National Liberal Party (UK, 1999)
 | A major contributor to this article appears to have aclose connectionwith its subject.(April 2019) |
National Liberal Party | |
|---|---|
| Founded | March 1999 |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Far-right[1] |
| Colours | |
| Website | |
| http://nationalliberal.org/ | |
TheNational Liberal Partyis a far right[1]political party formed in the United Kingdom in 1999 with several formerNational Frontactivists as its most prominent members.[2]Graham Williamson is listed as Nominating Officer and Upkar Singh Rai is listed as Leader and Treasurer. It has a number of ballot paper descriptions authorised by theElectoral Commissionincluding: 'National Liberal Party – The Radical Centre' and 'National Liberal Party – Liberty, Independence, Democracy'.[3]The group sporadically contested elections until emerging more prominently in the run-up to the2014 European Parliament election,where it fielded eight candidates for theLondon constituency,but failed to meet the threshold of votes for its first list-candidate to be elected.[4]
Background[edit]
The National Liberal Party was founded byGraham WilliamsonandPatrick Harrington.[2]It appeals for ethnic minority votes by focusing on national struggles abroad, with particular emphasis on injustices in Sri Lanka and India.
The party ran in the2010 general election,contesting theEastleighseat. Its candidate, Keith Lowe, ran a campaign criticising the sitting MPChris Huhnefor his failure to support a referendum for the public to ratify theTreaty of Lisbon.During the election, the presence of several formerNational Front(NF) members in prominent positions was raised in the local press, although the general secretary, David Durant – himself a former NF member – said that the party belonged to the "patrioticcentre".[5]
Despite the far-right and fascist backgrounds of its leaders,[2]the party fielded eight candidates for the2014 European Parliament electioninLondon,on a multicultural election list includingTamil,SikhandKurdishcandidates. The party manifesto gave no indication of its far-right origins. It said, "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."[2]One of the group's candidates, Yussuf Anwar, appeared onBBC'sDaily Politicsand declared himself proud of Graham Williamson, arguing that his NF membership was a youthful mistake.[6]
Criticism from the extreme right[edit]
Following revelations about the party's origins byChannel 4,the NLP was pilloried inHeritage and Destiny,a longstanding periodical closely linked to several groups including the nationalist, frequently neo-fascist andanti-SemiticInternational Third Position.The article focused on the party's website which named its political progenitors as theEarl of Rosebery,Joseph ChamberlainandLeslie Hore-Belishaand criticised the establishmentJewishlinks of all except Chamberlain as well as the perceived lack of ideological connection between the three and even the poor spelling of their names.[7][better source needed]
Elections contested[edit]
Parliamentary elections[edit]
| Constituency | Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eastleigh | Keith Low | 93 | 0.2[8] |
| Constituency | Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ealing, Southall | Jagdeesh Singh | 461 | 1.1[9] |
| Ruislip, Northwood & Pinner | Sockalingam Yogalingam | 166 | 0.3[10] |
European Parliament elections[edit]
| Regional lists | Candidates | Votes | % | MEPs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| London | Graham Williamson Jagdeesh Singh Sockalingam Yogalingam Doris Jones Upkar Singh Rai Yussef Anwar Araz Yurdseven Bernard Dube |
6,736 | 0.3 | 0[11] |
London Assembly elections[edit]
| List | Candidates | Votes | % | AMs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| London-wide list | Upkar Rai Arunasalam Rajalingam Faisal Maramazi Araz Yurdseven Ponniah Yogaraja |
2,860 | 0.1 | 0[12] |
References[edit]
- ^abJessica Elgot,"British National Party Decline Show Far Right Is In A Very, Very Bad Way",Huffpost,14 January 2015. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
- ^abcdBrian Whelan,"Exposed: far-right veteran seeking London multicultural vote",Channel 4 News,3 May 2014. Retrieved 21 December 2019. Also posted inSearchlight,3 May 2014
- ^"Registration summary: National Liberal Party - True Liberalism".The Electoral Commission.
- ^"Statement of parties and individual candidates nominated and Notice of Poll"(PDF).Regional Returning Officer for London. 28 April 2014. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 13 May 2014.
- ^"Ex National Front men 'target' Chris Huhne".Eastleigh News.6 May 2010. Archived fromthe originalon 5 November 2013.
- ^"Dr Yussuf Anwar on National Liberal Party policies".BBC News.21 May 2014.
- ^"Media smear merchants find new target".Heritage and Destiny.4 May 2014. Archived fromthe originalon 8 May 2014.Retrieved13 February2021.
- ^"Election 2010 - Eastleigh".BBC News.
- ^"Election 2015 - Ealing Southall".BBC News.Retrieved12 May2015.
- ^"Election 2015 - Ruislip, Northwood & Pinner".BBC News.Retrieved12 May2015.
- ^"Vote 2014 - London".BBC News.
- ^"Results 2021".London Elects.9 May 2021.Retrieved9 May2021.