Edward Mark Butler
(born in Bloomsbury 13 November 1962) is a former National Elections Officer of the
British National Party
The British National Party (BNP) is a far-right, fascist political party in the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in Wigton, Cumbria, and its leader is Adam Walker. A minor party, it has no elected representatives at any level of UK gover ...
(BNP) and was dubbed the party's "elections guru" by its newspaper, ''Voice of Freedom'', until being suspended and expelled from the BNP in 2010 by
Nick Griffin
Nicholas John Griffin (born 1 March 1959) is a British politician and white supremacist who represented North West England as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 2009 to 2014. He served as chairman and then president of the far-righ ...
. He then became a member of the
English Democrats
The English Democrats is a right-wing to far-right, English nationalist political party active in England. A minor party, it currently has no elected representatives at any level of UK government.
The English Democrats were established in 20 ...
before becoming associated with the
For Britain Movement
The For Britain Movement was a minor far-right political party in the United Kingdom, founded by the anti-Islam and "counter-jihad" activist Anne Marie Waters after she was defeated in the 2017 UK Independence Party leadership election.
Hi ...
.
First BNP tenure
Butler was originally the
Tower Hamlets
The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London borough covering much of the traditional East End. It was formed in 1965 from the merger of the former metropolitan boroughs of Stepney, Poplar, and Bethnal Green. 'Tower Hamlets' was originally ...
organiser for the
National Front but, after having been expelled from that party by Griffin, in 1986, joined the British National Party in the same year. Butler first came to prominence in the early 1990s when he was
party organiser in Tower Hamlets. Whilst in charge here Butler masterminded the 'Rights for Whites' campaign, a locally based initiative that sought to highlight supposed council "bias" against the
White British
White British is an ethnicity classification used for the native white population identifying as English, Scottish, Welsh, Cornish, Northern Irish, or British in the United Kingdom Census. In the 2011 census, the White British population wa ...
. The campaign, which initially presented itself as independent before linking directly to the BNP, was instrumental in building up support for the party in the area, which culminated in the election of
Derek Beackon
Derek William Beackon is a British far-right politician. He is currently a member of the British Democratic Party (BDP), and a former member of the British National Party (BNP) and National Front. In 1993, he became the BNP's first elected counc ...
as a councillor in
Millwall
Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east ...
in 1993.
Butler's success brought him promotion within the party and he was soon appointed National Elections Officer. Whilst in this position, in 1994, he was the victim of a knife attack, allegedly carried out by members of
Combat 18
Combat 18 (C18 or 318) is a neo-Nazi terrorist organisation that was founded in 1992. It originated in the United Kingdom, with ties to movements in Canada and the United States. Since then it has spread to other countries, including Germany. ...
. Butler also became closely associated with party 'modernisers' such as
Tony Lecomber
Anthony "Tony" Mark Lecomber (born 1961) is a former activist for the British National Party.
__TOC__
Background
Lecomber has been active in far-right politics since the early 1980s. His role is mainly behind the scenes in planning BNP election c ...
,
Michael Newland and others associated with ''The Patriot'' magazine. Butler left the BNP in 1996 only to rejoin in 1998. As a member of the Bloomsbury Forum, Butler was closely linked to the founders of the
Freedom Party and joined that party in 2001.
Second BNP tenure
Although appointed as the Freedom Party's Campaign Director, Butler subsequently returned to the BNP in 2003, again as its National Elections Officer, played a part in the party's campaigns in the
2006 local elections. In 2009, he was the party's lead candidate for the
European Parliament election in the Eastern region, in which the BNP's party list achieved 6.1% of the vote. He was the party's candidate for
Harlow
Harlow is a large town and local government district located in the west of Essex, England. Founded as a new town, it is situated on the border with Hertfordshire and London, Harlow occupies a large area of land on the south bank of the upp ...
in the
2010 General Election. and also a candidate in Barking and Dagenham in the London borough council elections, held on the same day.
On 18 June 2010, Butler announced that he would challenge the then leader,
Nick Griffin
Nicholas John Griffin (born 1 March 1959) is a British politician and white supremacist who represented North West England as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 2009 to 2014. He served as chairman and then president of the far-righ ...
, for the leadership (office of national chairman) of the BNP the following month. On 11 August 2010, it was announced that he had not obtained the 840 nominations required to trigger an election.
On 13 October 2010, Butler was expelled from the BNP, allegedly for breaching the party's code of conduct. He was denied a disciplinary tribunal on the grounds that he had less than two years' continuous membership of the party at the time of his alleged offence(s).
English Democrats
On 26 November 2011, Butler joined the
English Democrats
The English Democrats is a right-wing to far-right, English nationalist political party active in England. A minor party, it currently has no elected representatives at any level of UK government.
The English Democrats were established in 20 ...
.
He stood for the Loughton Fairmead Ward for the
2012 Epping Forest local elections and gained 97 (12.22) votes, last out of four candidates.
At the 2015 general election, he contested Harlow, which he had previously fought for the BNP, polling 115 votes (0.3%).
[''BBC News Election 2015'']
Harlow
/ref>
Elections contested
UK Parliament elections
European Parliament elections
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Eddy
1962 births
Living people
National Front (UK) politicians
British National Party politicians
English Democrats politicians
People educated at Whitgift School