Anthony "Tony" Mark Lecomber (born 1961) is a former activist for 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 ...
.
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Background
Lecomber has been active in
far-right politics
Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...
since the early 1980s. His role is mainly behind the scenes in planning BNP election campaigns, but his history of convictions for violence have given him prominence in anti-BNP publicity and led to his removal from the party.
[BNP: Under the Skin]
BBC News.
He joined the
National Front in the early 1980s, but allied with
John Tyndall
John Tyndall FRS (; 2 August 1820 – 4 December 1893) was a prominent 19th-century Irish physicist. His scientific fame arose in the 1850s from his study of diamagnetism. Later he made discoveries in the realms of infrared radiation and the p ...
who was being blamed for the NF's poor performance at the
1979 general election. When Tyndall split to form the
New National Front
The British National Party (BNP) is a Far-right politics, far-right, Fascism, fascist list of political parties in the United Kingdom, political party in the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in Wigton, Cumbria, and its leader is Adam Walke ...
and later the British National Party, Lecomber followed him.
He was editor of ''Young Nationalist'', a racist and
antisemitic
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
magazine.
Convictions
Lecomber was convicted for criminal damage in 1982, offences under the
Explosive Substances Act in 1985, and was sentenced to three years' imprisonment in 1991 for an attack on a Jewish teacher.
[
On 31 October 1986, he was injured by a nailbomb that he was carrying to the offices of the Workers Revolutionary Party in ]Clapham
Clapham () is a suburb in south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (most notably Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth.
History
Early history
T ...
. Police found 10 grenades
A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade gene ...
, seven petrol bomb
A Molotov cocktail (among several other names – ''see other names'') is a hand thrown incendiary weapon constructed from a frangible container filled with flammable substances equipped with a fuse (typically a glass bottle filled with flammab ...
s and two detonators at his home. For this offence, he received a three-year prison sentence at his trial on 28 November that year.[Nick Cohen, "Hold On a Minute ... Will It Be Boots and Broadcasts at the BNP?", ''The Observer'', 5 January 1997.]
In 1991, while he was Propaganda
Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...
Director of the BNP, Lecomber saw a Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
teacher removing a BNP sticker at a London Underground
The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...
station and attacked him. Lecomber was released from his three-year sentence in time to play a part in the BNP's by-election win 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 ...
ward of 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 ...
in September 1993.
Later in the 1990s, Lecomber became closer to 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 ...
and supported Griffin when he successfully challenged John Tyndall's leadership of the BNP in 1999. In 2006, Lecomber was sacked from his position as Group Development Officer. This followed allegations made by former Merseyside
Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan county, metropolitan and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of List of ceremonial counties of England, 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Merse ...
BNP organiser that Lecomber had tried to recruit him to assassinate prominent politicians and members of the British establishment. Lecomber admitted that a conversation had taken place but stated that he hadn't meant the comments to be taken literally.Sunday Herald, 28 May 2006
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lecomber, Tony
1961 births
Living people
British fascists
British male criminals
British National Party politicians
British people convicted of assault
British politicians convicted of crimes
National Front (UK) politicians
Neo-fascist terrorism
People convicted on terrorism charges
Prisoners and detainees of England and Wales
Terrorism in the United Kingdom