National Party (UK, 1976)

For the earlier party by the same name, see National Party (UK, 1917).

The National Party was a short-lived British far right political party formed on 6 January 1976 and which dissolved before the 1979 general election.^[1] It was a splinter group from the National Front (NF), and came about as a result of a dispute within the NF between John Kingsley Read and John Tyndall.

Background and formation

The origins of the party were the result of both internal dissention within the Monday Club over "entry to the EEC and immigration" which led to "several leading Powellites" leaving the Conservative Party for the NF^[2] and then later disagreements within the National Front.

Kingsley Read became leader of the NF in 1974, at the same time as a move towards a more populist platform within the party. The move was resisted by Tyndall and his supporters, however, the electoral results from the General Election in 1974 showed the three most successful NF candidates "were all from the 'Populist' wing".^[3] With Tyndall proposing constitutional reform of the NF the 'Populist' counter-moves to expel him ended in failure. Tyndall went to court which resulted in the reinstatement of "Tyndall and his supporters. Subsequently, the courts also restored the NF headquarters and the membership lists to the Tyndall faction".^[4]

Kingsley Read broke from the NF altogether and formed the National Party with several other leading NF members. In all around 2000 members, or one fifth of the NF's total, joined the new party, which thus represented a considerable loss of support to the NF.^[5] At its inaugural meeting the party voted not to purge the party of "all those with Nazi, Fascist or Communist backgrounds".^[6]

Development of the party

Richard Lawson helped shape the ideology of the party the source of which was "the 'soft' National Socialism of Rohm and the SD".^[7] Lawson edited the party journal, Britain First, which was published between 1974 and 1977.^[8] As well as Powellite Conservatives and NF Populists a number of members were "socially radical Strasserites".^[4] The National Party "claimed to be more opposed to immigration than the NF"^[4] and sought the "repatriation or resettlement abroad of all coloured and other racial incompatible immigrants, their dependents and descendents".^[9] The National Party also circulated holocaust denial material such as Arthur Butz's The Hoax of the Twentieth Century.^[10]

In the local elections of 1976 it had two councillors elected in Blackburn, Lancashire,^[11] which were to be the last electoral success for any British far-right party until the election of Derek Beackon of the British National Party in 1993.^[12] However, the party went in decline during 1977.

Some members, such as Steve Brady, later rejoined the NF,^[13] and other members appear to have joined the Nationalist Party.^[1]

Leading members

The NP attracted a number of leading figures from the NF/far right to its ranks. These included:^[14]

• Gordon Brown of the Greater Britain Movement. (Not to be confused with Gordon Brown, former British Prime Minister and former leader of the Labour Party)
• Richard Lawson, editor of Britain First and later associated with the Official National Front.
• David McCalden, a former NF writer who later emigrated to the United States where he was a founder of Holocaust denial organization the Institute for Historical Review.
• Roy Painter, a leading Conservative Party member from Enfield
• Denis Pirie, a veteran of the National Socialist Movement who was later involved in Martin Webster's Our Nation.

Other members of note included

• Steve Brady, an influential figure in Loyalist circles in Northern Ireland as well as the League of Saint George.^[15]
• Anthony Hancock, a former British Movement member who was widely regarded as the leading publisher of far right material in the 1970s in Britain (he and his father Alan Hancock owning a printing firm).
• Richard "Jock" Spooner, who emigrated to Australia where he became a leading activist in the One Nation Party.

Miscellaneous

The party should not be confused with the Nationalist Party which, although having similar roots to the National Party, was an alternative name for the Constitutional Movement of Andrew Fountaine. Similarly it had no connection to the National Party which briefly emerged from the National Fellowship.

National Party elections

Given that its brief history fell between two general elections the NP only ever contested three by-elections for Westminster seats. In each of the three elections the NP finished behind the NF candidates, namely Andrew Fountaine, Joseph Parker and Paul Kavanagh respectively.

Date of election	Constituency	Candidate	Votes	%
4 March 1976	Coventry North West	John Kingsley Read	208	0.6
4 November 1976	Walsall North	Marian Powell	258	0.7
24 February 1977	City of London and Westminster South	Michael Lobb	364	1.7

Footnotes

1. ^ ^{a b} Boothroyd, David Politico's Guide to The History of British Political Parties Politico's Publishing Ltd 2001, p200
2. ^ Sykes, Alan The Radical Right in Britain Palgrave, 2005, p. 109
3. ^ Sykes, Alan The Radical Right in Britain Palgrave, 2005, p.110
4. ^ ^{a b c} Sykes, Alan The Radical Right in Britain Palgrave, 2005, p.111
5. ^ S. Taylor, The National Front in English Politics, London: Macmillan, 1982, p.44
6. ^ Martin Walker, The National Front, Glasgow: Fontana Collins, Revised Edition 1978, p.193
7. ^ Martin Walker, The National Front, Glasgow: Fontana Collins, Revised Edition 1978, pp.194
8. ^ Catalogue of copies held in the British Library
9. ^ Walker, Martin The National Front Fontana Collins, 1977, pp. 193-4
10. ^ Ray Hill & Andrew Bell, The Other Face of Terror, London: Grafton, 1988, pp. 250-251
11. ^ N. Fielding, The National Front, London: Roultedge, 1981, p. 27
12. ^ Sykes, Alan The Radical Right in Britain Palgrave, 2005, p. 131
13. ^ Sykes, Alan The Radical Right in Britain Palgrave, 2005, p.117
14. ^ M. Walker, The National Front, Glasgow: Fontana Collins, Revised Edition 1978, pp. 189-193
15. ^ Ray Hill & Andrew Bell, The Other Face of Terror, London: Grafton, 1988, pp. 185-6

References

• A. Sykes, The Radical Right in Britain Palgrave, 2005
• S. Taylor, The National Front in English Politics, London: Macmillan, 1982
• M. Walker, The National Front, Glasgow: Fontana Collins, 1977 (Revised Edition 1978)