1999, became its leader. He stood as the party's candidate in several elections, and was elected as a member of the European Parliament for North West England in the 2009 European Elections
European Parliament election, 2009
Elections to the European Parliament were held in the 27 member states of the European Union between 4 and 7 June 2009. A total of 736 Members of the European Parliament were elected to represent some 500 million Europeans, making these the biggest trans-national elections in history...
.
In 1998, Griffin was convicted of distributing material likely to incite racial hatred, for which he received a suspended prison sentence. In 2005, he was acquitted of separate charges of inciting racial hatred
Inciting racial hatred
Incitement to racial or ethnic hatred is a crime under the laws of a number of countries.-United Kingdom:Under the Law of the United Kingdom, "incitement to racial hatred" was established as an offence by the provisions of §§ 17-29 of the Public Order Act 1986. It was first established as a...
. He has been criticised for many of his comments on political, social, ethical and religious matters, though since becoming leader of the BNP he has sought to distance himself from some of his previously-held positions, which include Holocaust denial
Holocaust denial
Holocaust denial is the act of denying the genocide of Jews in World War II, usually referred to as the Holocaust. The key claims of Holocaust denial are: the German Nazi government had no official policy or intention of exterminating Jews, Nazi authorities did not use extermination camps and gas...
. In recent years, where Griffin has been invited to participate in public debates or political discussions, the events have proven controversial, and have often resulted in protests and cancellations.
Early life and education
The son of former Conservative councillor Edgar Griffin and his wife Jean, Nicholas John Griffin was born on 1 March 1959 in Barnet, then in Hertfordshire now Greater London, before moving to SouthwoldSouthwold
Southwold is a town on the North Sea coast, in the Waveney district of the English county of Suffolk. It is located on the North Sea coast at the mouth of the River Blyth within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The town is around south of Lowestoft and north-east...
in Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
aged eight. There he was educated at Woodbridge School before winning a sixth–form scholarship to the independent Saint Felix School
Saint Felix School
Saint Felix School is an independent school in Southwold, Suffolk.-Notable former pupils:* Jane Benham MBE - played a significant role in preserving Thames sailing barges* Natalie Caine - woodwind player...
in Southwold, one of only two boys in the all girls school.
Griffin read Mein Kampf
Mein Kampf
Mein Kampf is a book written by Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. It combines elements of autobiography with an exposition of Hitler's political ideology. Volume 1 of Mein Kampf was published in 1925 and Volume 2 in 1926...
when he was fourteen, and "found all but one chapter extremely boring." He joined the National Front in 1974, while he was still fourteen, though he had to pretend he was fifteen, and at the age of sixteen is reported to have stayed at the home of National Front organiser Martin Webster
Martin Webster
Martin Guy Alan Webster is a former leading figure on the far-right in British politics.-Early political activism:An early member of the Young Conservatives, from which he claimed to have been expelled, Webster was associated loosely with the League of Empire Loyalists until he joined the National...
. In a four-page leaflet written in 1999, Webster claimed to have had a homosexual relationship with Griffin, then the BNP's publicity director. Griffin has denied any such relationship.
In 1977, Griffin went to Downing College, Cambridge
Downing College, Cambridge
Downing College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1800 and currently has around 650 students.- History :...
, where he studied history, then law. His affiliation with the National Front was revealed during a Cambridge Union
Cambridge Union Society
The Cambridge Union Society, commonly referred to as simply "the Cambridge Union" or "the Union," is a debating society in Cambridge, England and is the largest society at the University of Cambridge. Since its founding in 1815, the Union has developed a worldwide reputation as a noted symbol of...
debate, and his photograph was published in a student newspaper. He later founded the Young National Front Student organisation. He graduated with a second-class honours degree in law (2:2
British undergraduate degree classification
The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading scheme for undergraduate degrees in the United Kingdom...
), and a boxing blue
University Sporting Blue
A Blue is an award earned by sportsmen and women at a university and some schools for competition at the highest level. The awarding of Blues began at Oxford and Cambridge Universities...
, having taken up the sport following a brawl in Lewisham
Lewisham
Lewisham is a district in South London, England, located in the London Borough of Lewisham. It is situated south-east of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.-History:...
with a member of an anti-fascist party. He boxed three times against Oxford in the annual Varsity match, winning twice and losing once. In an interview with The Independent, he said he gave it up because of a hand injury. He is a fan of Ricky Hatton
Ricky Hatton
Richard John Hatton MBE, more commonly known as Ricky "the Hitman" Hatton, , is a former British professional boxer, and currently a promoter....
and Joe Calzaghe
Joe Calzaghe
Joseph William Calzaghe, CBE, MBE is a Welsh former professional boxer. He is the former WBO, WBA, WBC, IBF, The Ring & British super middleweight champion and The Ring light heavyweight champion....
, and an admirer of Amir Khan
Amir Khan (boxer)
Amir Iqbal Khan , is a British Pakistani professional boxer who is currently the unified WBA & IBF light welterweight champion....
.
1970s–1990
Following his graduation, Griffin became a political worker at the National Front headquarters. As a teenager he had accompanied his father to a National Front meeting, and by 1978, he was a national organiser for the party. He helped set up the White Noise Music Club in 1979, and several years later worked with white power skinhead band, SkrewdriverSkrewdriver
Skrewdriver was an English punk rock band formed by Ian Stuart Donaldson in Poulton-le-Fylde in 1976. They later evolved into one of the first neo-Nazi rock bands, playing a leading role in the Rock Against Communism movement and becoming known as the most prominent white power skinhead...
. In 1980, he became a member of the party's governing body, the National Directorate, and in the same year launched Nationalism Today with the aid of Joe Pearce
Joseph Pearce
Joseph Pearce is an English-born writer, and Writer in Residence and Professor of Literature at Ave Maria University in Ave Maria, Florida; previously he had a comparable position, from 2001, at Ave Maria College in Ypsilanti, Michigan. He is known for a number of literary biographies, many of...
, then editor of the NF youth paper Bulldog. As a National Front member, Griffin contested the seat of Croydon North West twice, in 1981 and 1983, securing 1.2% and 0.9% of the vote.
Membership of the National Front declined significantly following the election of the Conservatives
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...
under Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
. As a result the party became more radicalised, and a dissatisfied Griffin, along with fellow NF activists Derek Holland and Patrick Harrington
Patrick Harrington
Patrick "Pat" Harrington is a British Politician, currently General Secretary of Solidarity – The Union for British Workers an organisation affiliated to the British National Party, and a Director of the Third Way think-tank...
