History of the National Front (UK) facts for kids

The National Front (NF) is a political party in the United Kingdom known for its far-right views, which means it holds very strong nationalist beliefs. The party was formed in 1967 by A. K. Chesterton. For a time, especially in the 1970s, it was one of the most visible far-right groups in Britain. Its main policies included stopping all non-white immigration and encouraging immigrants already in the country to leave.

How the National Front Began

The National Front was created in 1967 when several smaller political groups on the far-right decided to join together. Many of these groups felt they were not making much of an impact on their own and believed they would be stronger as one party. A key figure in this process was A. K. Chesterton, the leader of a group called the League of Empire Loyalists.

It was a difficult process to bring everyone together because of disagreements between the leaders. At first, some groups with very extreme ideas that many people found unacceptable were not invited to join. The new party was eventually named the National Front.

Its first policies were based on a few key ideas:

• Strong opposition to the main political parties.
• Support for countries that were once part of the British Empire, like Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe).
• An end to all immigration into Britain.
• A policy to have all settled immigrants return to the countries of their ancestors.

A Period of Growth in the 1970s

The National Front was officially launched on 7 February 1967. In its early days, there were many arguments between the different groups that had formed the party. Soon after, John Tyndall and his group, the Greater Britain Movement, were allowed to join. This was controversial because Tyndall was known for his extreme views.

The party began to grow as more small groups joined. By the early 1970s, the NF was becoming more known in British politics.

New Leadership and Gaining Attention

After more disagreements, A. K. Chesterton resigned as leader. After a brief period with another leader, John Tyndall became the chairman of the party in 1972. Under his leadership, the NF became more organized.

In 1972, the ruler of Uganda, Idi Amin, expelled thousands of Ugandan Asians. The British government allowed them to come to the UK as refugees. The National Front strongly protested against this and held many marches and rallies. This issue brought the party a lot of media attention and new members.

The NF started to focus on winning support from working-class voters by talking about economic issues. They also tried to get members inside trade unions, which are organizations that represent workers.

Opponents of the NF worked to expose the extreme pasts of its leaders. They published photos of Tyndall from the 1960s in a uniform that looked like those worn by the Nazis in Germany. This damaged the party's image.

First Election Successes

The party started to see some success in local elections. In a 1973 by-election in West Bromwich, the NF candidate, Martin Webster, won 16% of the vote. This was a breakthrough for the party, as it was the first time they had done so well. It showed that a significant number of people in that area supported their ideas.

However, in the general elections of 1974, the party did not do as well as it had hoped. Even though they put forward many candidates, none of them came close to winning a seat in Parliament. This was a big disappointment for the party and its members.

Major Disagreements and Splits

By the mid-1970s, the National Front was deeply divided. A group within the party, known as the "Populists," felt that the leadership was too extreme. They believed the party's image was hurting its chances of winning votes. This group wanted to present a more moderate image to the public.

This led to a power struggle. The Populists managed to get their preferred candidate, John Kingsley Read, elected as the new chairman in 1974, replacing Tyndall. This created a "civil war" inside the party between Read's supporters and Tyndall's supporters.

The conflict became so intense that in 1975, John Kingsley Read and his allies left the NF to form their own rival group, the National Party. They hoped most NF members would follow them, but this did not happen, and the National Front continued under Tyndall, who soon returned as leader.

Decline at the End of the Decade

Even with Tyndall back in charge, the party's fortunes did not improve. In the 1979 general election, the NF put forward more candidates than ever before but performed very poorly. Their support had fallen, and by 1979, membership had dropped significantly.

More internal conflicts followed. Tyndall had a major disagreement with his longtime ally, Martin Webster, over the party's direction. This led to Tyndall resigning as leader in 1980. He then started his own party, the New National Front, taking some members with him.

A New Direction in the 1980s

After Tyndall left, the National Front went through a major change. A new, younger faction took control of the party. They had a very different and unusual set of ideas which they called the Third Position.

This new leadership moved away from just being against immigration. They claimed to be against both big business (capitalism) and communism. Most surprisingly, they began to express support for some non-white nationalist movements around the world.

They argued for a world where all races would live completely separately. For example, their party newspaper published positive articles about the Nation of Islam, a black nationalist group in the United States. This new direction was very confusing and unpopular with most of the party's traditional members, who were used to a simple anti-immigration message. This caused many more members to leave.

By the end of the 1980s, this version of the National Front had also split apart, leaving only a small remaining group using the name.

The National Front in Recent Times

By the 1990s, the National Front was much smaller and less influential. A new party, the British National Party (BNP), which was founded by John Tyndall after he left the NF, had become the main far-right party in Britain.

The NF continued to exist but with very few members. It still organized some rallies, but it had little impact on elections.

In the 2000s, the party tried to connect with newer movements like the English Defence League (EDL), a group focused on protesting against Islamic extremism. However, the EDL tried to keep its distance from the NF because of its history.

The party has had several different leaders in recent years, including Ian Anderson, Kevin Bryan, and Tony Martin. However, its political activity has greatly decreased. The National Front has not put forward any candidates in a general election since 2015.