Membership of the British National Party has plunged to a real figure of 4,097 year-end 2012—down from 12,632 at year end 2009, a decline of 68 percent according to figures contained in the party’s statement of accounts for 2012 released today on the Electoral Commission’s website.
The party’s statement of accounts states that the total membership at year-end 2012 was 4,872, broken down as follows:
Old Age Pensioner/Unwaged/Student 1,991
Standard membership 1,182
Family membership 141
Family Plus membership 133
Overseas membership 34
Gold overseas membership 16
Platinum overseas membership 4
Life membership 689
Gold Life membership 86
Platinum membership 83
It is important to bear in mind that none of the “Life” memberships are actually current, but leftovers from the time that the party offered life-long membership in exchange for a one-off payment. They are not new or current—in that they generate funds—and many life members are known not even to be active supporters of the party any more, but are unable to get their details removed from the database.
In other words, the “real” membership actually stands at 4,097 (the 4,872 less the 775 “life” members). These 4,097 members are ones who actually pay membership fees.
The fees are as follows:
Old Age Pensioner/Unwaged/Student rates are £2.50 per month;
Standard membership runs at £4.60 per month;
Family membership runs at £5.85 per month;
Gold membership runs at £8.75;
Overseas membership runs at £8.75;
Platinum Gold membership runs at £10.41 per month; and
Platinum Overseas membership runs at £12.98 per month.
The declining membership represents the continuing collapse of the party, once the most successful British nationalist organization ever. Membership in the 2011 period stood at 7,651, and in 2010 at 10,256.
The 2012 financial statements state that membership fees have subsequently declined from £227,813 in 2011 to £147,307 in 2012.
The collapsing membership figures have been accompanied by an equally dramatic decline in electability, with the most recent set of election results being some of the poorest in British nationalist history.
In the 2013 local elections, the BNP stood just 104 candidates and averaged 5.5 percent of the vote. At its height, just a few years ago, it stood well over 1,000 candidates in a single election.
Election results of in excess of 25 percent were common, and a result of less than 15 percent was regarded as poor.
The party now has just two councillors left—only because their seats were not up for re-election. It has also lost its Greater London Assembly seat, while one of its two Members of the European Parliament, Andrew Brons, was forced out of the party in 2012.
The reasons for the BNP’s decline are multi-faceted but all ultimately have one origin: the behaviour of party leader Nick Griffin.
The public perception of Griffin’s political ability was indelibly destroyed by his buffoonish appearance on the BBC TV show, Question Time. More than any other single action, that staggeringly poor performance exposed Griffin as unable to maintain himself in big league politics.
That program of Question Time was the most watched in British TV history and could have propelled the BNP into the mainstream. Instead, it made the party out to be led by a rank, bumbling amateur and wiped out any latent sympathy which had been building up.
At the same time, Griffin inexplicably started purging anyone of ability from the party and either not replacing them, or if they were replaced, by individuals of extremely dubious background and ability.
The end result was that the party was quickly reduced to fringe level once again, despite the maturation of several bequests, which now appear to be the BNP’s main source of income and the only reason why it shows accounting figures to be in the black.
The reasons for the BNP’s decline has been discussed at length elsewhere: here the most important lesson to be learned is that it is vital for a successful nationalist movement to develop a leadership team, rather than relying on just one individual alone for everything. For when that one individual is good, all is well, but when that one individual is bad, things go very badly wrong.
That ridiculous performance on its own might have been passed off as a major case of stagefright, but to follow that up with the sacking of key personnel, and the replacement of others with the most unqualified and unacceptable dross seems to to me to point to the fact that none of these things occurred by accident.
The appointment of Ian Kitchen to the role of Yorkshire and Humberside organiser was the final nail in the coffin, not even Griffin could justify the inclusion of this man, and he was clearly out of his depth right from the start, not to mention the sunday paper two page spread about him and his wifes bizarre love life.
Griffin must have known prior to that decision exactly what the effects of it would be. That was why his payoff was so big, he was guaranteed a seat at the EU table in exchange for his deliberate nobbling of the BNP.
What a sorry tale! I just cannot believe that over 4000 individuals are daft enough to still be contributing to the Griffins family pension fund.my advice to them, get out now and send this conman back to the Welsh hills where he belongs.