, began to embrace the ideals of Italian fascist Roberto Fiore
Roberto Fiore
Roberto Fiore is an Italian nationalist politician and a founding member of the European third position movement which is against both communism and capitalism...
(Fiore had arrived in the UK in 1980). By 1983, the group had broken away to form the NF Political Soldier
Political Soldier
Political Soldier is a political concept associated with the Third Position. It played a leading role in Britain's National Front from the late 1970s onwards under young radicals Nick Griffin, Patrick Harrington and Derek Holland of the Official National Front...
faction, which advocated a revival of country "values" and a return to feudalism
Feudalism
Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...
with the establishment of nationalist communes. Writing for Bulldog in 1985, Griffin praised the black separatist
Black separatism
Black separatism is a movement to create separate institutions for people of African descent in societies historically dominated by whites, particularly in the United States. Black separatists also often seek a separate homeland...
Louis Farrakhan
Louis Farrakhan
Louis Farrakhan Muhammad, Sr. is the leader of the African-American religious movement the Nation of Islam . He served as the minister of major mosques in Boston and Harlem, and was appointed by the longtime NOI leader, Elijah Muhammad, before his death in 1975, as the National Representative of...
, but his comments were unpopular with some members of the party. He also attempted to form alliances with Libya's Muammar al-Gaddafi
Muammar al-Gaddafi
Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar Gaddafi or "September 1942" 20 October 2011), commonly known as Muammar Gaddafi or Colonel Gaddafi, was the official ruler of the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977 and then the "Brother Leader" of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from 1977 to 2011.He seized power in a...
and Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini, and praised the efforts of Welsh nationalist movement Meibion Glyndŵr
Meibion Glyndwr
Meibion Glyndŵr was a Welsh nationalist movement violently opposed to the loss of Welsh culture and language. They were formed in response to the housing crisis precipitated by large numbers of houses being bought by wealthy English people for use as holiday homes, pushing up house prices beyond...
.
Following a disagreement with Harrington (who subsequently formed the Third Way
Third Way (UK)
The National Liberal Party – The Third Way is a United Kingdom political party that was formed on 17 March 1990 as The Third Way. In 2006, the Third Way registered the name National Liberal Party – The Third Way with the Electoral Commission....
), and objections over the direction the party was headed, in 1989, Griffin left the National Front. Along with Holland and Fiore, he helped form the International Third Position
International Third Position
International Third Position ' was a neo-fascist organization formed by the breakaway faction of the neofascist British National Front and Italian neofascists led by Roberto Fiore....
(ITP), a development of the Political Soldier movement, but left the organisation in 1990. In the same year, he lost his left eye when a discarded shotgun cartridge exploded in a pile of burning wood, since when he has worn a glass eye. The accident left him unable to work, and owing to other financial problems he subsequently declared bankruptcy (the accident occurred in France, where he later lost money in a failed business project). For several years thereafter, he abstained from politics and was supported financially by his parents. He later stewarded a public Holocaust denial
Holocaust denial
Holocaust denial is the act of denying the genocide of Jews in World War II, usually referred to as the Holocaust. The key claims of Holocaust denial are: the German Nazi government had no official policy or intention of exterminating Jews, Nazi authorities did not use extermination camps and gas...
meeting hosted by David Irving
David Irving
David John Cawdell Irving is an English writer,best known for his denial of the Holocaust, who specialises in the military and political history of World War II, with a focus on Nazi Germany...
.
1993–1999
Griffin re-entered politics in 1993 and, in 1995, at the behest of John TyndallJohn 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...
, joined the 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...
. He also became editor of two right-wing magazines owned by Tyndall, Spearhead and The Rune. Referring to the election of the BNP's first councillor at a 1993 council by-election in Millwall
Millwall
Millwall is an area in London, on the western side of the Isle of Dogs, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the south of the developments at West India Docks, including Canary Wharf.-History:...
, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets
London Borough of Tower Hamlets
The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London borough to the east of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It is in the eastern part of London and covers much of the traditional East End. It also includes much of the redeveloped Docklands region of London, including West India Docks...
, he wrote:
Tyndall founded the BNP in 1982, but his "brutal, streetfighting background" and admiration for 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...
and the Nazis had prevented his cause from acquiring any political respectability. In his 1999 leadership campaign, Griffin embarked on a strategy to make the party electable, by taking it away from Tyndall's extremist image. He was helped by Tyndall's lack of familiarity with the mainstream media, and in the party's September election he defeated Tyndall to become head of the BNP. One of Griffin's changes included moderating the party's emphasis on the removal of multiculturalism, a policy it claims has a destructive influence on both immigrant and British cultures. This realignment was designed to position the BNP alongside successful European far-right groups, such as the French Front National. Street protests were replaced by electoral campaigning, and some policies were moderated (the compulsory repatriation of ethnic minorities was instead made voluntary). Other policies included the introduction of capital punishment
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
for paedophiles, rapists, drug dealers and some murderers, and corporal punishment
Corporal punishment
Corporal punishment is a form of physical punishment that involves the deliberate infliction of pain as retribution for an offence, or for the purpose of disciplining or reforming a wrongdoer, or to deter attitudes or behaviour deemed unacceptable...
for less serious crimes such as juvenile delinquency. Griffin's image as a Cambridge-educated family man was in contrast to the extremist image presented by the BNP under Tyndall's leadership.
2000–2010
In addition to his earlier candidacies for the National Front, Griffin has stood as the BNP candidate in several English elections. In 2000, he stood in West Bromwich West, in a by-election triggered by the resignation of Betty BoothroydBetty Boothroyd
Betty Boothroyd, Baroness Boothroyd, OM, PC is a British politician, who served as Member of Parliament for West Bromwich and West Bromwich West from 1973 to 2000, initially for the Labour Party and, from 1992 to 2000, as Speaker of the House of Commons...
. He came fourth, with 794 votes (4.21% of those cast). Following the Oldham race riots he ran in Oldham West and Royton in the 2001 general election
United Kingdom general election, 2001
The United Kingdom general election, 2001 was held on Thursday 7 June 2001 to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. It was dubbed "the quiet landslide" by the media, as the Labour Party was re-elected with another landslide result and only suffered a net loss of 6 seats...
. He received 6,552 votes (16% of those cast), beating the Liberal Democrats
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...
for third place, closely behind the second place Conservatives
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...
, who received 7,076 votes. He again stood for election in the 2003 Oldham Council election, for a seat representing the Chadderton
Chadderton
Chadderton is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England, historically a part of Lancashire...
