Sharon Ebanks
Encyclopedia
Sharon Ebanks is a former member of the British National Party
and one of the founder members of the New Nationalist Party.
(BNP) organiser in Birmingham
, before coming to wider prominence in the 2006 local elections
when she was announced as the winner of a council seat in the Kingstanding
ward in her home town.
While the other 39 wards in Birmingham were each electing a single candidate, in Kingstanding there were two vacancies, as an incumbent councillor in the ward was retiring. Therefore, each voter was able to cast two votes on their ballot paper. The Labour, Liberal Democrat and Conservative Parties each stood two candidates for the two vacancies, while a number of minor parties - including the BNP - stood just one.
It initially appeared that Ebanks had been elected in first place, with a Labour candidate elected in second and the other Labour candidate missing out in third place. Two recounts were called by the Conservative and Labour candidates, which appeared to confirm this result.
However, following the declaration, the Deputy Returning Officer discovered an error in the calculation of the results which meant that the 'mixed' votes - where a voter had split their two votes between candidates of different parties - had all been counted twice. As Ebanks was the BNP's only candidate in the ward, a large number of her votes had been 'split' in this way, with voters casting one vote for the BNP and one vote for another party. Because of this, a large proportion of BNP votes had been double-counted. 2,367 votes had been counted twice, including just under 1000 votes cast in support of Ebanks.
However, as Ebanks had already been declared elected, it was determined that the result would have to stand until overturned by an election petition, to be brought by the defeated Labour candidate. Birmingham City Council announced that they would not contest the petition, although Ebanks did so. The petition was presented to the high court in July 2006 and accepted; the result was thus overturned. Labour's Catherine Grundy was declared the rightful winner and immediately took Ebanks's place on the council.
Jamaica
n Radwell Ebanks. However Ebanks, who had been a critic of interracial marriage, denied that Radwell Ebanks was her father to the Sunday Mercury
. She would go on to claim that she was the result of an affair her mother had with a Scotsman
.
In September 2006 Ebanks was expelled from the BNP for reasons that the BBC
described as 'unexplained' although Ebanks herself claimed "I'm sacked for speaking out about the lack of transparency regarding the BNP accounts and I am apparently being charged with being anti-Semitic". Searchlight magazine, which campaigns against the BNP, claimed that her expulsion came from a dispute with the party's legal officer Lee Barnes over paying for the legal fight that followed the disputed election. Simon Darby
, at the time the BNP organiser in the area, refused to reveal the reason for her expulsion but stated that they had nothing to do with her family background.
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...
and one of the founder members of the New Nationalist Party.
BNP activism
Ebanks was the British National PartyBritish National Party
The British National Party is a British far-right political party formed as a splinter group from the National Front by John Tyndall in 1982...
(BNP) organiser in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, before coming to wider prominence in the 2006 local elections
United Kingdom local elections, 2006
Local government elections took place in England on Thursday 4 May 2006. Polling stations were open between 7:00 and 22:00.All London borough council seats were up for election, as well as a third of the seats on each of the metropolitan borough councils, and a third of some unitary authorities...
when she was announced as the winner of a council seat in the Kingstanding
Kingstanding
Kingstanding is an area in north Birmingham, England. It gives its name to a ward in the Erdington council constituency. Kingstanding ward includes the areas; Perry Common, St. Mary's College, Witton Lakes and parts of Kingstanding, Wyrley Birch and New Oscott...
ward in her home town.
While the other 39 wards in Birmingham were each electing a single candidate, in Kingstanding there were two vacancies, as an incumbent councillor in the ward was retiring. Therefore, each voter was able to cast two votes on their ballot paper. The Labour, Liberal Democrat and Conservative Parties each stood two candidates for the two vacancies, while a number of minor parties - including the BNP - stood just one.
It initially appeared that Ebanks had been elected in first place, with a Labour candidate elected in second and the other Labour candidate missing out in third place. Two recounts were called by the Conservative and Labour candidates, which appeared to confirm this result.
However, following the declaration, the Deputy Returning Officer discovered an error in the calculation of the results which meant that the 'mixed' votes - where a voter had split their two votes between candidates of different parties - had all been counted twice. As Ebanks was the BNP's only candidate in the ward, a large number of her votes had been 'split' in this way, with voters casting one vote for the BNP and one vote for another party. Because of this, a large proportion of BNP votes had been double-counted. 2,367 votes had been counted twice, including just under 1000 votes cast in support of Ebanks.
However, as Ebanks had already been declared elected, it was determined that the result would have to stand until overturned by an election petition, to be brought by the defeated Labour candidate. Birmingham City Council announced that they would not contest the petition, although Ebanks did so. The petition was presented to the high court in July 2006 and accepted; the result was thus overturned. Labour's Catherine Grundy was declared the rightful winner and immediately took Ebanks's place on the council.
Ethnicity and BNP departure
Following the election it was alleged by Ebanks' stepmother that her biological father was a BlackBlack people
The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
n Radwell Ebanks. However Ebanks, who had been a critic of interracial marriage, denied that Radwell Ebanks was her father to the Sunday Mercury
Sunday Mercury
Sunday Mercury is a Sunday tabloid published in Birmingham, UK, and owned by Trinity Mirror.The first editor was John Turner Fearon , who left the Dublin-based Freeman's Journal to take up the position...
. She would go on to claim that she was the result of an affair her mother had with a Scotsman
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...
.
In September 2006 Ebanks was expelled from the BNP for reasons that 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...
described as 'unexplained' although Ebanks herself claimed "I'm sacked for speaking out about the lack of transparency regarding the BNP accounts and I am apparently being charged with being anti-Semitic". Searchlight magazine, which campaigns against the BNP, claimed that her expulsion came from a dispute with the party's legal officer Lee Barnes over paying for the legal fight that followed the disputed election. 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...
, at the time the BNP organiser in the area, refused to reveal the reason for her expulsion but stated that they had nothing to do with her family background.
New Nationalist Party
She went on to set up the New Nationalist Party (NNP), of which she was the Chairman until the party's closure less than a year after its founding.General elections contested
| Date of election | Constituency | Party | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 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.... |
Birmingham Erdington | 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... |
1512 | 4.8 |