Patricia Feldman Richardson (born 1944 or 1945, died 2022 or 2023) was a British politician, most notable as 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 ...

's first Jewish candidate, though she does not practise

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...

. In 2004, Richardson said the party was not anti-Semitic.

Early life

She grew up in

Stoke Newington Stoke Newington is an area occupying the north-west part of the London Borough of Hackney in north-east London, England. It is northeast of Charing Cross. The Manor of Stoke Newington gave its name to Stoke Newington the ancient parish. The ...

, the youngest of three sisters; her father came from Romania, while her mother was born in London's

East End The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...

, of Lithuanian descent.

Political career

BNP

In the 2004 local elections, she won a seat on

Epping Forest District Council Epping may refer to: Places Australia * Epping, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Epping railway station, Sydney * Electoral district of Epping, the corresponding seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly * Epping Forest, Kearns, a ...

, representing the Loughton Fairmead ward with a narrow majority of 13. Her husband, Thomas Richardson, also a BNP candidate, won the nearby ward of Loughton Broadway. In the 2008 local elections, she was elected in the Loughton Broadway ward, covering part of the Debden council estate, with a majority of 123 over Labour. Her old Fairmead seat was lost heavily to the

Loughton Residents Association Loughton Residents Association is a residents association and local political party formed (as the Central Loughton Residents' Association) in 1981, and based in Loughton, Essex, United Kingdom. LRA has always sought to influence events by putt ...

. From 2009, she was the leader of the BNP group on the local council, but in 2012 local elections lost her seats in both the District and Town Councils. She also served on Loughton Town Council 2008-12. Under her leadership, the BNP campaigned against Muslim prayer meetings in Loughton, claiming in a leaflet approved by her (the ''Epping Forest Patriot'') that the community hall used would be turned into a mosque. Following allegations of abduction and a firebomb attack on his home, the prayer meeting's organiser accused the BNP. He was subsequently questioned by police on suspicion of perverting the course of justice. Richardson said the BNP was not behind the alleged attacks and told ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', "Firebombing is not a British method. A brick through the window is a British method."Vikram Dodd, "Muslim man claims he was kidnapped at knifepoint over prayer sessions", ''The Guardian'', 27 August 2009, p4
- Viktam Dodd, "Community leader arrested after BNP attack allegations", ''The Guardian'', 4 September 2009. (Online versio
"Police arrest Muslim community leader who claimed he was abducted by racists"
3 September 2009.) She was the BNP candidate for

Epping Forest Epping Forest is a area of ancient woodland, and other established habitats, which straddles the border between Greater London and Essex. The main body of the forest stretches from Epping in the north, to Chingford on the edge of the London ...

in the 2010 general election.

For Britain

In the 2019 local elections, Richardson stood in Waltham Abbey Honey Lane ward for 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 ...

, coming second to the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

Sam Kane. She contested the same ward in

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

, finishing third.

Elections contested

UK Parliament elections Essex County Council elections Epping Forest District Council elections

References

External links

* Christopher Walker
"I'm no 'fig leaf' insists BNP's first Jewish candidate"
''The Times'', 11 May 2004 * Leslie Bunder,

, ''Something Jewish'', 11 June 2004 *BN
"LADIES IN THE FRONTLINE"
''Voice of Freedom'' No. 70, 2006 {{DEFAULTSORT:Richardson, Patricia (Politician) 1940s births 2020s deaths British National Party politicians English people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent English people of Romanian-Jewish descent Jewish British politicians Jewish fascists English far-right politicians People from Loughton People from Stoke Newington Councillors in Essex