North ward. He came second to the Labour candidate, receiving 993 votes (28% of those cast). In the 2004 European Parliament election, when he was the BNP candidate for the North West England constituency, the party received 134,959 votes (6.4% of those cast), but won no seats. In the 2005 general election
United Kingdom general election, 2005
The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....
he contested Keighley
Keighley (UK Parliament constituency)
Keighley is a county 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.- Boundaries :...
in West Yorkshire, and polled 4,240 votes (9.2% of those cast), finishing in fourth place.
National Assembly for Wales election, 2007
The 2007 National Assembly election was held on Thursday 3 May 2007 to elect members to the National Assembly for Wales. It was the third general election. On the same day local elections in England and Scotland, and the Scottish Parliament election took place...
, in the South Wales West region. The BNP received 8,993 votes (5.5% of those cast), behind the Labour party's 58,347 votes (35.8%). In October 2007, he was an unsuccessful candidate in the Thurrock Council election
Thurrock Council election, 2007
The 2007 Thurrock Council election took place on 3 May 2007 to elect members of Thurrock Council in Essex, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative party lost overall control of the council to no overall control....
. In November 2008, the entire membership list of the BNP was posted on the Internet (however the list may have included lapsed members of the party and people who had expressed an interest in joining the party, but had not signed up). Griffin claimed that he knew the identity of the individual responsible, describing him as a hard-line senior employee who had left the party in the previous year. He welcomed the publicity that the story generated, using it to describe the common perception of the average BNP member as a "skinhead oik" as untrue.
He was elected as a member of the European Parliament for North West England
North West England
North West England, informally known as The North West, is one of the nine official regions of England.North West England had a 2006 estimated population of 6,853,201 the third most populated region after London and the South East...
in the 2009 European Elections
European Parliament election, 2009
Elections to the European Parliament were held in the 27 member states of the European Union between 4 and 7 June 2009. A total of 736 Members of the European Parliament were elected to represent some 500 million Europeans, making these the biggest trans-national elections in history...
. The BNP polled 943,598 votes (6.2% of those cast), gaining 2 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,...
. Griffin and fellow MEP 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...
were subsequently pelted with eggs as they attempted to stage a celebratory press conference outside the Houses of Parliament. A second venue — a public house near Manchester — was chosen the following day. A line of police blocked a large group of protesters, who chanted "No platform for Nazi Nick" and "Nazi scum off our streets". Griffin viewed the election as an important victory, claiming that his party had been demonised and blocked from holding public meetings. "In Oldham alone there have been hundreds of thousands of pounds spent on employing bogus community workers to keep us out. To triumph against that level of pressure as a political party has never been done before."
In May 2009, he was invited by the BNP representative on the London Assembly
London Assembly
The London Assembly is an elected body, part of the Greater London Authority, that scrutinises the activities of the Mayor of London and has the power, with a two-thirds majority, to amend the mayor's annual budget. The assembly was established in 2000 and is headquartered at City Hall on the south...
, Richard Barnbrook
Richard Barnbrook
Richard John Barnbrook is a British politician and member of the London Assembly. Having been elected as a British National Party candidate, he resigned the BNP whip in August 2010. Barnbrook was a councillor, and leader , then deputy leader , of the BNP group on Barking and Dagenham London...
, to accompany him to a Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace, in London, is the principal residence and office of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...
garden party hosted by Queen Elizabeth II. The invitation prompted objections from several organisations and public figures, including the Mayor of London Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson is a British journalist and Conservative Party politician, who has been the elected Mayor of London since 2008...
, and the anti-fascist organisation Searchlight
Searchlight
A searchlight is an apparatus that combines a bright light source with some form of curved reflector or other optics to project a powerful beam of light of approximately parallel rays in a particular direction, usually constructed so that it can be swiveled about.-Military use:The Royal Navy used...
. Griffin declined this first invitation, but when invited personally in 2010 he accepted:
The Palace later decided to deny Griffin entry to the event, claiming that he had used his invitation "for party political purpose through the media", and citing security concerns. Griffin claimed the decision was an "absolute scandal", and appeared to be "a rule invented for me."
In September 2009, he appealed to party activists for £150,000 of extra funding for the BNP. In the letter, he said that the party's ailing fortunes were a direct result of "attacks on the party". He also defended questions by the Electoral Commission
Electoral Commission (United Kingdom)
The Electoral Commission is an independent body set up by the UK Parliament. It regulates party and election finance and sets standards for well-run elections...
about the transparency of BNP funding. In November 2009, Griffin was a witness at the trial of an Asian man, Tauriq Khalid, at Preston Crown Court. The prosecution claimed that in November 2008 Khalid repeatedly drove past a demonstration that Griffin was attending, and on the second occasion shouted "white bastards". Khalid admitted shouting derisory comments at Griffin and other demonstrators, telling the jury he shouted "Nick Griffin, you fucking wanker" and "Get the fuck out of Burnley
Burnley
Burnley is a market town in the Burnley borough of Lancashire, England, with a population of around 73,500. It lies north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Brun....
, you're not welcome here", but denied shouting "white bastard". Griffin gave evidence against Khalid, and affirmed that Khalid had shouted "white bastard" at him. Griffin said the man "leaned out of the car and pointed at me and made a gun and gang gesture", and that he threatened him by shouting "I'm going to...". Griffin said he had left the demonstration early, fearing for his safety. The 23-year old defendant denied his comments had any racial intent, and was found not guilty. Griffin later commented "I think it's unfortunate and I think it's wrong, but that's the jury's right. They saw all the evidence, I accept their decision. I'm not going to lose any sleep over it."
In the 2010 general election he failed to become a Member of Parliament, polling 6,620 votes 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...
, and finishing in third place. Subsequently, on 23 May 2010, Griffin announced that by 2013 he would stand down as leader, to focus on his European Parliament election campaign.
1998
In 1998, Griffin was convicted of violating section 19 of the Public Order Act 1986Public Order Act 1986
The Public Order Act 1986 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It creates a number of public order offences. They replace similar common law offences and parts of the Public Order Act 1936...
, relating to the offence of 'publishing or distributing racially inflammatory written material' in issue 12 of The Rune, published in 1996. Griffin's comments in the magazine were reported to the police by Alex Carlile
Alex Carlile, Baron Carlile of Berriew
Alexander Charles Carlile, Baron Carlile of Berriew, QC is a Liberal Democrat member of the House of Lords.-Early life and career:...
, then 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...
