National Labour Party (UK, 1957)
Encyclopedia
The National Labour Party was a far right
political party
founded in 1957 by John Bean
. The party campaigned on a platform of white nationalism
, opposition to non-white immigration
and anti-Semitism
.
(LEL), although he had become disillusioned with its emphasis on publicity stunts and lack of political action. The problem came to a head in 1957 after A.K. Chesterton sent Bean and Phil Burbidge to the home of Malcolm Muggeridge
in order to throw soot on the commentator after he criticised Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
on a TV show. Although the action was not carried out, for Bean it was a prime example of the pointless and childish activism with which the LEL had become synonymous and he soon wrote to Chesterton, bemoaning the weak campaigning of the LEL, its refusal to contest elections, its attachment to a narrow British nationalism
and its strong links to the Conservative Party
.
Soon after, Bean left the LEL along with John Tyndall
to set up the new party, deliberately picking the name to appeal to Labour
supporters who were put off by immigration
. The nominal party President was to be Andrew Fountaine
, although Bean's role as policy director gave him effective control. Producing a journal Combat, the NLP used its pages to campaign for a reduction in the sentences of those convicted over the Notting Hill
riots of 1958.
council election, although the Labour Party
objected to the NLP's use of its name. At the time, however, ballot papers listed only the names of the candidates, not the names of the parties, so it was probably less likely than it would be today that Labour voters might vote for the NLP by mistake. Buoyed by its minor success, the party organised a Stop the Coloured Invasion rally in Trafalgar Square
with banners displayed proclaiming Keep Britain White in May 1959 which drew a crowd of 3,000 to hear speeches by Bean, Fountaine and White Defence League
leader Colin Jordan
. The monitors at the rally wore white armbands emblazoned with a black sun wheel
, the symbol of the Aryan race
.
The party was even briefly linked to the London
gangster Albert Dimes
, who hoped to use NLP members against his rivals Bud Flanagan and Jack Spot
, two Jewish gangsters who were involved in funding the 43 Group
.
The party stood a single candidate in the 1959 general election
with former boxer Bill Webster running in St Pancras North. The decision to run a candidate was largely driven by the realities of racial tension in the area, as exposed by the previous year's riots. During the campaign, a number of NLP supporters attacked a meeting at the local Town Hall where Kenneth Robinson
was a featured speaker. A number of arrests were made over the incident, which made national news and thus served to publicise the name of the NLP. In the election, the party received 4.1% of the vote in St Pancras North, and lost its deposit.
and Tyndall also resigned from the party With the NLP demoralised and closer links to Colin Jordan having been developed, the party merged with the White Defence League on February 24, 1960. Although the name Racial Nationalist Party was initially considered it was ultimately decided to name the new entity the British National Party.
activist John King, the candidate for Rochester and Chatham
in the 1979 election
, broke from that group and formed his own minor party
also using the name National Labour Party. This version, which was not connected to Bean's, took a Powellite
line on immigration
although it was significantly less economically neo-liberal
than Powell. This group contested two elections, the 1983 Bermondsey by-election
and the Ashford constituency
in the 1983 general election
, without making any impact.
Far right
Far-right, extreme right, hard right, radical right, and ultra-right are terms used to discuss the qualitative or quantitative position a group or person occupies within right-wing politics. Far-right politics may involve anti-immigration and anti-integration stances towards groups that are...
political party
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
founded in 1957 by John Bean
John Bean
John Edward Bean is a long-standing participant in the British far right, who has been active within a number of movements during the course of his life and is the voice behind the BNP election broadcasts.-Early life:...
. The party campaigned on a platform of white nationalism
White nationalism
White nationalism is a political ideology which advocates a racial definition of national identity for white people. White separatism and white supremacism are subgroups within white nationalism. The former seek a separate white nation state, while the latter add ideas from social Darwinism and...
, opposition to non-white immigration
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
and anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
.
Formation
Bean had been a leading figure within the League of Empire LoyalistsLeague of Empire Loyalists
The League of Empire Loyalists was a British pressure group , established in 1954, which campaigned against the dissolution of the British Empire. The League was a small group of current or former members of the Conservative Party led by Arthur K...
