Anthony Francis Xavier Baron (4 October 1913 – 3 November 1974) was a Britishfar-right political figure in the 1940s and 1950s who founded and headed the English branch of the Nationalist Information Bureau (NATINFORM). Baron has been described as "a stocky man..., with the features of a professionalboxer."[1] He operated from a base inFramlingham,Suffolk.[2]
Baron was a supporter ofArnold Leese and attempted, with other Leese supporters in 1948, to establish a new group called the National Workers Party, with Baron as nominal leader. The group however foundered, due largely to the internal struggles between Baron and another leading member Tony Gittens.[3] The two also struggled for control ofThe Britons, Baron acting as secretary of the group from 1949 to 1951, when he left the group and Gittens took over.[4] Leese sided with Gittens and broke off his relationship with Baron.[5]
Baron subsequently became close toPeter Huxley-Blythe and the two established NATINFORM in the early 1950s.[6] The pair soon quarrelled, with Huxley-Blythe attacking Baron as a Nazi, and both Baron and his closest ally, Karl Smets (head of a German branch of NATINFORM) were expelled from the group.[7] However they established their own version of NATINFORM and it soon became the more important of the two claimant to the name.[8] During the 1950s Baron co-operated closely withSouth Africanfar-right leaderOswald Pirow after Pirow ended his earlier relationship withOswald Mosley.[9]
In the 1960s and 1970s Baron ran the East Anglian Forum in Ipswich.[citation needed] He produced monthly bulletins about various issues, including opposition to abortions or not joining the Common Market, as well as support for South Africa and the apartheid government.[citation needed] His main focus was largely supportingIan Smith's government in Rhodesia.[citation needed] He also supported Dr David Brown who ran for parliament for theNational Democratic Party in Ipswich.[citation needed] Baron held large public meetings and was a supporter ofEnoch Powell.[citation needed]