New Britain Party
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New Britain is a far right political party in the United Kingdom, founded in 1976. It has been led since its inception by Dennis Delderfield, a former Common Councilman of the City of London and editor of the 'City of London and Dockland Times'.[1] Delderfield currently holds the position of National Chairman, alongside President George Brooker MBE (Conservative Mayor of Slough in 1977) and Vice-President John Haynes.[2]
New Britain is anti-immigration and has been described as an "avowedly racist party" by The Observer (May 2001), with longstanding links to 'Rhodesian' organisations promoting racial separatism, such as the Springbok Club/Empire Loyalist Club.[3] It also campaigned for the return of capital punishment, and was supported by the Christian Affirmation Campaign, a fundamentalist movement opposed to what it saw as the World Council of Churches' support for Communist regimes in Africa.[4] In 1980, New Britain absorbed the anti-immigration United Country Party, which had been chaired by TV astronomer Patrick Moore.[5] Around this time it also absorbed a small anti-devolution group called the Keep Britain United Party.[6] This party had contested a single seat in the 1979 general election.[7]
The party became active participants in by-elections, contesting those held in City of London and Westminster, Beaconsfield, Penrith and the Border and Bermondsey, as well as putting up two candidates in the general elections of 1979 and 1983. Its best performance was at the Bournemouth East by-election of November 1977, but the party's candidate in the Ilford North by-election of March 1978 was revealed to be a convicted child abuser after nominations had closed, and his endorsement was withdrawn.[8] New Britain has also had a number of parish councillors elected in both Kent and Essex[citation needed].
After 1983 the party largely faded from the public view. However, it made a reappearance in the early 1990s, emphasising its opposition to the European Union, which probably helped to win it the support of the magazine This England, and attracting several figures who later became prominent in larger anti-EU parties. In the 1994 European Parliament election, the last to be held under first past the post, it achieved moderate success, saving its deposit in one seat and nearly doing so in another.[9] This reflected discontent among some Conservative supporters about John Major's more pro-EU stance.
In this era, Mike Nattrass, an MEP for the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) was a member of New Britain, and stood for it in the Dudley West by-election of 1994, attracting a mere 146 votes. His fellow UKIP MEP Jeffrey Titford was also briefly a member.[10]
New Britain is strongly conservative, sometimes reminiscent of the early League of Empire Loyalists. In 2004, New Britain stated that it would not run candidates against Conservatives who were running for any election on a Eurosceptic platform. The party publishes New Britain magazine on a monthly basis[citation needed].
[edit] References
- ^ London meetings guide for the Swinton circle
- ^ New Britain webpage
- ^ Website of the Spingbok Club
- ^ David Boothroyd, The History of British Political Parties
- ^ 'The new right in Europe and the spectre of fascism'
- ^ Boothroyd, op cit
- ^ 'Party Vote and Lost deposits'
- ^ Boothroyd, op cit
- ^ Boothroyd, op cit
- ^ 'The true face of a party which wants us out of Europe'
