Nicholas John Griffin (born 1 March 1959) is a British politician, chairman of the
British National PartyThe British National Party is a far-right, whites-only political party in the United Kingdom, formed as a splinter group of the British National Front by John Tyndall in 1982. The party's current chairman is Nick Griffin, himself a former national organiser of the National Front.The BNP is not...
and
Member of the European ParliamentA Member of the European Parliament is the English name for a person who has been elected to the European Parliament, one of the European Union's two legislative bodies. MEPs are the European Union's equivalents of a country's national legislators in either the lower house or unicameral...
for
North West EnglandNorth 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 :...
. He is married with four children, and lives in Wales.
Griffin was born in
BarnetHigh Barnet or Chipping Barnet is a place in the London Borough of Barnet , North London, England. It is a suburban development built around a 12th-century settlement and is located north north-west of Charing Cross...
, London, and was educated in Suffolk. He joined the
National FrontThe British National Front is a far-right and whites-only British political party whose major political activities were during the 1970s and 1980s. Where in the 1979 general election, in party polled 191,719 votes, 0.6% of the vote overall...
aged 15, and following his graduation from Cambridge University became a political worker for the party. 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 WestCroydon North West was a 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 it in 1989. In 1995 he joined the
British National PartyThe British National Party is a far-right, whites-only political party in the United Kingdom, formed as a splinter group of the British National Front by John Tyndall in 1982. The party's current chairman is Nick Griffin, himself a former national organiser of the National Front.The BNP is not...
(BNP), becoming its leader in 1999. He stood as its candidate in several elections, and in 2009 was elected as a member of the European Parliament for North West England in the
2009 European ElectionsElections 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
suspendedA suspended sentence is a legal construct. Unless a minimum punishment is prescribed by law, the court has the power to suspend the passing of sentence and place the offender on probation. It is the passing of the sentence, not the sentence itself, that is being suspended...
prison sentence. He was charged in 2005 with inciting racial hatred, but following a retrial was cleared. Griffin has been criticised for his comments on political and religious matters,
Holocaust denialHolocaust denial is the claim that the genocide of Jews during World War II—usually referred to as the Holocaust—did not occur at all, or that it did not happen in the manner or to the extent historically recognized....
and
anti-SemiticAntisemitism is prejudice against or hostility towards Jews, often rooted in hatred of their ethnic background, culture, or religion....
articles, although since becoming leader of the BNP he has distanced himself from these opinions. He is a critic of aspects of Islam. Since he became the leader of the BNP several educational institutions have invited him to speak on political radicalism, multiculturalism, and BNP policy.
Early life and education
The son of former Conservative councillor
Edgar GriffinEdgar Vincent Griffin is an English politician, previously of the Conservative Party. His son, Nick, is Chairman of the British National Party....
and his wife Jean Griffin, Nicholas John Griffin was born on 1 March 1959 in Barnet, then in Hertfordshire now Greater London, before moving to Southwold in Suffolk aged eight. He was educated at
Woodbridge SchoolWoodbridge School is an independent school in Woodbridge, Suffolk, England, founded in 1577, for the poor of Woodbridge. It was later supported by the Seckford Trust. Woodbridge School has been co-educational since 1975.-The school:...
in Suffolk and won a sixth–form scholarship to the independent St Felix School in Southwold, becoming one of only two boys in the girls' school.
Griffin read
Mein KampfMein Kampf, in English: My Struggle, is a book by Adolf Hitler. It combines elements of autobiography with an exposition of Hitler's political ideology...
when he was fourteen, but "found all but one chapter extremely boring." He joined the National Front at age fifteen, and aged sixteen he stayed at the home of National Front organiser
Martin WebsterMartin Guy Alan Webster is a former leading figure on the far-right in British politics.-Early political activism:An early member of the National Labour Party and the League of Empire Loyalists, Webster was John Tyndall's closest ally and followed him in joining the British National Party, the...
. Webster was openly gay and in a four-page leaflet written in 1999 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, CambridgeDowning 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 and law. During a union debate his affiliation to the National Front was revealed, and his photograph was published in a student newspaper. Undeterred, he later founded the Young National Front Student organisation. He graduated with a
2:2 degreeThe British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading scheme for undergraduate degrees in the United Kingdom...
and a
boxing blueA 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 with an anti-fascist in Lewisham. He boxed three times against Oxford in the annual Varsity match, winning twice and losing once. In an interview for
The Independent newspaper he stated that he gave up because of a hand injury. He is a fan of
Ricky HattonRichard John Hatton MBE, more commonly known as Ricky "the Hitman" Hatton, , is a British professional boxer...
and
Joe CalzagheJoseph William Calzaghe CBE is a Welsh former professional boxer who retired undefeated. He was rated by Ring magazine as pound for pound one of the top 10 boxers in the world, He retired in February 2009 with an undefeated record, becoming only the third European boxer, after Terry Marsh and Sven...