Member of Parliament for Montgomeryshire. Following a police raid at Griffin's home, he was charged with distributing material likely to incite racial hatred. Fellow BNP member Paul Ballard was also charged, but entered a guilty plea and did not stand trial. Griffin pleaded not guilty, and was tried at Harrow Crown Court. He called French Holocaust denier
Holocaust denial
Holocaust denial is the act of denying the genocide of Jews in World War II, usually referred to as the Holocaust. The key claims of Holocaust denial are: the German Nazi government had no official policy or intention of exterminating Jews, Nazi authorities did not use extermination camps and gas...
Robert Faurisson
Robert Faurisson
Robert Faurisson is a French academic who is a Holocaust denier. Faurisson generated much controversy with a number of articles, published in the Journal of Historical Review and elsewhere, as well as various letters he has sent to French newspapers , which deny various aspects of the Holocaust,...
and Nationalist Osiris Akkebala as witnesses, was found guilty and given a nine-month sentence, suspended for two years, and a £2,300 fine. (Ballard was given a six-month sentence, also suspended for two years.)
Griffin claimed that the law under which he was convicted was an unjust law and he therefore had no obligation to follow it. He was secretly recorded by the ITV programme The Cook Report
The Cook Report
The Cook Report was a British current affairs television programme shown on ITV, produced for the network by Central Television from 1987 to 1998.-History:...
in 1997 describing Carlile as "this bloody Jew ... whose only claim is that his grandparents died in the Holocaust".
2004–2006
Halifax, West Yorkshire
Halifax is a minster town, within the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England. It has an urban area population of 82,056 in the 2001 Census. It is well-known as a centre of England's woollen manufacture from the 15th century onward, originally dealing through the Halifax Piece...
, before being freed on police bail
Bail
Traditionally, bail is some form of property deposited or pledged to a court to persuade it to release a suspect from jail, on the understanding that the suspect will return for trial or forfeit the bail...
. He said that the arrest was "an electoral scam to get the Muslim block vote back to the Labour party" and that the Labour government was attempting to influence the results of the following year's general election.
Griffin's arrest was made two days after those of John Tyndall and several other people, over remarks they had made in the same programme. Following its broadcast on 15 July 2004, the police began an investigation into the programme's contents. The following April he was charged with four offences of using words or behaviour intended or likely to stir up racial hatred. The trial began in January 2006. Griffin stood alongside fellow party activist Mark Collett
Mark Collett
Mark Adrian Collett is a British political activist. He is a former chairman of the Young BNP, the youth division of the British National Party , and was Director of Publicity for the Party before being suspended from the party in early April 2010...
, who faced similar charges. Prosecuting, Rodney Jameson QC
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
told the jury of six speeches that the accused had made in the Reservoir Tavern in Keighley on 19 January 2004. Reading excerpts from them, he claimed that they included threatening, abusive and insulting words directed at "people of Asian ethnicity", with the intention of "stirring up racial hatred".
Griffin was also accused of calling murdered black teenager Stephen Lawrence
Stephen Lawrence
Stephen Lawrence was a black British teenager from Eltham, southeast London, who was stabbed to death while waiting for a bus on the evening of 22 April 1993....
a drug dealer and bully who stole younger pupils' dinner money. In the witness box he defended himself by quoting passages from the Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
, saying that his comments describing Islam as a "vicious, wicked faith" were attacking not a race, but a religion. During the two-week trial he used a laptop to post daily updates on a blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
on the BNP's website. In his closing address, defence barrister
Barristers in England and Wales
Barristers in England and Wales are one of the two main categories of lawyer in England and Wales, the other being solicitors. -Origin of the profession:The work of senior legal professionals in England and Wales...
Timothy King
Timothy King
Sir Timothy Roger Alan King , styled The Hon. Mr Justice King, is a judge of the High Court of England and Wales assigned to the Queen's Bench Division.-Career as counsel:...
QC said:
Griffin and Collett were cleared of half the charges against them—the jury remained divided on the other charges, and a retrial was ordered. On 10 November 2006, after five hours of deliberations, the jury cleared them of all charges. They were met outside the court by about 200 supporters, who Griffin addressed with a megaphone. He attacked Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
and the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, and defended the BNP's right to freedom of speech. BNP Deputy Chairman Simon Darby
Simon Darby
Simon Darby is a British politician and former Deputy Chairman of the British National Party.-Background:By occupation a computer communications consultant, Darby began his political career in the National Democrats, most of whose activity was centred around his West Midlands base...
later claimed that had Griffin been convicted, the BNP leader planned to go on hunger strike
Hunger strike
A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance or pressure in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke feelings of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most hunger strikers will take liquids but not...
.
Public debates
Since his election as BNP leader, Griffin has been invited to participate in debates at several universities. In November 2002, the Cambridge Union SocietyCambridge Union Society
The Cambridge Union Society, commonly referred to as simply "the Cambridge Union" or "the Union," is a debating society in Cambridge, England and is the largest society at the University of Cambridge. Since its founding in 1815, the Union has developed a worldwide reputation as a noted symbol of...
invited him to take part in a debate the following January. Titled "This house believes that Islam is a threat to the west", the resolution was controversial; alongside more moderate speakers, one of those invited was Abu Hamza al-Masri
Abu Hamza al-Masri
Abu Hamza al-Masri is an Egyptian Sunni activist known for his preaching of a violent and politicised interpretation of Islam, also known as militant Islamism or jihadism...
, a fundamentalist Muslim cleric. Some participants threatened to withdraw, and several official bodies criticised the invitations. The two had met earlier in the year, in a debate chaired by Today programme
Today programme
Today is BBC Radio 4's long-running early morning news and current affairs programme, now broadcast from 6.00 am to 9.00 am Monday to Friday, and 7.00 am to 9.00 am on Saturdays. It is also the most popular programme on Radio 4 and one of the BBC's most popular programmes across its radio networks...
editor Rod Liddle
Rod Liddle
Roderick E. L. Liddle is an English print, radio, and television journalist.He is an associate editor of The Spectator, and former editor of BBC Radio 4's Today programme, he is the author of Too Beautiful for You , Love Will Destroy Everything , and co-author of The Best of Liddle Britain...
. He was also invited by the Cambridge Forum to a debate on extremism in December 2002, with 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...
MP Lembit Öpik
Lembit Öpik
Lembit Öpik is a British Liberal Democrat politician. He was the Member of Parliament for the constituency of Montgomeryshire in Wales from 1997 until he lost his seat in the 2010 General Election...