As one of the over 4,000 daft individuals, as you regard me, who contributes to the ongoing and essential work of the BNP, I am deeply saddened and distressed by the rift that has occurred in British Nationalism and the intense bitterness, and dare I say hatred towards the BNP, that is expressed from time to time in comments on this website. For my part, I regularly visit the BDP website, not to find things that I can fault or criticise, but because of the excellent articles that are published here, together with helpful comments. In fact I took the liberty of copying and pasting the “Stephen Lawrence, The Never-Ending Story” article into an email, which went all over the country, together with full acknowledgement of its source.
So long as the Nationalist cause is so fragmented I see no hope ever of achieving anything like electoral success, and certainly not sufficient to overturn the present ConDemLab traitors who hold sway over us, and who are bringing the British nation to utter ruin. Being just a few weeks away from my 78th birthday, by the very nature of things I will not be in this present world when the white indigenous peoples of our island home are finally subjugated by the evil of Islamic Sharia law, but I think of my children, my grandchildren and my great-grandchild, what will life be like for them? My friends, we are failing them and all of their generations, by divisions and bickering between the Nationalist groupings, when we ought to be working together, united in a cause that is far greater than our individual feelings and grievances.
I do not pretend to understand all the reasons for the rift between Andrew Brons and Nick Griffin; the issues were undoubtedly very complex and serious. But surely there is room within the realm of human relationships to work towards reconciliation. I pray so.
Like you I have 3 score years and 10 behind me, and fear for the future; however while ever Ng is involved we will go nowhere HE is the cause and ongoing cause of the rift and demise of the Nationalist movement today. Like many other we ( wife and I ) followed where he led, through thick and thin, giving to the hilt and putting our heads above the paraphet.
UNTIL two things, first the rigged leadership vote and second the rigged and traiterous meeting where NG betrayed ALL that Nationalism stood for and broke the bond that held us together. I say again, the reversal of all he stood for MUST have been the result of political/ financial pressure from the powers that be.
If he had any shred of feeling for the movement he would step aside and allow reunificatuiion of the various Nationalist groups to reform again.
If the BNP had dusted itself off after the QT disaster and turned itself into a party with a group of capable people prominent in its promotion there might have been some chance of redemption. But it has not and cannot.
In any event, the outcome was far longer in the making than 2010. From the outset Griffin set out to make the BNP his business and in existence to benefit him. That might not have mattered if he’d wanted to cultivate able people.
But the reality was an old old story about big fish in small ponds.
It was NOT the QT for most of us, it was the immence betrayal at the two major conferences. The first where WE ( and NG) voted for a new improved democratic constitution and elections, based on Arthur Kemp’s ideas; followed by the second conference where NG callously betrayed ALL that the BNP stood for, that on top of the vote rigging of the leadership election killed the nationalist movement that day.
My own pet theory is that NG was ‘got at’ by the powers that be, nothing else can explain the absoluter turn round of a man who had taken so much abuse, hate, darts and legal,attacks and still fought on, something MAJOR got him and the same will happen to UKIP if they are increacingly successful.
My hope is that NG will disapear asap and the Nationalist movement can reform and march on, we are not dead, just sleeping and waiting.
Having been a Nationalist since 1970 my Proudest moment was when we got a little under one million votes ! I had tears in my eyes like a lifetime football supporter whose team finally wins the F.A.Cup. I really thought we were on our way to victory and saving this country. NOW my dismay is only matched by my determination to do all I can for the Decent British Democratic Party. I urge all Nationalists of good will to look forward with HOPE and JOIN TODAY.
You’re a Good man Mr Brons, we’re in a real fix, that’s for sure, we can dig our way out, but Nationalists I think are going to have to start working together, just like the Marines, the Paras, the Navy and the Air Force work together.
You know, those 1 million Nationalist sympathisers haven’t gone away, in fact there’s an awful lot who are intimidated against expressing their views.
I reckon, there are probably at least 3 million sympathisers out there, probably more. But let’s say, it’s only 1 million Sympathisers.
Every one of those sympathisers could afford £1 Per year donation, that would be £1 million per year.
If they made it £1 per month, that would be £12 million per year, and that’s just on a figure of million sympathisers.
What could nationalism do with £1 million or £12 million per year.
If you could find a way for people to donate £1 per month, or per year in secret, they might be more willing.
I don’t know how to do that last bit, maybe someone can offer a solution to that bit.
The anonymous (as anonymous as you want it) currency BITCOIN might be 1 solution.
Maybe a £1 per year membership fee, making it the cheapest membership fee of any party.