(LEL), although he had become disillusioned with its emphasis on publicity stunts and lack of political action. The problem came to a head in 1957 after A.K. Chesterton sent Bean and Phil Burbidge to the home of Malcolm Muggeridge
Malcolm Muggeridge
Thomas Malcolm Muggeridge was an English journalist, author, media personality, and satirist. During World War II, he was a soldier and a spy...
in order to throw soot on the commentator after he criticised Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
on a TV show. Although the action was not carried out, for Bean it was a prime example of the pointless and childish activism with which the LEL had become synonymous and he soon wrote to Chesterton, bemoaning the weak campaigning of the LEL, its refusal to contest elections, its attachment to a narrow British nationalism
British nationalism
Far right politics in the United Kingdom have existed since at least the 1930s, with the formation of fascist and anti-semitic movements. It went on to acquire more explicitly racial connotations, being dominated in the 1960s and 1970s by self-proclaimed white nationalist organisations that oppose...
and its strong links to the 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...
.
Soon after, Bean left the LEL along with John Tyndall
John Tyndall (politician)
John Hutchyns Tyndall was a British politician who was prominently associated with several fascist/neo-Nazi sects. However, he is best known for leading the National Front in the 1970s and founding the contemporary British National Party in 1982.The most prominent figure in British nationalism...
to set up the new party, deliberately picking the name to appeal to Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
supporters who were put off by immigration
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
. The nominal party President was to be Andrew Fountaine
Andrew Fountaine
Andrew Fountaine was a veteran of the far right scene in British politics.Born into a land-owning Norfolk family, Fountaine was educated at the Army College in Aldershot and was the son of Vice Admiral Charles Fountaine who had been naval ADC to King George V...
, although Bean's role as policy director gave him effective control. Producing a journal Combat, the NLP used its pages to campaign for a reduction in the sentences of those convicted over the Notting Hill
Notting Hill
Notting Hill is an area in London, England, close to the north-western corner of Kensington Gardens, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea...
riots of 1958.
Electoral activity
A very small party, the NLP secured some decent results in the LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
council election, although the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
objected to the NLP's use of its name. At the time, however, ballot papers listed only the names of the candidates, not the names of the parties, so it was probably less likely than it would be today that Labour voters might vote for the NLP by mistake. Buoyed by its minor success, the party organised a Stop the Coloured Invasion rally in Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square is a public space and tourist attraction in central London, England, United Kingdom. At its centre is Nelson's Column, which is guarded by four lion statues at its base. There are a number of statues and sculptures in the square, with one plinth displaying changing pieces of...
with banners displayed proclaiming Keep Britain White in May 1959 which drew a crowd of 3,000 to hear speeches by Bean, Fountaine and White Defence League
White Defence League
The White Defence League was a British far-right political group. Using the provocative marching techniques popularised by Oswald Mosley, its members included a young John Tyndall.-Formation:...
leader Colin Jordan
Colin Jordan
John Colin Campbell Jordan was a leading figure in postwar Neo-Nazism in Britain. In the far-right nationalist circles of the 1960s, Jordan represented the most explicitly 'Nazi' inclination in his open use of the styles and symbols of the Third Reich.Through organisations such as the National...
. The monitors at the rally wore white armbands emblazoned with a black sun wheel
Sun cross
The sun cross, also known as the wheel cross, Odin's cross, or Woden's cross, a cross inside a circle, is a common symbol in artifacts of the Americas and Prehistoric Europe, particularly during the Neolithic to Bronze Age periods.-Stone Age:...
, the symbol of the Aryan race
Aryan race
The Aryan race is a concept historically influential in Western culture in the period of the late 19th century and early 20th century. It derives from the idea that the original speakers of the Indo-European languages and their descendants up to the present day constitute a distinctive race or...
.
The party was even briefly linked to the London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
gangster Albert Dimes
Albert Dimes
Albert "Italian Al" Dimes was a London criminal and enforcer from Clerkenwell east central London, he worked for gang leader William "Billy" Hill, who was allegedly involved in bookmaking and loansharking during the 1940s and 50s. In August 1955, Dimes was arrested with rival gangster Jack Spot...