, and an admirer of
Amir KhanAmir Iqbal Khan is a British boxer from Bolton, Greater Manchester, England.He became the WBA World light-welterweight champion after defeating Andreas Kotelnik on 18 July 2009, making him Britain's third-youngest world champion after Naseem Hamed and Herbie Hide...
.
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 FrontThe British National Front is a far-right and whites-only British political party whose major political activities were during the 1970s and 1980s. Where in the 1979 general election, in party polled 191,719 votes, 0.6% of the vote overall...
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 was a punk rock — then later white power skinhead — band formed in Poulton-le-Fylde, England in 1976 by Ian Stuart Donaldson.They became one of the first neo-Nazi rock bands, playing a leading role in the far-right Rock Against Communism movement.-Career:Ian Stuart Donaldson, formerly...
. 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 PearceJoseph Pearce is an English-born writer, Writer in Residence and Professor of Literature at Ave Maria University in Naples, 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. He became a Roman...
, then editor of the NF youth paper
Bulldog. As a member of the National Front Griffin contested the seat of Croydon North West twice, in 1981 and 1983, securing 1.2% and 0.9% of the vote.
The National Front had, since the election of the
ConservativesThe Conservative and Unionist Party, more commonly known as the Conservatives, the Conservative Party, or Tory Party is a conservative political party in the United Kingdom...
under
Margaret ThatcherMargaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher LG, OM, PC, FRS served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She is the only woman to have held either post....
, seen a distinct drop in its membership. As a result the party became more radicalised, and a dissatisfied Griffin, along with fellow NF activists
Derek HollandDerek Holland is a figure on the European far-right noted for his Catholic Integralism.Holland began his career as a member of the National Front while a student at Leicester Polytechnic where the Young National Front Student Organisation claimed to be influential. After his studies Holland became...
and
Patrick HarringtonPatrick "Pat" Harrington is one of four members of the National Executive of the National Liberal Party - and a Director of the Third Way think-tank. He was a leading member of the National Front in the 1980s...
, began to embrace the ideals of Italian fascist
Roberto FioreRoberto Fiore is an Italian neo-fascist politician who was convicted in 1985 for his membership of the Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari terrorist group....
(Fiore had arrived in the UK in 1980). By 1983 the group had broken away to form the NF
Political SoldierPolitical 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 with the establishment of nationalist communes. Writing for
Bulldog in 1985, Griffin praised the black separatist
Louis FarrakhanLouis Farrakhan is the National Representative of the Nation of Islam. He is an advocate for black interests, and a critic of American society...
, comments which were unpopular with some members of the party. He also attempted to form alliances with Libya's Colonel Gadaffi and Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini, and praised the efforts of Welsh nationalist movement
Meibion GlyndŵrMeibion 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 second homes being bought by the English which had pushed up house prices beyond the means of many locals...
.
Following a disagreement with Harrington (who subsequently formed the
Third WayThe 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 PositionInternational Third Position ' was a neo-fascist organization formed by the breakaway faction of the neofascist British National Front and Italian neofascists lead 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 in an accident caused by a discarded shotgun cartridge exploding in a pile of burning wood at his home, 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 denialHolocaust denial is the claim that the genocide of Jews during World War II—usually referred to as the Holocaust—did not occur at all, or that it did not happen in the manner or to the extent historically recognized....
meeting hosted by
David IrvingDavid John Cawdell Irving is a British writer specializing in the military history of World War II. His interpretations of Nazi Germany have proved highly controversial due to allegations of undue sympathy for the Third Reich and antisemitism, and because of his involvement in the Holocaust denial...
.
1993–1999
Griffin re-entered politics in 1993 and in 1995, at the behest of
John TyndallJohn Hutchyns Tyndall was a leading figure in British nationalism who led the National Front in the 1970s and founded the British National Party in 1982.- Early life :...
, joined the
British National PartyThe British National Party is a far-right, whites-only political party in the United Kingdom, formed as a splinter group of the British National Front by John Tyndall in 1982. The party's current chairman is Nick Griffin, himself a former national organiser of the National Front.The BNP is not...
