Jayda Fransen facts for kids

Jayda Kaleigh Fransen (born March 1986) is a British politician and activist. She was once part of the English Defence League (EDL) but left because of its connections to certain behaviors. Later, she joined Britain First, a political group with strong nationalist views. She served as the deputy leader of Britain First from 2014 to 2019, working alongside Paul Golding, who was the leader. For six months, from December 2016 to June 2017, Fransen was the acting leader while Golding was away.

Fransen has run in several elections since 2014 but has not won. She has also been involved in online activities and public marches.

Political Career and Elections

Leading Britain First

Britain First was started in 2011 by Jim Dowson. Paul Golding became the leader after Dowson left. During this time, Jayda Fransen was the deputy leader. Golding handed over the leadership to Fransen in November 2016 because he was away for a period. Fransen stated that he needed to deal with "important, personal family issues." She stepped down from her leadership role in January 2019 and left the party. She is known for being part of a movement that opposes certain interpretations of Islam.

Rochester and Strood Election in 2014

Fransen was the first person to run for Parliament for Britain First. This was in the Rochester and Strood by-election on 20 November 2014. She showed support for the UK Independence Party (UKIP) and its candidate, Mark Reckless, who won the election.

Britain First's campaign got attention when they shared a photo of Fransen with local UKIP activists. UKIP said their activists did not know what the photo meant. Fransen said the UKIP activists asked for the photo and that she thought the two parties were very similar. The BBC presenter Nick Robinson was also criticized for taking a selfie with Fransen during the election. Robinson said he did not know who Fransen was and denied supporting her ideas.

London Elections in 2016

On 27 September 2015, Paul Golding announced he would run for London mayor. Fransen wrote online that their opponents would "face the wrath of the Britain First movement." She added, "We will not rest until every traitor is punished for their crimes against our country. And by punished, I mean good old fashioned British justice at the end of a rope!" Golding turned his back when Sadiq Khan was announced as the new mayor. Neither Golding nor Fransen won a seat in the London Assembly election, which happened at the same time.

Joining the British Freedom Party

In January 2021, Fransen announced she would run for the Glasgow Southside seat. This seat was held by Nicola Sturgeon. Fransen and Sturgeon had a tense moment outside a voting place on election day. Fransen received 46 votes, which was 0.1% of the total. She came in last place. She also got the fewest votes among all 357 candidates in that election.

Batley and Spen Election in 2021

The 2021 Batley and Spen election happened after Tracy Brabin resigned. She had been elected as Mayor of West Yorkshire. Fransen came second to last in this election with 50 votes.

Southend West Election in 2022

After the death of Conservative MP David Amess in October 2021, Fransen said she would run for the open seat in Southend West. She ran for the British Freedom Party. Most major UK parties decided not to nominate a candidate to avoid using the situation for political gain. Fransen received 299 votes, which was 2% of the total. Like her campaign in the 2021 Batley and Spen by-election, she was listed as an independent candidate, not as a representative of the British Freedom Party.

Wakefield Election in 2022

In June 2022, Fransen ran as an independent candidate in the Wakefield election. She received 23 votes, which was 0.1% of the total. This was the lowest number of votes among the 15 candidates.

Donald Trump's Retweets and Twitter Account

On 29 November 2017, then-President of the United States Donald Trump caused discussion. He shared three videos from Fransen's Twitter account. Fransen reacted on Twitter, writing in capital letters, "The President of the United States, Donald Trump, has retweeted three of Deputy Leader Jayda Fransen’s Twitter videos! Donald Trump himself has retweeted these videos and has around 44 million followers! God bless you Trump! God bless America!" Fransen later posted a video asking Trump for help with a court case she had in Belfast.

She described herself on Twitter as "faithful to God and Britannia." She had sent over 15,000 tweets since joining in mid-2016. One video was titled "Muslim migrant beats up Dutch boy on crutches!" It claimed to show an attack by a Muslim immigrant. However, the Dutch embassy in the US said the teenager was "born and raised in the Netherlands" and was not Muslim. Another video, "Muslim Destroys a Statue of Virgin Mary!", was filmed during the Syrian civil war in 2013. It showed a man destroying a statue of Mary. The third video, "Islamist mob pushes teenage boy off roof and beats him to death!", showed events in Alexandria, Egypt. This was during a time of unrest after the 2013 Egyptian coup d'état. It showed supporters of the former president attacking one of his critics.

Prime Minister Theresa May spoke out against Trump's retweets. She said, "it is wrong for the president to have done this." She added that "Britain First seeks to divide communities through their use of hateful narratives which peddle lies and stoke tensions."

On 18 December 2017, Twitter permanently closed the accounts of Fransen and Golding. The official Britain First account was also closed. This was part of Twitter's rules against groups that promote violence or use hateful images. The company wanted to "reduce the amount of abusive behaviour and hateful conduct" online. If an account had "a violent threat or multiple slurs, epithets, racist or sexist tropes, incite[d] fear, or reduce[d] someone to less than human," it would be permanently closed. Trump's three retweets were removed because Fransen's account was banned. After the ban, Fransen and Golding joined the Gab social networking service. They encouraged their followers to join too.

Election Results

UK Parliament Elections

Scottish Parliament Elections

2021 Scottish Parliament election