Roy Painter (born 1933) was a former leading figure on the British

far right 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 ...

. A cab driver, he was a leading member of the Conservatives in

Tottenham Tottenham () is a town in North London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, bordering Edmonton to the north, Waltham ...

and had stood as a candidate for them in the

Greater London Council The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...

. A supporter of Enoch Powell, he was involved with the Conservative Monday Club, although he resigned from the group (and the Tories) in 1972 when the Club began a process of removing its most extreme members. Following his resignation, Painter joined the National Front, rapidly rising to a post on the NF Directorate by 1974. He made a weak start as a party candidate for the NF in

at the February 1974 general election; he finished with 1,270 votes (4.1%), behind the National Independence Party candidate. An improvement was shown in the October 1974 election when he captured 2,211 votes (8.3%) in the same seat. It has been argued that the vote was as much a personal one for Painter, a popular businessman in Haringey, as it was an endorsement of the NF. He became a prominent figure in the 'populist' wing of the NF, opposing

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 ...

and Martin Webster. He wrote an article in a 1974 issue of '' Spearhead'' entitled "Let's Make Nationalism Popular" which extolled the virtues of this path. It was followed by a rebuttal from Tyndall who described Painter's arguments as "sheer unadulterated claptrap". Whilst espousing populism, Painter would tell Martin Webster, "I am a

national socialist Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

at heart. Only I am careful." The 'populists', however, began to outvote Tyndall on the Directorate and Painter dismissed Tyndall as a "tin pot

Führer ( ; , spelled or ''Fuhrer'' when the Umlaut (diacritic), umlaut is not available) is a German word meaning "leader" or "guide". As a political title, it is strongly associated with the Nazi Germany, Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler. Nazi Germany ...

". Painter was believed by ''

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 ...

'' to be a potential rival leader. However, he instead supported

John Kingsley Read John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

. Kingsley Read came under bitter attack from the hardliners who regained control of the party in 1976. "Kingsley Read, Roy Painter and other ex-Conservative populists" left to form the short-lived National Party and Painter was appointed its Directorate. Painter rejoined the Conservatives in 1978, although his role with them was confined to local politics. Painter continues to be involved on the fringe of the far right. In 2003, with

Ian Anderson Ian Scott Anderson (born 10 August 1947) is a British musician, singer and songwriter best known for his work as the lead vocalist, flautist, acoustic guitarist and leader of the British rock band Jethro Tull. He is a multi-instrumentalist w ...

, he addressed a conference organised by the

Conservative Democratic Alliance The Conservative Democratic Alliance (CDA) was a political pressure group from the United Kingdom. The CDA referred to itself as the "authentic voice of conservatism". It closed in December 2008. Foundation and organisation The CDA was formed most ...

. In 2012, he gave a speech entitled "Was Enoch owellright about immigration?" to a seminar organised by Alan Harvey of the Springbok Club and a one time chairman of the Swinton Circle,Springbok Club Cyber Newsletter, June 2012
/ref> with whom he had been in the National Party.

Elections contested

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Painter, Roy 1930s births Living people English far-right politicians National Front (UK) politicians Conservative Party (UK) politicians