English National Party | |
|---|---|
| Leader | Frank Hansford-Miller |
| Founded | 1966 |
| Dissolved | 1981 |
| Ideology | English devolution |
| Political position | Centre-right |
English National Party has been the name of various political parties ofEngland, which have commonly called for a separateparliament for England.
The English National Party (ENP) was founded as theJohn Hampden New Freedom Party in 1966 byFrank Hansford-Miller. "John Hampden" was a reference to a leadingparliamentarian from theEnglish Civil War. In 1974, it was renamed the "English Nationalist Party".[1] It was defunct by 1981;[2] by this time, Hansford-Miller had left,[3] and he campaigned for the "Abolition of Rates Coalition" in the 1981Greater London Council elections.[4]
The party's best known policy was advocating adevolved English parliament. Other policies included calling for the abolition ofincome tax, and an end tolocal authority housing. It was considered to be centre-right, and not racist.[4]
The party contested thefirst 1974 general election as the John Hampden New Freedom Party;[5] it contested thesecond 1974 and the1979 general elections as the ENP.[6] Its best performance was at the second 1974 general election, where it fielded two candidates and secured 1,115 votes.[7] It achieved its greatest notability in April 1976, when it was joined by theMember of ParliamentJohn Stonehouse, who had formerly represented theLabour Party and at the time was awaiting trial forfraud.[8] However, Stonehouse was convicted and left Parliament in August of that year,[9] and the party did not stand a candidate in the subsequent by-election.[10]
According to the far-right magazineSpearhead,[11] a group called the English National Party was one of the small far-right organisations that joined theNational Front shortly after it was formed in 1967.[11][12]
There have been several parties which have adopted the "English National Party" name. These include afar right organisation formed by Raymond Shenton which contested the1984 Enfield Southgate by-election;[13] a party founded in around 1995 by Christopher Nickerson,[14] which aimed for England to secede from the United Kingdom to support a sense ofEnglish national identity;[15] and a party founded byRobin Tilbrook and James Alden in 1999, with the aim of securing a devolved English Parliament,[16] which was later renamed the English Democrats Party in 2002, and then just the English Democrats in 2004.[17]
In April 1999, a group calling itself the "English National Party" was one of several different organisations which claimed responsibility for a nail-bomb attack in Brixton.[18]David Copeland, who admitted to carrying out the bombing, said that the claims of responsibility were made by others to "try to steal his glory."[19]
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