Maybe set up a shopping site for Nationalists who buy online.
If you’re going to buy online, do it through a Nationalist website, generate some income for the cause.
The BNP will still hold a dwindling membership together no doubt. However, the BNP are finished in the real world. There was a small chance to rejuvenate the BNP but that opportunity ended when Griffin won the last crooked Leadership election by a short head.
The question surely now is how are we going to kick-start the ‘BDP’ and push it into the political reckoning? I do believe we need a shortcut. It could take years to build a Party of even four thousand members. Maybe we should take a leaf out of the ‘Fathers for Justice’. A sensible campaign of publicity stunts?
We need a route that will put us on the map. That is a formidable task, because it’s that dreaded word ‘money’ and ‘BIG MONEY’ that could put this Party on the map. Not only are we of few but most of us are not spring chickens.
Johnny Leach, in the comment above, is asking the right questions. In Poole, Dorset our leaflets go out on an almost daily basis but it is not enough. NO ONE has heard of us yet ! We need to get our leadership on the television and in the newspapers as much as possible.
“john shaw says: July 27, 2013 at 5:22 am
Johnny Leach, in the comment above, is asking the right questions. In Poole, Dorset our leaflets go out on an almost daily basis but it is not enough. NO ONE has heard of us yet ! We need to get our leadership on the television and in the newspapers as much as possible.”
I urge you to engage in daytime doorstep politics. Ascertain if the resident as any local issues that need to be addressed and then act on their behalf as if you are already. Do NOT approach the local councillor because you are after taking their position. If a successful outcome is secured in can go into a local leaflet. Attend you local tenants and residents association meeting. Become pally with the locals and take up their issues. Issues that might be either on an individual basis like for example a housing matter. Or perhaps something that might be affecting the locality on a wider basis. Grassroots politics is NOT just leafletting, in fact I would suggest advise that it is just a very small part local politics. Have a go and see what results it brings!!!;-)
Mike Newland. Are you the same Mike Newland from Camden who was a valued member of the East London team in the 90’s ?
The same David.
Hi Mike, I hope all is well with you. I pass by what used to be your Camden home many times and often wondered if you we’re still at that same address. Best wishes Dave
I’m still baffled as to why Nick Griffin decided to go on Question Time and think he was going to get a big round of applause from an ethnic audience, and an appreciative admiring presenter. There may or may not (depending on your view) be fault with David Duke, but to speak ill of someone who has supported Nick just made him look shifty and cowardly. And all to try to win over an hostile ethnic audience. It made him look like the kind of man that would betray his most loyal comrades and turned the viewers off him. And it was the viewers not the audience that was the target, that should have been the focus point. So what should he have done? well he could have put his ego away and three people spring to mind that could have sat on that panel and put that black female in her place and cope with that audience Andrew Brons, Mike Newland, Richard Edmonds. All he had to do was say to any of them if I go on Question Time I’ll put our cause back to point zero.
I wrote and resigned as a life member over a year ago, but I still keep getting their junk mail. I never got any acknowledgement of my resignation, so I guess I am one of those they are still treating as a life member.
I am afraid in spite of the so-called “audit” I think the overall membership figures are overstated. I think the actual 2012 figure was nearer 3,000 and is certainly less now.
In addition, if you look at the accounts in more detail, you will see that it is a party subsisting on the legacies of members who left them money in better times. It is a dead party paid for by dead people.
When Griffin took over the membership was something like 1500. He’ll soon be back to where he started. Great job!
We now live in a time where millions of our people will be in poverty, we are witnessing policies put forward by the political class to trip people out of there meagre jobseeker allowance and force them to fight against each other for minimum wage scraps. And those that cant sell their labour at the lowest possible price will have to go dumpster diving for food, whilst our political moral masters tell the poorest we’re all in this austerity together. People may well ask how are the politicians able to pull this off where are the unions? and the answer is they are bought and paid for by the same group that pay the grasping politicians. We must not under any circumstances as Nick Griffin did on Question Time refer to ourselves as us politicians. We must remind the British people that our aim is to hand over the palace of Westminster to the British public and show them all the evil plotting that was done to them while the political class got wealthy, we must remind them of the penalties for treason. It must be getting through to the British public that the politicians are hoping to finish us off by mass immigration, and that’s why we must keep trying just like good brave people like Andrew Brons, Mike Newland, Richard Edmonds and others the reality of the plot against us and keep organizing.