. The venue was changed twice after protests from property owners, but the threat of a violent confrontation between the Anti-Nazi League
Anti-Nazi League
The Anti-Nazi League was an organisation set up in 1977 on the initiative of the Socialist Workers Party with sponsorship from some trade unions and the endorsement of a list of prominent people to oppose the rise of far-right groups in the United Kingdom. It was wound down in 1981...
and BNP supporters forced the president of the Cambridge Forum, Chris Paley, to cancel the event. Paley called the decision an "own goal" for the values of free speech, and Öpik criticised it, emphasising his belief in "people's right to make their own decisions in a democracy".
In February 2005, Griffin was asked to take part in a debate on multiculturalism at the University of St Andrews
University of St Andrews
The University of St Andrews, informally referred to as "St Andrews", is the oldest university in Scotland and the third oldest in the English-speaking world after Oxford and Cambridge. The university is situated in the town of St Andrews, Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It was founded between...
in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. He was invited by the president of the students' debating society, who said "We believe that the only way to get the truth of what the BNP are saying and to combat them is to do it in public in a debate." The move was attacked by anti-racist groups, some of whom refused to participate in the discussion. Griffin said "I am coming up because I was invited by the students at the university because they have a debate on an intelligent subject on which I have something to say. The people against it are the usual bunch of people who cannot win the argument and refuse to stand on a platform." The society withdrew the invitation before the event was to take place.
In May 2007, Griffin was invited to address a meeting at the University of Bath
University of Bath
The University of Bath is a campus university located in Bath, United Kingdom. It received its Royal Charter in 1966....
by politics student and BNP youth leader Danny Lake. Lake wanted Griffin to visit the university and explain the BNP's policies to lecturers and students. The invitation was viewed by some as an attempt by the party to establish a foothold on the university campus. Eleven union general secretaries wrote to the university's vice-chancellor and asked her to reconsider the decision to allow the meeting. A large protest was planned, and following students' concerns over their personal safety, the University cancelled the invitation.
Several months later, the Oxford Union
Oxford Union
The Oxford Union Society, commonly referred to simply as the Oxford Union, is a debating society in the city of Oxford, Britain, whose membership is drawn primarily but not exclusively from the University of Oxford...
invited Griffin to speak at a forum on the limits of free speech, along with other speakers including David Irving
David Irving
David John Cawdell Irving is an English writer,best known for his denial of the Holocaust, who specialises in the military and political history of World War II, with a focus on Nazi Germany...
. The invitation was condemned by the Equality and Human Rights Commission head Trevor Phillips
Trevor Phillips
Trevor Phillips OBE chairs the Equality and Human Rights Commission and is a former television executive and presenter...
and the president of the Oxford Students' Union. The Conservative MP Dr Julian Lewis
Julian Lewis
Dr. Julian Murray Lewis is a British Conservative Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for New Forest East in Hampshire since the 1997 general election.-Education:Born on 26 September 1951 in Swansea, Dr...
resigned his membership of the Union. A rally against the invitation was held at Oxford Town Hall on 20 November, and included the Oxford Students' Union president, the National Union of Students black students' officer, and the Trades Union Congress
Trades Union Congress
The Trades Union Congress is a national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions in the United Kingdom, representing the majority of trade unions...
south east regional secretary. Representatives of Unite Against Fascism
Unite Against Fascism
Unite Against Fascism is an anti-fascist pressure group in the United Kingdom, with support from politicians of all mainstream UK political parties...
also attended, as well as the University of Oxford's Jewish student chaplain. Several Holocaust survivors spoke at the rally. Stephen Altmann-Richer, co-president of the Oxford University Jewish Society, said "I don't think these people should be invited to the Oxford Union, by having them speak, it legitimises their views ..." On the night of the debate, about 50 protesters forced their way into the venue, and a crowd of hundreds gathered outside carrying banners bearing anti-racist slogans and voicing anti-BNP chants. Police blocked the entrances to the building, and removed the protesters encamped inside. Griffin was accompanied into the premises by security guards. The event was eventually split between two rooms, with Griffin speaking in one, and Irving in the other; many Union Society members were unable to gain access. Although many present found the debate objectionable, some were supportive of both Griffin and Irving's right to freedom of speech. The Oxford Union later endorsed the debate as a success.
Griffin travelled to the United States and spoke at Clemson University
Clemson University
Clemson University is an American public, coeducational, land-grant, sea-grant, research university located in Clemson, South Carolina, United States....
and Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school...
, but the reception he received in October 2007 at Michigan State University
Michigan State University
Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...
was markedly different to that in the other venues. Intending to address the "overpopulation of Islamists in Europe", he was repeatedly interrupted, to the point where the event became a question and answer session. He was heckled by hostile elements of the audience, and at one point the fire alarm was activated.
2009 appearance on Question Time
Question Time (TV series)
Question Time is a topical debate BBC television programme in the United Kingdom, based on Any Questions?. The show typically features politicians from at least the three major political parties as well as other public figures who answer questions put to them by the audience...
, as a representative of the BNP. He appeared alongside Bonnie Greer
Bonnie Greer
Bonnie Greer, OBE is an American-British playwright and critic.-Early life:Greer's father was born to a family of Mississippi sharecroppers. He was stationed in the UK during World War II and took part in the D-Day landings...
, Jack Straw
Jack Straw
Jack Straw , British politician.Jack Straw may also refer to:* Jack Straw , English* "Jack Straw" , 1971 song by the Grateful Dead* Jack Straw by W...
, Baroness Warsi and Chris Huhne
Chris Huhne
Christopher Murray Paul-Huhne, generally known as Chris Huhne is a British politician and cabinet minister, who is the current Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for the Eastleigh constituency in Hampshire...
. He was challenged by members of the studio audience, and questioned by host David Dimbleby
David Dimbleby
David Dimbleby is a British BBC TV commentator and a presenter of current affairs and political programmes, most notably the BBC's flagship political show Question Time, and more recently, art, architectural history and history series...
on comments he had previously made on the Holocaust. His invitation followed the election of two BNP MEPs to the European Parliament, and led to significant debate over the merits of the BBC's decision. The appearance sparked a protest outside the BBC Television Centre
BBC Television Centre
BBC Television Centre at White City in West London is the headquarters of BBC Television. Officially opened on 29 June 1960, it remains one of the largest to this day; having featured over the years as backdrop to many BBC programmes, it is one of the most readily recognisable such facilities...
prior to the recording of the programme, in which an estimated 500 people picketed the front entrance of the complex. Six protesters were arrested, and three members of the police service were injured. The programme dominated the following day's newspapers. In an editorial, The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
wrote: "Certainly, the week has provided the first serious scrutiny on BNP policies, and they have proved to be as vicious as feared." Max Hastings
Max Hastings
Sir Max Hugh Macdonald Hastings, FRSL is a British journalist, editor, historian and author. He is the son of Macdonald Hastings, the noted British journalist and war correspondent and Anne Scott-James, sometime editor of Harper's Bazaar.-Life and career:Hastings was educated at Charterhouse...
wrote "… the panel had little difficulty making Griffin seem slippery and indeed repugnant …" 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...