. 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
MillwallMillwall 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 HamletsThe London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London borough to the east of the City of London, England and north of the River Thames in East London, taking in much of the East End. It includes much of the redeveloped Docklands region of London, including West India Docks and Canary Wharf...
, he wrote:
Tyndall had founded the BNP in 1982, but in his 1999 leadership campaign Griffin embarked on a strategy to make the party electable, by taking it away from Tyndall's extremist agenda. 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 murderers, and corporal punishment for less serious crimes such as juvenile delinquency. Voters found his background as a Cambridge-educated family man more palatable than the extreme image presented by Tyndall.
2000–2009
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, Baroness Boothroyd of Sandwell OM, PC is a British politician, who served as Member of Parliament for West Bromwich and West Bromwich West from 1973 to 2000 and was the first, and to date only, female Speaker of the British House of Commons between 1992 and 2000.-Early...
. He came in fourth place, with 794 votes (4.21% of those cast). Following the Oldham race riots he ran in Oldham West and Royton in the
2001 general electionThe UK general election, 2001 was held on 7 June 2001 and was dubbed "the quiet landslide" by the media. There was little change at all - outside Northern Ireland - with 620 out of 641 seats remaining unchanged. Labour enjoyed its second so-called 'landslide victory' in a row, maintaining its...
. He received 6,552 votes (16% of those cast), beating the
Liberal DemocratsThe Liberal Democrats, often shortened to Lib Dems or just Liberals, are a centre-left political party in the United Kingdom, formed in 1988 by a merger of the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party; the two parties had been in alliance for seven years, from shortly after the formation of...
for third place, closely behind the second place
ConservativesThe Conservative and Unionist Party, more commonly known as the Conservatives, the Conservative Party, or Tory Party is a conservative political party in the United Kingdom...
, who received 7,076 votes. He again stood for election in the 2003 Oldham Council election, for a seat representing the
ChaddertonChadderton 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, where 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 electionThe United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect members to the House of Commons.The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a reduced overall majority of 66 and they failed to gain any new seats...
he contested
KeighleyKeighley 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.- Boundaries :...
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 electionElections to Thurrock Council in Essex, England were held on 3 May 2007. One-third of the council was up for election. The council moved from being Conservative controlled 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 have expressed an interest in joining the party, but have 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 EnglandNorth West England is one of the nine official regions of England. It has a population of 6,853,200 and comprises five counties of England – Cumbria, Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, and Cheshire....
in the
2009 European ElectionsElections 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
MEPA Member of the European Parliament is the English name for a person who has been elected to the European Parliament, one of the European Union's two legislative bodies. MEPs are the European Union's equivalents of a country's national legislators in either the lower house or unicameral...
s. 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 AssemblyThe 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 BarnbrookRichard Johnathon Barnbrook is a British politician a representative of the British National Party on the London Assembly...
, to a Buckingham Palace garden party hosted by Queen Elizabeth. The invitation prompted objections from several organisations and public figures, including the Mayor of London
Boris JohnsonAlexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson is a British politician and journalist. The current Mayor of London, he previously served as the Conservative Member of Parliament for Henley-on-Thames and as editor of The Spectator magazine....
, and the anti-fascist organisation
SearchlightA searchlight is an apparatus that combines a bright light source with some form of curved reflector or other optics to projecting a powerful beam of light of approximately parallel rays in a particular direction, usually devised so that it can be swiveled about.Military use of searchlights started...
. Griffin declined the invitation, saying he had "no wish to embarrass the Queen".
He recently 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 CommissionThe 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, as only donations in excess of £5,000 need to be registered.
1998
In 1998, Griffin was convicted of violating section 19 of the
Public Order Act 1986The Public Order Act 1986 creates offences commonly used by United Kingdom police to deal with public disorder and violence, replacing similar common law offences and the Public Order Act 1936.-Part 1 - New offences:Section 1 - Riot...
, 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 CarlileAlexander Charles Carlile, Baron Carlile of Berriew, QC is a Liberal Democrat member of the House of Lords.-Early life and career:...
, then the
Liberal DemocratThe Liberal Democrats, often shortened to Lib Dems or just Liberals, are a centre-left political party in the United Kingdom, formed in 1988 by a merger of the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party; the two parties had been in alliance for seven years, from shortly after the formation of...
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 denierHolocaust denial is the claim that the genocide of Jews during World War II—usually referred to as the Holocaust—did not occur at all, or that it did not happen in the manner or to the extent historically recognized....