, who hoped to use NLP members against his rivals Bud Flanagan and Jack Spot
Jack Spot
Jack "Spot" Comer was a notorious British gangster during the 1930s, 1940sand 1950s.-Early life:Born as Jacob Comacho, Jack Comer was the youngest of four children. His father was a poor Jewish tailor's machinist who had moved to London with his wife from Łódź, Poland in 1903...
, two Jewish gangsters who were involved in funding the 43 Group
43 Group
The 43 Group was an English anti-fascist group set up by Jewish ex-servicemen after World War II. They did this when, upon returning to London, they encountered British fascist organisations such as Jeffrey Hamm's "British League of Ex-Servicemen" and later Oswald Mosley's reformed fascist party,...
.
The party stood a single candidate in the 1959 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1959
This United Kingdom general election was held on 8 October 1959. It marked a third successive victory for the ruling Conservative Party, led by Harold Macmillan...
with former boxer Bill Webster running in St Pancras North. The decision to run a candidate was largely driven by the realities of racial tension in the area, as exposed by the previous year's riots. During the campaign, a number of NLP supporters attacked a meeting at the local Town Hall where Kenneth Robinson
Kenneth Robinson
Sir Kenneth Robinson PC was a British Labour politician who served as Minister of Health in Harold Wilson's first government, from 1964 to 1968, when the position was merged into the new title of Secretary of State for Social Services.-Early life:The son of Dr Clarence Robinson and a nurse, Ethel...
was a featured speaker. A number of arrests were made over the incident, which made national news and thus served to publicise the name of the NLP. In the election, the party received 4.1% of the vote in St Pancras North, and lost its deposit.
Decline
The aftermath of the event, however, was the decline of the NLP. Bean served 30 days in jail for his part in the riot and whilst he was incarcerated Webster left to join the Union MovementUnion Movement
The Union Movement was a right-wing political party founded in Britain by Oswald Mosley. Where Mosley had previously been associated with a peculiarly British form of fascism, the Union Movement attempted to redefine the concept by stressing the importance of developing a European nationalism...
and Tyndall also resigned from the party With the NLP demoralised and closer links to Colin Jordan having been developed, the party merged with the White Defence League on February 24, 1960. Although the name Racial Nationalist Party was initially considered it was ultimately decided to name the new entity the British National Party.
Return of the name
In 1981, National FrontBritish 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 ....
activist John King, the candidate for Rochester and Chatham
Rochester and Chatham (UK Parliament constituency)
Rochester and Chatham was a parliamentary constituency in Kent which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1950 until it was abolished for the 1983 general election....
in the 1979 election
United Kingdom general election, 1979
The United Kingdom general election of 1979 was held on 3 May 1979 to elect 635 members to the British House of Commons. The Conservative Party, led by Margaret Thatcher ousted the incumbent Labour government of James Callaghan with a parliamentary majority of 43 seats...
, broke from that group and formed his own minor party
Minor party
Minor party is a political party that play a smaller role than a major party in a country's politics and elections. The difference between minor and major parties can be so big that the membership total, donations, and the candidates that they are able to produce or attract are very distinct...
also using the name National Labour Party. This version, which was not connected to Bean's, took a Powellite
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...
line on immigration
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
although it was significantly less economically neo-liberal
Neoliberalism
Neoliberalism is a market-driven approach to economic and social policy based on neoclassical theories of economics that emphasizes the efficiency of private enterprise, liberalized trade and relatively open markets, and therefore seeks to maximize the role of the private sector in determining the...
than Powell. This group contested two elections, the 1983 Bermondsey by-election
Bermondsey by-election, 1983
A by-election was held in the Bermondsey constituency in South London, on 24 February 1983, following the resignation of Labour MP Robert Mellish, who had represented the constituency and its predecessors in the House of Commons since 1946...
and the Ashford constituency
Ashford (UK Parliament constituency)
Ashford is a parliamentary 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 voting system.-Boundaries:...
in the 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...
, without making any impact.