, and The Sun
The Sun (newspaper)
The Sun is a daily national tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and owned by News Corporation. Sister editions are published in Glasgow and Dublin...
columnist Kelvin MacKenzie
Kelvin MacKenzie
Kelvin Calder MacKenzie is an English media executive and former newspaper editor. He is best known for being editor of The Sun newspaper between 1981 and 1994, an era in which the paper was established as Britain's best selling newspaper.- Biography :MacKenzie was educated at Alleyn's School...
said "He emerged as the lying piece of work you always suspected." However, Minette Marrin, writing in The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
, later said that Griffin had been "tormented like a crazed bull in a bullring" and "thrown to a sanctimonious mob", and Independent writer Stephen Glover said "In short, there was a lot of sound and fury but virtually no illumination, and Mr Griffin was largely spared."
In a press conference held on 23 October, Griffin stated that he would make a formal complaint about the format of the programme, which he said was "… not a genuine Question Time; that was a lynch mob". He suggested that he should appear again, but that "… [we] should do it properly, and talk about the issues of the day", and added: "That audience was taken from a city that is no longer British … That was not my country any more. Why not come down and do it in Thurrock, do it in Stoke, do it in Burnley? Do it somewhere where there are still significant numbers of English and British people, and they haven't been ethnically cleansed from their own country."
Policies and views
Griffin describes himself as a "moderniser", and "new nationalist", and upon his election as leader of the BNP, according to GuardianThe Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
writer Francis Wheen, was "contemptuous" of the party's traditional supporters. He has changed the BNP's traditional focus on immigration and race, to a defence of what it sees as "our traditional principles against the politically correct agenda" espoused by mainstream politicians. He has portrayed himself as a defender of free speech, and has repeatedly spoken about multiculturalism
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...
. During 2000, he attempted to further the BNP's popular appeal by targeting specific groups, including lorry
Lorry
-Transport:* Lorry or truck, a large motor vehicle* Lorry, or a Mine car in USA: an open gondola with a tipping trough* Lorry , a horse-drawn low-loading trolley-In fiction:...
drivers — some of whom were at the time engaged in mass protests against fuel prices — and farmers. The BNP also produced a journal devoted to rural matters.
The BNP's constitution grants its chairman full executive power over all party affairs, and Griffin thus carries sole responsibility for the party's legal and financial liabilities, and has the final say in all decisions affecting the party. The BNP's policies include a halt to all immigration, the forced repatriation of all illegal immigrants, and the deportation of criminals whose original nationality was not British. It is opposed to a single European currency, and supports British withdrawal from the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
(EU). It promises to "free the police and courts from the politically correct straitjacket that is stopping them from doing their job properly". It believes that British industry should be prioritised, that foreign imports should be strictly regulated, and that defence spending should be increased. Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
and the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
would be invited to join a "federation of the nations of the British Isles". Its policy on education includes improving discipline in classrooms, and selective industry training for students. Greater production of home-grown food would be encouraged, and the party supports the National Health Service
National Health Service (England)
The National Health Service or NHS is the publicly funded healthcare system in England. It is both the largest and oldest single-payer healthcare system in the world. It is able to function in the way that it does because it is primarily funded through the general taxation system, similar to how...
. It would restore the pensions earnings link, and the decentralisation of government decision-making.
Upon his election to the European Parliament Griffin unsuccessfully tried to form an alliance with right-wing parties (which would have entitled them to extra funding). He has also held talks with other far-right European parties, such as Vlaams Belang
Vlaams Belang
Vlaams Belang is a Belgian far-right political party in the Flemish Region and Brussels that advocates the independence of Flanders and strict limits on immigration, whereby immigrants would be obliged to adopt Flemish culture and language...
and Jobbik. The BNP maintains ties with Roberto Fiore
Roberto Fiore
Roberto Fiore is an Italian nationalist politician and a founding member of the European third position movement which is against both communism and capitalism...
and fascist groups across Europe. Griffin has criticised the Labour government for its attitude toward the BNP, accusing it of treating elected representatives of the BNP as "second-class citizens". Following his election, in a press conference held at a public house in Manchester, he criticised the privatisation of national industries, such as the railway network, and accused MPs generally of being involved in this "… giant looting of Britain". He accused private corporations and the "ruling elite" in Britain of building a "Eurocratic state", a process he called "Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
fascism […] under Gordon Brown." He supported the Gurkhas
Brigade of Gurkhas
The Brigade of Gurkhas is the collective term for units of the current British Army that are composed of Nepalese soldiers. The brigade, which is 3,640 strong, draws its heritage from Gurkha units that originally served in the British Indian Army prior to Indian independence, and prior to that of...
, stating that the BNP would allow them and their families entry to the country for medical treatment "for as long as they needed treatment, or for as long as they lived." He also suggested the removal of 100,000 Muslims "disloyal to Britain" and their replacement with the Gurkhas.
Griffin has frequently expressed views on Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
, Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
and homosexuality
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
. His comments on the Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
(which he once referred to as "the Holohoax") made as an editor of The Rune, demonstrate revisionism
Historical revisionism (negationism)
Historical revisionism is either the legitimate scholastic re-examination of existing knowledge about a historical event, or the illegitimate distortion of the historical record such that certain events appear in a more or less favourable light. For the former, i.e. the academic pursuit, see...
. He criticised Holocaust denier David Irving
David Irving
David John Cawdell Irving is an English writer,best known for his denial of the Holocaust, who specialises in the military and political history of World War II, with a focus on Nazi Germany...
for admitting that up to four million Jews might have died in the Holocaust; he wrote "True Revisionists will not be fooled by this new twist to the sorry tale of The Hoax of the Twentieth Century
The Hoax of the Twentieth Century
The Hoax of the Twentieth Century: The Case Against the Presumed Extermination of European Jewry is a book by electrical engineering professor Arthur Butz. First published in 1976 by Historical Review Press, it denied that Nazi Germany tried to exterminate the Jews during the Holocaust, and was...
." In 1997, he told an undercover journalist that he had updated Richard Verrall
Richard Verrall
Richard Verrall is a former Deputy Chairman of the British National Front , he edited the magazine Spearhead from 1976 to 1980.-National Front career:...
's booklet Did Six Million Really Die?
Did Six Million Really Die?
