Far-right organisation Britain First becomes a political party once again

The far-right organisation Britain First has registered as a political party, it was revealed this week.

The Electoral Commission approved the group’s registration despite its reputation as a far-right organisation whose leaders have been convicted of, and imprisoned for, hate crimes. Britain First was previously registered as a political party but was deregistered in 2017 after failing to renew its registration on time.

In an email to its supporters, Britain First wrote: “This is a stupendous victory for the Britain First movement. Although our street activities will continue, this day marks the birth of Britain First as a traditional political party that will take the fight to the establishment through the ballot box.”

An Electoral Commission spokesperson said: “The application to register Britain First as a political party has been approved. We assessed this application against the criteria set out in law, including consideration of public comments submitted to us. The party’s application met the legal criteria and the party has therefore been registered.”

In 2019, Facebook reportedly banned a number of far-right groups and individuals, including Britain First leaders Paul Golding and Jayda Fransen.

Campaign Against Antisemitism has been monitoring and acting against the threat from the far-right for years and continues to support the authorities following suit.