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Homeland Party (United Kingdom)

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Homeland Party
AbbreviationHP
ChairmanKenny Smith[1]
Founded20 April 2023; 23 months ago (20 April 2023)[2]
Registered31 January 2024[3]
Split fromPatriotic Alternative[4]
HeadquartersKirknewton, West Lothian, Scotland[3]
Membership750[5]
Ideology
Political position
Colours
  •   Green
  •   White
House of Commons
0 / 650
Councillors in England
0 / 17,546
Website
homelandparty.org

The Homeland Party (HP) is a far-right political party in the United Kingdom.[12][10][13] It was founded as a splinter of the neo-Nazi Patriotic Alternative in April 2023 by Kenny Smith,[9] and registered as a party in January 2024.[12] A part of the British fascist movement, it has been described as the largest fascist group in the UK.[6][14][7][5]

History

The Homeland Party was formed predominantly by Scottish members who had left the neo-Nazi Patriotic Alternative (PA) over differences stemming from strict member verification and political ambitions of electoral politics through a registered party championed by Kenny Smith, PA and Homeland are ideologically similar and ideological differences were notably not a reason for the split.[7][1][13][6] Smith, the chairman of Homeland, founded the party in April 2023, the inaugural meeting being held on 20 April 2023, Adolf Hitler's birthday.[1][2][15] Smith was previously the national administration officer for PA, and the head of administration and an unsuccessful electoral candidate for the fascist British National Party (BNP).[14] According to Searchlight magazine, in 2023 Alek Yerbury had left PA and formed a new militant group named the National Support Detachment.[16] Within a month, Smith also left and formed the new organisation Homeland, attracting many members of PA to join. Homeland espouses the white genocide conspiracy theory and other far-right beliefs such as remigration, though it publicly uses innocuous messaging and downplays its neo-Nazi connections.[13][7][17][18]

The party's other registered officers also have connections with PA. Jerome O'Reilly is the Welsh regional organiser and Anthony Burrows the East Midlands regional organiser.[19][20] Burrows, a Blackwell, Bolsover parish councillor from Alfreton in Derbyshire, has posted photographs of Hitler and David Duke, the former leader of the Ku Klux Klan, on his Twitter account and had his shotguns confiscated and a gun licence refused for sharing terrorist literature and manifestos and for sympathising with violence against minorities.[6][21] Simon Shepherd, another Homeland founding member and formerly a member of the PA, was involved with Ashley Podsiad-Sharp and his neo-Nazi White Stag Athletic Club and with PA's fascist fitness club which was founded and headed by Kristofer Kearney and Smith.[22][7] Podsiad-Sharp and Kearney hosted The Absolute State of Britain (TASOB) podcast, founded by Sharp, which "has consistently featured explicit racism, misogyny, anti-Semitism, Holocaust denial, veneration of Hitler, and apologism for Nazi atrocities and right-wing terrorism."[23] Both of them have been convicted and sentenced to prison for possessing and disseminating terrorist material.[24][25]

The group first attempted to register as a political party in May 2023, but its application was rejected.[26][failed verification] Complaints were raised by the Home Office to the Electoral Commission, after a leaked audio of Smith which detailed a plan that Homeland might try to register under fake or proxy names for the party and its officers to hide its connections with known white supremacists.[18][7] It was registered as a political party in January 2024,[3] which PA had failed to do seven times due to discriminatory internal party rules that violated UK equality laws.[14][13][6]

In April 2023 Judge Manley ruled against Alec Cave, a senior member of the party, in an employment tribunal relating to comments made by him about the actor John Boyega, who is a Black Briton.[27] In her ruling Judge Manley said of Cave's views, "This is not just a belief that is shocking, offensive or disturbing to others, though it may well be all those things. It is a belief that, in at least some respects, is akin to Nazism."[28][19]

In October 2023 it was reported that David Gardner, a member of the party and the treasurer of Forfar Community Council, had made racist and antisemitic comments and had taken part in a neo-Nazi Telegram channel under the pseudonym "Gordon Freeman", along with other Homeland activists.[10][29] Later in October 2023 it was reported that James Munro, Jordon Murphy and Robert Bisset, members of the party, had been involved in the neo-Nazi group Scottish Nationalist Society.[30] Another Homeland activist, Liam Hart (a.k.a. Liam Connor), is involved in the neo-Nazi music scene Blood & Honour.[13]

In 2024 Homeland began to recruit fascist social media influencers, including “You Kipper”, a propagandist for the British fascist politician Oswald Mosley, and the Nazi-apologist YouTuber Sam Wilkes (a.k.a. Zoomer Historian) a follower of the Holocaust-denier David Irving.[5][31] In March of the same year, Jamie Brown, Invergowrie and Kingoodie community council chairman and Homeland member, was revealed to have made numerous antisemitic statements and slurs.[8]

In September 2024 the Homeland Party held its annual conference in Derbyshire with guest speakers from the far-right European parties Alternative for Germany (AfD) and Confederation Liberty and Independence, which was met with protests after it was publicised by the anti-fascist group Red Flare.[5]

In October 2024 Homeland merged with Identity England, a small English branch of the far-right Identitarian movement.[32]

In March 2025 senior members of the Homeland Party travelled to Germany. Whilst there they sent a delegation to the Bundestag, were hosted by AfD and received media training from them.[33]

Election results

UK local elections

Year Council Ward Candidate Votes % Position Finish
2024 Hart District Hartley Wintney Roger Robertson[34] 355 13.5% Hart District Councillor[35] 3rd