Did Six Million Really Die? is a Holocaust denial booklet written by British National Front member Richard Verrall, under the name Richard E. Harwood, and published by Ernst Zündel in 1974...
and, in the same year, he wrote Who are the Mindbenders?, about a perceived domination of the media by Jewish figures. Despite this, the BNP has a Jewish councillor, Patricia Richardson
Patricia Richardson (politician)
Patricia Feldman Richardson is a British politician, most notable as the British National Party’s first ethnically Jewish candidate, though she does not practise Judaism. Richardson says the party is not anti-Semitic or racist...
, and spokesman Phil Edwards has stated that the party also has Jewish members. The BNP has stated that it does not deny the Holocaust, and that "Dredging up quotes from 10, 15, 20 years ago is really pathetic and, in a sense, rather fascist." In an interview with BNP deputy leader Simon Darby, Griffin claimed that the English Defence League
English Defence League
The English Defence League is a far-right street protest movement which opposes what it considers to be a spread of Islamism, Sharia law and Islamic extremism in the UK. The EDL uses street marches to protest against Islamic extremism...
was a "Zionist false flag operation", and added that the organisation is "a neo-con operation". He also claimed that the EDL's activities are an attempt to provoke civil war.
Since assuming control of the party, Griffin has sought to move it away from its historic identity, although on the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's Newsnight
Newsnight
Newsnight is a BBC Television current affairs programme noted for its in-depth analysis and often robust cross-examination of senior politicians. Jeremy Paxman has been its main presenter for over two decades....
on 26 June 2001 he stated that Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
s and whites had both been targeted in the "Muslim" riots of 2001, and in the August 2001 issue of Identity (a BNP publication) he claimed that radical Muslim clerics wanted "... militant Muslims to take over British cities with AK-47
AK-47
The AK-47 is a selective-fire, gas-operated 7.62×39mm assault rifle, first developed in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Kalashnikov. It is officially known as Avtomat Kalashnikova . It is also known as a Kalashnikov, an "AK", or in Russian slang, Kalash.Design work on the AK-47 began in the last year...
rifles". When interviewed in August 2009 for RT
RT (TV network)
RT, previously known as Russia Today, is a global multilingual television news network based in the Russian Federation run by the state-owned state-run RIA Novosti....
, he distanced himself from the present-day National Front, which he claimed is "... a group of skinhead
Skinhead
A skinhead is a member of a subculture that originated among working class youths in the United Kingdom in the 1960s, and then spread to other parts of the world. Named for their close-cropped or shaven heads, the first skinheads were greatly influenced by West Indian rude boys and British mods,...
s running around with no political direction, other than that we suspect which their masters give them." On 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...
on 9 March 2003, he appeared to accept ethnic minorities who were already legally living in the country, and, on 6 March 2008, he was again interviewed on Newsnight; when told of a poll that demonstrated that most working-class Britons were more concerned about drugs and alcohol than immigration, he linked the UK's drug problem with Islam, specifically Pakistani immigrants. His inclusion on the programme was criticised by contributor and radio presenter Jon Gaunt
Jon Gaunt
Jonathan Charles Gaunt , is an English radio talk show presenter, TV Personality, newspaper columnist, social commentator and spokesman....
, who branded the decision as "pathetic". When asked by The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
about concerns that his recent success was presaged in 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...
's Rivers of Blood speech
Rivers of Blood speech
The "Rivers of Blood" speech was a speech criticising Commonwealth immigration, as well as proposed anti-discrimination legislation in the United Kingdom made on 20 April 1968 by Enoch Powell , the Conservative Member of Parliament for Wolverhampton South West...
, Griffin replied:
In a June 2009 interview with Channel 4 News
Channel 4 News
Channel 4 News is the news division of British television broadcaster Channel 4. It is produced by ITN, and has been in operation since the broadcaster's launch in 1982.-Channel 4 News:...
, Griffin claimed that "There's no such thing as a black Welshman
Welsh people
The Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...
", which was criticised by Vaughan Gething
Vaughan Gething
Vaughan Gething AM is a Welsh Labour Co-operative politician, who has represented the constituency of Cardiff South and Penarth since the National Assembly for Wales election of 2011.-Early life:...
(the first black president of the Welsh NUS and the Welsh TUC
Wales TUC
The Wales TUC is the co-ordinating body of trade unions in Wales. With over 50 affiliated unions as of 2006, the Wales TUC represents nearly half a million workers trade unionists....
, and the first black candidate for the Welsh assembly). Commenting on Griffin's claim, he said "On that basis, most white people wouldn't qualify. It's quite clear that Nick Griffin just doesn't accept that black British people or black Welsh people are entitled to call themselves proper, full citizens of the country." Griffin's interview with Channel 4 News was in response to a decision by the Equality and Human Rights Commission to investigate the BNP's membership criteria, which, it stated, "appeared to discriminate on the grounds of race and colour, contrary to the Race Relations Act." He rejected claims that the BNP was "acting unlawfully" and said "... because we are here, as it was pointed out, for specific ethnic groups — it's nothing to do with colour, your reporter there said that we'll only lift a finger for white people — that's a simple lie." In an interview with the BBC on 8 July 2009, during a discussion on European immigration, he proposed that the EU should sink boats carrying illegal immigrants, to prevent them from entering Europe. Although the interviewer (BBC correspondent Shirin Wheeler) implied that Griffin may have wished the EU to "murder people at sea", he quickly corrected her by saying "I didn't say anyone should be murdered at sea — I say boats should be sunk, they can throw them a life raft and they can go back to Libya" (a staging post for migrants from Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
and sub-Saharan Africa).
Following the Admiral Duncan pub
Admiral Duncan pub
The Admiral Duncan is a pub in Old Compton Street, Soho in the heart of London's gay district. It is named after Admiral Adam Duncan, who defeated the Dutch fleet at the Battle of Camperdown in 1797.- Bombing :...
bombing by former BNP member David Copeland
David Copeland
David John Copeland is a former member of the British National Party and the National Socialist Movement, who became known as the "London Nail Bomber" after a 13-day bombing campaign in April 1999 aimed at London's black, Bangladeshi and gay communities.Over three successive weekends between 17...
, Griffin stated "The TV footage of dozens of 'gay' demonstrators flaunting their perversion in front of the world's journalists showed just why so many ordinary people find these creatures so repulsive." The BNP states that, privately, homosexuality should be tolerated, but that it "should not be promoted or encouraged". It opposed the introduction of civil partnerships and wishes to ban what it perceives as the promotion of homosexuality in schools and the media.
