- DRAFT - WORK IN PROGRESS
To be titled National Liberal Party (UK, 1999)
National Liberal Party | |
|---|---|
| Founded | March 1999 |
| Political position | Far right |
| Website | |
| http://libertygb.org.uk/v1 | |
The National Liberal Party is a political party formed in the United Kingdom in 1999. It was registered with the Electoral Commission by Dean Williamson and Graham Williamson on 25 March 1999.[1] but seems to have remained largely inactive until the 2014 European Parliament election. It has eight candidates in the London constituency election being held in May 2014.[2]
Apart from its name, there is no connection with the National Liberal Party (1922) or National Liberal Party (1931), both of which were breakaways from the Liberal Party.
Background
editThe party was founded by Graham Williamson and Patrick Harrington. Williamson is a former deputy chairman of the National Front and a member of the executive of the British National Party (BNP)-supported "trade union" Solidarity. Harrington is BNP leader Nick Griffin's European Parliament staff manager and a former leading figure in the National Front, and general secretary of Solidarity. They have run a nationalist think tank for more than twenty years called the Third Way, named after the third-positionist strategies influenced by the ideology of Roberto Fiore, an Italian fascist. Third-positionist ideas were a great influence on the "political soldier" faction of the Nationa Front, which included Williamson, HArrington and Griffin. Third Way printed a leaflet in 2013 headed "Want a Muslim neighbour? Vote UKIP"; the BNP described it as an "excellent" resource.[3]
In 1990, a year after the "political soldiers" voted to disband the National Front, Third Way was founded as a political think tank. It was re-registered as "National Liberal Party – The Third Way" in 2006 to run candidates in local elections.[3]
Among Fiore's ideas was that far right white nationalist groups should form alliances with national liberation movements and separatists. Williamson and Harrington pioneered this in the National Front in the 1980s, but apart from allowing them to say they were not racists because they had black allies, the policy was not a success. The National Liberal Party has kept up this strategy, appealing for ethnic minority votes by focusing on national struggles abroad and with particular emphasis on injustices in Sri Lanka and India.
Despite the far right and fascist backgrounds of its leaders, the party is contesting elections in London on a multicultural election list including Tamil, Sikh and Kurdish candidates. The party manifesto gives no indication of its far right origins. It says, "The National Liberal Party is putting forward a team of 8 ethnically and racially diverse candidates – Tamil, Sikh, Azerbaijan, Kurdish, English, north Borneo (sabah-sarawak), to represent the real grassroots London."[3]
References
edit- ^ Electoral Commission searchable registration database
- ^ Regional Returning Officer for London, Statement of parties and individual candidates nominated and Notice of Poll, published 28 April 2014
- ^ a b c Channel 4 News, "Exposed: far-right veteran seeking London multicultural vote ", posted in Searchlight, 3 May 2014