References

  1. ^ a b c Mackay, Neil (7 May 2023). "How UK far right extremists have been shattered by a Scottish-led rebellion". The Herald. Archived from the original on 27 May 2023. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  2. ^ a b Briggs, Billy (25 April 2023). "New far right group formed after Patriotic Alternative splits". The Ferret. Archived from the original on 14 June 2023. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
  3. ^ a b c "Registration summary – Homeland Party". The Electoral Commission. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
  4. ^ Jones, Allan. "Red Flare Round-Up" (PDF). Freedom. 83 (2): 5.
  5. ^ a b c d e "Case file: Homeland Party". Hope not Hate. Retrieved 23 March 2025. Homeland has now eclipsed PA as the largest and most energetic fascist organisation in the UK and intends to build on its successes in 2025, although it faces serious challenges.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Kendix, Max (3 February 2024). "Scottish far-right splinter group registers as political party". The Times.
  7. ^ a b c d e f "Homeland: British fascism fractures" (PDF). Red Flare. 24 April 2023.
  8. ^ a b Horne, Marc (13 March 2024). "Community leader 'belongs to far-right hate group'". The Times.
  9. ^ a b Mann, Jamie (30 May 2023). "White nationalist Homeland group applies to be political party". The Ferret. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
  10. ^ a b c Mann, Jamie (15 October 2023). "Far right Homeland activists gain Scottish community councils seats". The Ferret. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
    - Mann, Jamie (15 October 2023). "Politicians urge probes into councillors over far-right allegations". The National. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
  11. ^ Morrison, Hamish (2 February 2024). "Far-right Homeland Party registers with elections watchdog". The National. Newsquest.
  12. ^ a b "Leading Scottish writers and actors back anti-racism rally outside Erskine hotel". The National. 19 May 2023. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  13. ^ a b c d e "The Fascist Fringe: Patriotic Alternative and Its Splinter Groups" (PDF). Hope not Hate. December 2023.
  14. ^ a b c Hume, Tim (27 April 2023). "'Dangerous': The UK's Most Powerful Fascist Group Has Just Split in Two". Vice. Archived from the original on 27 May 2023. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
    - Taylor, Matthew; Cobain, Ian; Evans, Rob (3 February 2007). "Revealed: the front organisation set up by BNP members to raise money in the US". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 27 May 2023. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
    - Briggs, Billy (22 March 2023). "Patriotic Alternative Scotland voices support for man who pleaded guilty to terror charges". The Ferret. Archived from the original on 27 May 2023. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
    - "Far-right extremists attempt 'hijack' of protest against asylum seeker hotel". The National. 1 February 2023. Archived from the original on 27 May 2023. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  15. ^ Morrison, Hamish (24 April 2023). "New far-right party 'eyeing power' following split from Patriotic Alternative". The National. Archived from the original on 27 May 2023. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  16. ^ "Breaking news – Patriotic Alternative split". Searchlight. 20 April 2023. Archived from the original on 14 June 2023. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
  17. ^ Kononova, Anastasiia (2024). Populist Far Right and Radical Movements: Analysing the AfD and Generation Identity's Shared Narratives on (Re)migration (PDF) (Master of Art thesis). Vienna, Austria: Central European University.
  18. ^ a b Brady, Jon (27 April 2023). "Notorious far-right extremist plans for new neo-Nazi group to be political party". Daily Record. Retrieved 24 March 2025.
  19. ^ a b Shipton, Martin (30 August 2023). "Neo-nazi worked for Welsh exam body WJEC". Nation.Cymru. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
  20. ^ Davis, Gregory; Lawrence, David (26 November 2021). "Patriotic Alternative: Britain's Fascist Threat" (PDF). Hope not Hate. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
  21. ^ "Man's alleged links to far-right group see shotgun appeal fail". Derby Telegraph. 29 August 2023. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 24 March 2025.
  22. ^ "How Close to Neo-Nazi Terrorism is the New Fascist Homeland Party?". Red Flare. 27 February 2024. Retrieved 4 April 2025.
  23. ^ Shipton, Martin (1 November 2023). "Neo-Nazi stood for Welsh nationalist party Gwlad at last Senedd election". Nation.Cymru. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
  24. ^ "Barnsley Man Sentenced For Possessing Terrorist Material" (Press release). Counter Terrorism Policing. 31 August 2023. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
  25. ^ "Alleged Patriotic Alternative member admits terror charges". BBC News. 1 March 2023. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
  26. ^ "FOI 077-23" (PDF). Electoral Commission. 19 July 2023. p. 95. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 August 2023. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
    - "Party registration decisions". Electoral Commission. December 2022. Archived from the original on 17 August 2023. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  27. ^ Murrer, Sally (22 May 2023). "Right-wing 'English nationalist' loses discrimination case after being sacked by Open University in Milton Keynes over tweet to Star Wars actor". Milton Keynes Citizen. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
  28. ^ "A. Cave v The Open University" (PDF). 26 May 2023. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
  29. ^ "EXPOSED: The Sickening True Beliefs of Nazis behind the New "Homeland Party"". Hope not Hate. 7 May 2023. Retrieved 24 March 2025.
  30. ^ Mann, Jamie (29 October 2023). "Former Scots neo-Nazi group member involved in Homeland". The Ferret. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
  31. ^ ""Zoomer Historian" Unmasked: We name the Hitler apologist with a huge online following". Hope not Hate. 3 March 2025. Retrieved 23 March 2025.
  32. ^ "CASE FILE: Identity England". Hope not Hate. 6 March 2024.
  33. ^ "AfD politician hosts UK ethnonationalist party at Bundestag". UnHerd. 15 March 2025.
  34. ^ "Councillor joins the Homeland Party". Homeland Party. 18 February 2024. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  35. ^ "2 May 2024 Election Results". Hart Council. Archived from the original on 13 June 2024. Retrieved 13 June 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)


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