Just after the 2009 election local elections,where results were better than expected.In the south east we all went to a meeting held in Battle.We were informed that we could not have branch web pages,appointments were made that were not acceptable.I resigned on a point of principle.I then was subjected to a barrage of abuse by the griffin/mcbride cartel.The kent section folded and good nationalists lost.
We can rebuild but no one from the BDP gets in touch
“TomTreb says:
August 5, 2013 at 12:58 pm
As one of the over 4,000 daft individuals, as you regard me, who contributes to the ongoing and essential work of the BNP, I am deeply saddened and distressed by the rift that has occurred in British Nationalism and the intense bitterness, and dare I say hatred towards the BNP.” Tom, I think you mis-understand the feelings that are felt and expressed by the people who have commented here and on previous occassions regarding the BNP. It is not the BNP that is hated, on the contrary it is Griffin. He has committed arguably the grossest act of treason that by far exceeds anything I would suggest has been carried out to date by the lib-lab/con-trick. Griffin’s is the wanton destruction of the great hope for survival and eventual rebirth of this poor abused nation. He has betrayed the members, has betrayed the millions of activist man hours over the course of 30 years. Activists have literally dropped dead on the streets whilst leafletting trying to further the BNP’s ambition to save us from the coming abyss. And he has also betrayed the possiblity of millions of British people being able to realise that hope is at hand. I think that all good activists held the BNP close to our hearts but Griffin is by far the worst traitor that has ever come existed. It’s a shame Griffin can’t be taken to Traitor’s Gate!!!
Could not agree more. NG is the cause of the splits, and the blockage to ANY cementing of relations between the various Nationalist groups and parties.
I do NOT regret one minute of my time or one penny of my contributions to the cause, but feel real anger at how Ng managed, mismanaged and then callously betrayed us.
“JOHNNY LEECH says:
July 26, 2013 at 9:53 pm
The BNP will still hold a dwindling membership together no doubt. However, the BNP are finished in the real world. There was a small chance to rejuvenate the BNP but that opportunity ended when Griffin won the last crooked Leadership election by a short head.
The question surely now is how are we going to kick-start the ‘BDP’ and push it into the political reckoning”.
Apart from the UKIP option, which none of us are allowed to join, where we could add real activist strength to their cause and to perhaps protect it from the poison of liberalism. We can only vote for them. But for activsts, voting is not enough and all ex-BNP activists know this to be true. Time is extremely short, the BNP I think was making some decent inroads and these could have been greater. Here, my view is that Griffin hasn’t and wasn’t entirely to blame for the slow prow progress of the BNP compared to the recent excellent success of UKIP. No doubt they picked up a large proportion of the ex-BNP vote, coupled with the fact that UKIP were continually in the spotlight in the run-up to the recent elections. In which case it could be argued that they experienced a larger version of the Margaret Hodge effect, (Barking and Dagenham local elections 2006), whereby because more people talked about them the more people wanted to vote for them. Some of the fault I believe rested with the direction of the groups and branches up and down the country not engaging in local politics at a greater grassroots level. And I don’t mean the table tops. I mean knocking on doors (before and not just during election time), assisting and attempting to solve local problems and addressing local issues.
The way I would approach the problem of the splintering of nationalism and for the urgent purpose of re-unification, I would approach any sensible and mature willing other groups as possible for that very purpose re-unification. I would also take on board the UKIP approach, we may not absolutely approve of them but undeniably their approach is working and it’s achieving a far greater level of success than the BNP ever enjoyed. That doesn’t mean nationalists have to betray their inner souls, just remember that sometimes the lion needs to take on the character of the fox in order to evade the traps. Gravity I think would then bring even more remnants of the BNP back together. But the hardline approach must, I repeat MUST be jettisoned. As hardline as some of our ideas might wish to on the outside be it is irrelevent when compared to what the voters will go for en mass.
If the British Democrats IS to pick up the baton then I think there needs to be an injection of urgancy and action. I think a national gathering in the autumn should take place whereby nationalists can interact with each other again and networks can be rebuilt and steps taken to re-ignite British nationalism once more. We don’t have much time left!
Let us move into the end of 2013,with the knowledge that more than ever the British Public are crying out for change.The lies of both Labour/Conservatives is seen every day.As nationalists lets sort out our methods,get our branches up and running and start the fight to regain our Country.Our aim must be in 2015 to fight at least 100 seats and the cost of fighting each seat must be raised.