Sharon Ebanks

Sharon Ebanks (born 1967 or 1968 [ [http://icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk/sundaymercury/news/tm_objectid=17216617%26method=full%26siteid=50002-name_page.html 'Family Secret of BNP's Sharon'] from Sunday Mercury] ) is a former member of the British National Party and one of the founder members of the New Nationalist Party.

BNP activism

A former British National Party (BNP) activist in Birmingham, Ebanks first came to 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. [ [http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/GenerateContent?CONTENT_ITEM_ID=84902&CONTENT_ITEM_TYPE=9&MENU_ID=276 'Statement: Kingstanding Ward Election'] from Birmingham City Council] 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. [ [http://icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk/birminghampost/news/tm_objectid=17458343%26method=full%26siteid=50002-name_page.html 'BNP never won seat on city council'] from Birmingham Post] cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/4975326.stm |title=Voting papers were counted twice |accessdate=2007-02-20 |date=2006-05-05 |work=BBC News Online |publisher=BBC ]

Ebanks allegedly became embroiled in internal conflict within the BNP because of the funding of her court case [ [http://www.searchlightmagazine.com/index.php?link=template&story=188 D. Williams, 'From Hero to Zero'] ] . BNP legal officer Lee Barnes in particular was strongly criticised on the Stormfront internet forum. [ [http://www.searchlightmagazine.com/index.php?link=template&story=188 D. Williams, 'From Hero to Zero'] ] Following the row, Ebanks resigned from the party in October 2006.

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. [ [http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/regulatory-issues/regpoliticalparties.cfm?frmGB=1&frmPartyID=726&frmType=partydetail Electoral Commission registration] ] [ [http://www.nnp.org.uk New Nationalist Party website] ]

Ebanks posts on Stormfront under the name of 'Ontology.' [ [http://lancasteruaf.blogspot.com/search/label/NNP 'BNP snubs NNP election deal'] ] .

General elections contested

References

External links

* [http://www.nnp.org.uk New Nationalist Party website]
* [http://www.bnp.org.uk/news_detail.php?newsId=915 BNP report on Kingstanding]