Anthony Reed Herbert was a leading member of the

British National Front The National Front (NF) is a far-right, fascist political party in the United Kingdom. It is currently led by Tony Martin. As a minor party, it has never had its representatives elected to the British or European Parliaments, although it gai ...

(NF) during the 1970s, organising the party in Leicester and serving as its chief legal adviser (he was a solicitor by profession). Reed Herbert attended

Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. ...

. One of his fellow pupils was the author

Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie (; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British-American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and We ...

. In his autobiography, ''Joseph Anton: A Memoir'', Rushdie believes that his bullying of Reed Herbert at Rugby may have later influenced his racist views. Having previously been chairman of his local Young Conservatives, Reed Herbert became disillusioned with the Tories in 1972 when a Party Conference motion sponsored by

Enoch Powell John Enoch Powell, (16 June 1912 – 8 February 1998) was a British politician, classical scholar, author, linguist, soldier, philologist, and poet. He served as a Conservative Member of Parliament (1950–1974) and was Minister of Health (1 ...

, condemning the government for admitting

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

refugees, was defeated. He subsequently joined the NF and swiftly rose to the leadership. To counter accusations from the '

populist Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term develop ...

' faction of the NF that the leadership was too right wing, in June 1974 he was co-opted onto the NF's Directorate; not being tainted with a fascist past like so many of the NF leaders, he was acceptable as a moderate in the populists' eyes. As a consequence, it was Reed Herbert who cast the deciding vote which unseated John Tyndall as leader and gave the leadership to John Kingsley Read in 1974. Although he thus became associated with the populist wing of the party, he stopped short of joining the National Party when Tyndall regained control and the populists left, instead remaining within the NF.M. Walker, ''The National Front'', Glasgow: Fontana, 1977, p. 198 This is not to say that his views are moderate in the wider sense. He is quoted as saying:

The immigrants and the British are racially and genetically incompatible, which is why immigrants must be repatriated. I wish them all the luck in the world, but not here.... I experience tension whenever I see a group of Indians walking down the street. I feel they are alien, a threatening presence.

He contested the

Leicester East Leicester East is a United Kingdom constituencies, constituency represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, UK Parliament since December 2019 by Claudia Webbe, who was ele ...

constituency for the NF in the October 1974 general election, polling 2967 votes (6%). He also stood as NF candidate in the

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

for the

Birmingham Ladywood Birmingham Ladywood is a constituency of part of the city of Birmingham, represented in the House of Commons since 2010 by Shabana Mahmood of the Labour Party. Members of Parliament Clare Short, elected as a Labour MP from the 1983 gener ...

constituency on 18 August 1977, polling 888 votes (5.7%) and forcing the

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

candidate into fourth place. In 1979, Reed Herbert broke with the NF to lead his own

British Democratic Party The British Democratic Party (BDP) was a short-lived far-right political party in the United Kingdom. A breakaway group from the National Front, the BDP was severely damaged after it became involved in a gun-running sting and was absorbed by the ...

. He went on to merge the party into the newly formed

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 ...

in 1982.

Elections contested

References

Living people Year of birth missing (living people) English far-right politicians National Front (UK) politicians British National Party politicians People educated at Rugby School {{UK-politician-stub