Robert FaurissonRobert Faurisson is a French Holocaust denier, who was formerly a professor of literature at the University of Lyon II...
and Nationalist Osiris Akkebala as witnesses, but 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 ReportThe Cook Report was a British television programme shown on ITV, produced for the network by Central Television from 1985 to 1998.For sixteen series it featured Roger Cook travelling many miles investigating crooks and criminal activity and is best remembered for Cook's trademark confrontations...
in 1997 describing Carlile as "this bloody Jew ... whose only claim is that his grandparents died in the Holocaust".
2004–2006
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 YorkshireHalifax is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England, with 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 Hall...
, 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 preceded by two days by 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 CollettMark Adrian Collett is a former chairman of the Young BNP, the youth division of the British National Party , and is Director of Publicity for the Party....
, who faced similar charges. Prosecuting, Rodney Jameson
QCQueen'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". Membership exists in various Commonwealth countries around the world and it is a status, conferred by the Crown,...
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 LawrenceThe murder of Stephen Lawrence is a notable murder case surrounding the killing of a black British teenager from South-East London named Stephen Lawrence 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 an apparent rejection of the supposed racist nature of the teenager's death. 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.
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,whom Griffin addressed with a megaphone. He attacked
Tony BlairAnthony Charles Lynton "Tony" Blair is a British politician who served as 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
BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation, usually referred to by its abbreviation as the "BBC", is the longest established and largest broadcaster in the world...
, and defended the BNP's right to freedom of speech.
Public debates
Since his election as BNP leader, Griffin has been invited to participate in debates at several university institutions. In November 2002 the
Cambridge Union SocietyThe Cambridge Union Society, commonly referred to simply as the Cambridge 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 free speech and...
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; amongst more moderate speakers, one of those invited was
Abu Hamza al-MasriAbu Hamza al-Masri is an Egyptian Sunni Muslim activist known for his preaching against non-Muslims. He is currently incarcerated in the United Kingdom for various offences.-Early life:...
, 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 programmeToday, sometimes referred to as the Today programme to avoid ambiguity, is BBC Radio 4's long-running early morning news and current affairs programme, which is now broadcast from 6am to 9am from Monday to Friday and from 7am to 9am on Saturdays. It is also the most popular programme on Radio 4 and...
editor
Rod LiddleRod Liddle is an English journalist best known for his period as editor of BBC Radio 4's Today programme.-Career:...
. He was also invited by the Cambridge Forum to a debate on extremism in December 2002, with
Liberal DemocratThe Liberal Democrats, often shortened to Lib Dems or just Liberals, are a centre-left political party in the United Kingdom, formed in 1988 by a merger of the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party; the two parties had been in alliance for seven years, from shortly after the formation of...
MP
Lembit OpikLembit Öpik is a British Liberal Democrat politician of Estonian descent. He is currently the Member of Parliament for the constituency of Montgomeryshire in Wales...
. The venue was changed twice after protests from property owners, but the threat of a violent confrontation between the
Anti-Nazi LeagueThe Anti-Nazi League was an organisation set up in 1977 on the initiative of the Socialist Workers Party with some sponsorship from some trade unions and the endorsement of a list of prominent people to oppose the rise of what they deemed to be far-right groups in Britain...
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 Opik 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 AndrewsThe University of St Andrews is the oldest university in Scotland and third oldest in the English-speaking world, having been founded between 1410 and 1413...
in
ScotlandScotland 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 university later withdrew the invitation.
In May 2007 Griffin was invited to address a meeting at the
University of BathThe University of Bath is a campus university located in Bath, England. It received its Royal Charter in 1966. With 20 out of its 26 subjects being ranked within top 10 in the UK, Bath is placed the 6th in the table of Who's in Top Ten of Their Subjects from the Complete University Guide published...
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 invitation was withdrawn.
Several months later the
Oxford UnionThe Oxford Union Society, commonly referred to simply as the Oxford Union, is a debating society in the city of Oxford, UK, 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 IrvingDavid John Cawdell Irving is a British writer specializing in the military history of World War II. His interpretations of Nazi Germany have proved highly controversial due to allegations of undue sympathy for the Third Reich and antisemitism, and because of his involvement in the Holocaust denial...
. The invitation was condemned by the president of the Oxford Students' Union and race equalities watchdog
Trevor PhillipsTrevor Phillips OBE is head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission and a former television executive and presenter...
, and MP Dr
Julian LewisJulian Murray Lewis is a British politician and Conservative Member of Parliament for New Forest East in Hampshire since the 1997 general election.-Education and Student Activism:...