Writing for The Rune, Griffin praised the wartime Waffen SS and attacked the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
for its bombing of Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
, and in 1996 during a public demonstration at Coventry Cathedral
Coventry Cathedral
Coventry Cathedral, also known as St Michael's Cathedral, is the seat of the Bishop of Coventry and the Diocese of Coventry, in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The current bishop is the Right Revd Christopher Cocksworth....
he accused British airmen of "mass murder". Although unconnected, on 9 June 2009 the Royal British Legion wrote an open letter to Griffin asking him not to wear a poppy lapel badge.
In a BBC interview on 8 June 2009, Griffin claimed that "global warming
Global warming
Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
is essentially a hoax" and that it "is being exploited by the liberal elite as a means of taxing and controlling us and the real crisis is peak oil
Peak oil
Peak oil is the point in time when the maximum rate of global petroleum extraction is reached, after which the rate of production enters terminal decline. This concept is based on the observed production rates of individual oil wells, projected reserves and the combined production rate of a field...
". He was a representative of the European Parliament at the 2009 UN Climate Change Conference, where he repeated his claim that global warming is a hoax, and called advocates of action on climate change such as Al Gore
Al Gore
Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....
"mass murderers" by supporting biofuels, claiming that their use would lead to the "third and the greatest famine of the modern era". A Greenpeace
Greenpeace
Greenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over forty countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, The Netherlands...
spokesman said, "In reality the environmental and development groups he has been disparaging have been in the forefront of concerns about biofuels. Griffin’s claims that climate change is a hoax is one of many curious things going on between his ears.”
Parents
Griffin's father, Edgar Griffin (born 1921, BrightonBrighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
, East Sussex
East Sussex
East Sussex is a county in South East England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent, Surrey and West Sussex, and to the south by the English Channel.-History:...
) was previously a long-standing 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...
member and from 1959–1965 a councillor
Councillor
A councillor or councilor is a member of a local government council, such as a city council.Often in the United States, the title is councilman or councilwoman.-United Kingdom:...
for the Metropolitan Borough of St Marylebone
Metropolitan Borough of St Marylebone
The Metropolitan Borough of St Marylebone was a Metropolitan borough of the County of London from 1900 to 1965. It was based directly on the previously existing civil parish of St Marylebone, which was incorporated into the Metropolitan Board of Works area in 1855, retaining a parish vestry, and...
. He also served as a councillor on Waveney
Waveney
Waveney is a local government district in Suffolk, England, named after the River Waveney that forms its north-west border. The district council is based in Lowestoft, the major settlement in Waveney, which is the only unparished area in the district...
District Council during the 1980s. Griffin's mother, Jean (née Thomas), whom Edgar married in 1950, was an unsuccessful BNP candidate for Enfield North in the 1997 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1997
The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...
, in Chingford & Woodford Green for the 2001 general election
United Kingdom general election, 2001
The United Kingdom general election, 2001 was held on Thursday 7 June 2001 to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. It was dubbed "the quiet landslide" by the media, as the Labour Party was re-elected with another landslide result and only suffered a net loss of 6 seats...
and for London
London (European Parliament constituency)
London is a constituency of the European Parliament. It currently elects 8 MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.- Boundaries :The constituency corresponds to Greater London, in the south east of the United Kingdom....
in the 1999 European elections.
Personal life
Griffin lives with his family in a farmhouse in Llanerfyl, near WelshpoolWelshpool
Welshpool is a town in Powys, Wales, or ancient county Montgomeryshire, from the Wales-England border. The town is low-lying on the River Severn; the Welsh language name Y Trallwng literally meaning 'the marshy or sinking land'...
, in Wales. He is married to Jackie Griffin, a former nurse who also acts as his assistant and a BNP administrator. He has four children, some of whom are actively involved with the party, and a sister.
Elections contested
UK Parliament elections| Date of election | Constituency | Party | Votes | Percentage of votes | Source(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 October 1981 by-election Croydon North West by-election, 1981 The Croydon North West by-election took place on 22 October 1981. It was caused by the death of Conservative Member of Parliament Robert Taylor on 18 June 1981.The Conservative Party selected John Butterfill, then vice-chairman of Guildford Conservative Association... |
Croydon North West Croydon North West (UK Parliament constituency) Croydon North West was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.- Politics and history of the constituency :... |
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 .... |
429 | 1.2 | |
| 1983 general election United Kingdom general election, 1983 The 1983 United Kingdom general election was held on 9 June 1983. It gave the Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher the most decisive election victory since that of Labour in 1945... |
Croydon North West | NF | 336 | 0.9 | |
| 23 November 2000 by-election West Bromwich West by-election, 2000 The West Bromwich West by-election, 2000 was a by-election held on 23rd November 2000 for the British House of Commons constituency of West Bromwich West.The constituency's Member of Parliament was the Rt. Hon. Betty Boothroyd, the Speaker... |
West Bromwich West | 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... |
794 | 4.2 | |
| 2001 general election United Kingdom general election, 2001 The United Kingdom general election, 2001 was held on Thursday 7 June 2001 to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. It was dubbed "the quiet landslide" by the media, as the Labour Party was re-elected with another landslide result and only suffered a net loss of 6 seats... |
Oldham West and Royton | BNP | 6,552 | 16.4 | |
| 2005 general election United Kingdom general election, 2005 The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160.... |
Keighley Keighley (UK Parliament constituency) Keighley is a county 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.- Boundaries :... |
BNP | 4,240 | 9.2 | |
| 2010 general election | 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... |
BNP | 6,620 | 14.6 |
Welsh Assembly elections (Additional members region; party list)
| Date of election | Region | Party | Votes | Percentage of votes | Result | Source(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 Welsh Assembly election National Assembly for Wales election, 2007 The 2007 National Assembly election was held on Thursday 3 May 2007 to elect members to the National Assembly for Wales. It was the third general election. On the same day local elections in England and Scotland, and the Scottish Parliament election took place... |
South Wales West | 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... |
8,993 | 5.5 | Not elected |
European Parliament elections (Multi-member constituency; party list)
| Date of election | Region | Party | Votes | Percentage of votes | Result | Source(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 European election | North West England 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:... |
BNP | 134,959 | 6.4 | Not elected | |
| 2009 European election European Parliament election, 2009 (United Kingdom) The European Parliament election was the United Kingdom's component of the 2009 European Parliament election, the voting for which was held on Thursday 4 June 2009, coinciding with the 2009 local elections in England. Most of the results of the election were announced on Sunday 7 June, after... |
North West England 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:... |
BNP | 132,094 | 8.0 | Elected |