Nick
Griffin
British politician, *
1959
Gr. was born and grew up in rural Suffolk, England. Initially educated at two Suffolk private
schools, Griffin studied history and then law at Downing College, Cambridge. He graduated
in History with Law. Since leaving university, Gr. has worked in agricultural engineering, property renovation and
forestry. In 1990, Griffin lost his left eye following a serious accident when a shotgun cartridge buried among burning rubbish
exploded.
Gr. became involved with politics at the age of 15 when his father took him to meetings of the National Front (NF). By 1978, he was a local secretary for the NF.
In 1980, he became a member of the NF governing body,and set up the NF Student Organisation.
By 1993, Gr. was speaking at meetings of the British National Party (BNP). In 1995, he officially joined
that party, and in September 1999, he was elected as head of the BNP. Gr.'s
mother Jean was a BNP candidate at the 2001 Election, and his father, Edgar, was a member of the Conservative Party and a former councillor. In August 2001, Edgar Griffin was expelled from the Conservative Party.
In 1998, Gr. was convicted because he called the 'Holocaust' the 'Holohoax'.
In his defence, Gr. said: 'I am well aware that the orthodox opinion is that six million Jews were gassed and cremated and turned into
lampshades. Orthodox opinion also once held that the world is flat ... I have reached the conclusion that the
'extermination' tale is a mixture of Allied wartime propaganda, extremely profitable
lie, and latter witch-hysteria'. He received a nine-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and was fined £2,300.
In June 2001, Griffin ran as a BNP candidate in the constituency of Oldham West & Royton and received 6,552 votes (16%), beating the Liberal Democrats to third place and running a close race for second place with the
Conservatives. In May 2003, Griffin stood for election again in Oldham for a seat on the local council representing the Chadderton North ward, winning 993 votes (28%).
In June 2004, Griffin topped the BNP list for the European Parliament for the North West England
Constituency. The party received 134,958 votes (6%). No one from the BNP was
elected.
On 14 December 2004,
Gr. was arrested on suspicion of incitement to racial hatred, relating to a BBC documentary broadcast in July 2004, in which he was recorded
as saying that Islam was a wicked and vicious faith. On November 10, 2006 he
was found not guilty at retrial. UK Government ministers have since called for a review of existing
laws.
In November 2007, Oxford Union president Luke Tryl invited Gr. to speak at a forum on the limits of free speech at the Union, along with other speakers including David Irving.
The decision to allow him to speak caused such controversy that many members of the Oxford Union resigned their memberships, including several
MPs.
Letzte Änderung / Last update:
28.05.2009
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