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 StudentsThe National Union of Students is the main confederation of students' unions that exist inside the United Kingdom. Although the NUS is the central organisation for all affiliated unions in the UK, there are also the devolved national sub-bodies NUS Scotland in Scotland, NUS Wales in Wales and...
black students' officer, and the
Trades Union CongressThe 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 FascismUnite Against Fascism is an anti-fascist organisation that campaigns against far right and fascist organisations in Britain. Its chair is the former Labour Party mayor of London Ken Livingstone and its joint secretaries are Weyman Bennett of the Socialist Workers Party and the Anti-Nazi League, and...
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 UniversityClemson University is a public, coeducational, land-grant, research university located in Clemson, South Carolina, United States.Founded in 1889, the University is academically divided into five colleges: Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences; Architecture, Arts and Humanities; Business and...
and
Texas A&M UniversityTexas A&M University, often referred to as A&M or TAMU, is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas. It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The seventh-largest university in the United States, A&M enrolls over 48,000 students in ten...
, but the reception he received in October 2007 at
Michigan State UniversityMichigan 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. Its alumni include at least six winners of the...
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 Griffin is to take part in a recording of the BBC's topical debate programme,
Question TimeQuestion Time is a topical debate 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.It is usually recorded...
, as a representative of the BNP. He will appear alongside
Jack StrawJack Straw , British politician.Jack Straw may also be:* Jack Straw , English* "Jack Straw" * Jack Straw * Jack Straw Foundation, American public radio foundation* Jackstraws, game pick-up sticks...
, and
Bonnie GreerBonnie Greer is a Chicago born playwright and critic resident in Britain. She studied theatre in Chicago with David Mamet and in New York with Elia Kazan....
.
Policies and views
Griffin describes himself as a "moderniser", and "new nationalist", and upon his election as leader of the BNP spoke of his contempt for its 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 UnionThe European Union is an economic and political union of 27 Member States, located primarily in Europe. Committed to regional integration, the EU was established by the Treaty of Maastricht on 1 November 1993 upon the foundations of the pre-existing European Economic Community...
(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 IrelandNorthern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and it is 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 IrelandIreland is a country in north-western Europe. The modern sovereign state occupies about five-sixths of the island of Ireland, which was partitioned on 3 May 1921. It is a parliamentary democracy and a republic...
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 ServiceThe National Health Service or NHS is the publicly-funded healthcare system in England...
. It would restore the pensions earnings link, and the decentralisation of government decision-making.
Upon his election to the European Parliament he attempted a formal alliance with right-wing parties, which would have entitled them to extra funding, but was unsuccessful. He has also held talks with other far-right European parties, such as
Vlaams BelangVlaams Belang is a political party in the Flemish Community of Belgium 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 FioreRoberto Fiore is an Italian neo-fascist politician who was convicted in 1985 for his membership of the Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari terrorist group....
and fascist groups across Europe. Griffin has criticised the Labour government for its attitude toward the BNP, and what he perceives to be its treatment of party supporters 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 "
MussoliniBenito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini,
KSMOM GCTE 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. He became the Prime Minister of Italy in 1922 and began using the title Il Duce by...
fascism […] under Gordon Brown." He supported the
GurkhasThe 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, Islam, and homosexuality. His comments on
the HolocaustThe Holocaust , also known as The Shoah is the term generally used to describe the genocide of approximately six million European Jews during World War II, a program of systematic state-sponsored extermination by Nazi Germany,...
(which he once referred to as "the Holohoax") made as an editor of
The Rune, demonstrate
revisionismHistorical revisionism is either the legitimate scholastic re-examination of existing knowledge about an 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 IrvingDavid John Cawdell Irving is a British writer specializing in the military history of World War II. His interpretations of Nazi Germany have proved highly controversial due to allegations of undue sympathy for the Third Reich and antisemitism, and because of his involvement in the Holocaust denial...
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 CenturyThe Hoax of the Twentieth Century: The Case Against the Presumed Extermination of European Jewry is a book by Arthur R. Butz. It has been seen as having formed the basis of much of the Holocaust denial movement, of those who deny that the Germans attempted to exterminate the Jews of Europe during...
." In 1997 he told an undercover journalist that he had updated
Richard VerrallRichard Verrall is a British National Front member and edited its magazine Spearhead from 1976 to 1980.-National Front career:...
's booklet
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 RichardsonPatricia 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."
Since assuming control of the party, Griffin has sought to move it away from its historic identity, although on the BBC's
NewsnightNewsnight 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 almost two decades....
on 26 June 2001 he stated that Hindus 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 skinheads running around with no political direction, other than that we suspect which their masters give them." On
The Politics ShowThe Politics Show is an hour long BBC television programme broadcast in the United Kingdom on Sundays at Midday. It was launched in 2003 and was originally presented by Jeremy Vine, now a BBC Radio 2 and Panorama presenter. It contains reports on the big political stories of the week as well as...
on 9 March 2003 he appeared to accept the ethnic minorities who were legally already living in the country, but his 2006 court appearances centred around his comment that Islam was a "wicked and vicious faith". 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 GauntJonathan Charles Gaunt, better known as Jon Gaunt or "Gaunty", , is radio talk show presenter, and a former newspaper columnist for The Sun. He describes himself as a "working-class, educated guy with, in broad strokes, a rightwing agenda"...
, who branded the decision as "pathetic". When asked by
The TimesThe Times is a daily national newspaper published in the United Kingdom since 1785 when it was known as The Daily Universal Register....
about concerns that his recent success was presaged in
Enoch PowellJohn Enoch Powell, MBE was a British politician, linguist, writer, academic, soldier and poet.He was a Conservative Party Member of Parliament between 1950 and February 1974, and an Ulster Unionist MP between October 1974 and 1987. He was controversial through most of his career, and his tenure...
's
Rivers of Blood speechThe Rivers of Blood speech was a speech about immigration and anti-discrimination legislation in the United Kingdom made on April 20, 1968 by Enoch Powell , the Conservative Member of Parliament for Wolverhampton South West....
, Griffin replied:
In a June 2009 interview with
Channel 4 NewsChannel 4 News is the news division of British TV broadcaster Channel 4. It is produced by ITN, and has been in operation since the broadcaster's launch in 1982.-News programmes:As of 2008, Channel 4 News has three programmes:...
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, the first black president of the
Welsh TUCThe 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 and sub-Saharan Africa).
Following the
Admiral Duncan pubThe 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 Camperdown in 1797.- Bombing :...
bombing by former BNP member
David CopelandDavid John Copeland is a former member of the British 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....
, 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 ForceThe Royal Air Force is the United Kingdom's air force, the oldest independent air force in the world. Formed on 1 April 1918, the RAF has taken a significant role in British military history ever since, playing a large part in World War II and in more recent conflicts.The RAF operates almost 1,109...
for its bombing of
Nazi GermanyNazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany between 1933 and 1945, while it was led by Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Worker's Party . The name Third Reich refers to the state as the successor to the Holy Roman Empire of the Middle Ages and the German...
, and in 1996 during a public demonstration at
Coventry CathedralCoventry 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 Dr 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 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".
Family and personal life
Griffin lives with his family in a farmhouse in Llanerfyl, near Welshpool, 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. He has recently begun writing an autobiography.
Elections contested
| Date of election |
Constituency |
Party |
Votes |
Percentage of votes |
Source(s) |
| 22 October 1981 by-election 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 was a 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 :...
|
NFThe British National Front is a far-right and whites-only British political party whose major political activities were during the 1970s and 1980s. Where in the 1979 general election, in party polled 191,719 votes, 0.6% of the vote overall...
|
429 |
1.2 |
|
1983 general electionThe 1983 UK 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.The opposition vote split almost evenly between the SDP/Liberal Alliance and Labour...
|
Croydon North West |
NF |
336 |
0.9 |
|
| 23 November 2000 by-election 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 |
BNPThe British National Party is a far-right, whites-only political party in the United Kingdom, formed as a splinter group of the British National Front by John Tyndall in 1982. The party's current chairman is Nick Griffin, himself a former national organiser of the National Front.The BNP is not...
|
794 |
4.2 |
|
2001 general electionThe UK general election, 2001 was held on 7 June 2001 and was dubbed "the quiet landslide" by the media. There was little change at all - outside Northern Ireland - with 620 out of 641 seats remaining unchanged. Labour enjoyed its second so-called 'landslide victory' in a row, maintaining its...
|
Oldham West and Royton |
BNP |
6,552 |
16.4 |
|
2005 general electionThe United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect members to the House of Commons.The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a reduced overall majority of 66 and they failed to gain any new seats...
|
Keighley Keighley 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.- Boundaries :...
|
BNP |
4,240 |
9.2 |
|
| 2009 European election 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 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) |
|
External links