Martin Webster
| Martin Webster | |
|---|---|
| National Activities Organiser of the National Front |
|
|
In office 1969–1983 |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born | 14 May 1943 |
| Political party |
League of Empire Loyalists, National Socialist Movement 1962–1964, Greater Britain Movement 1964–1967, National Front 1967–1983, Our Nation 1983, |
Martin Guy Alan Webster (born 14 May 1943) is a former leading figure on the far right in the United Kingdom.
An early member of the Young Conservatives, from which he claimed to have been expelled, Webster was associated loosely with the League of Empire Loyalists until he joined the National Socialist Movement in 1962. He became John Tyndall's closest ally within the NSM and followed him in joining the Greater Britain Movement. Webster also spent time in prison for knocking Jomo Kenyatta to the ground outside the London Hilton hotel, and for helping to organise the paramilitary organisation Spearhead. He was convicted under the 1936 Public Order Act. He attracted further notice in 1972 when he was recorded as saying: "We are busy setting up a well-oiled Nazi machine in this country."
Webster continued to be a lieutenant to Tyndall and followed him into the National Front. Webster proved an early success in the NF, being appointed National Activities Organiser in 1969 and, in this position, effectively shared the leadership of the party with Tyndall until 1974. Webster clashed with Tyndall's replacement John Kingsley Read, and the clash set in motion Kingsley Read's downfall, allowing Tyndall to return to the leadership. Webster later broke with Tyndall, while remaining one of the most prominent figure in the NF during the subsequent chairmanship of Andrew Brons.
In October 1977 after the police decided, under the Public Order Act 1936, to ban a National Front march through Hyde town centre on the grounds that it was likely to be a focus of "serious disturbances", Webster announced that there would be two NF marches, the second being conducted by him alone. Then, watched by a crowd of members of the public and surrounded by an estimated 2,500 police, he marched down the main street of Hyde carrying a Union Flag and a sign reading "Defend British Free Speech from Red Terrorism". Webster was allowed to march, as 'one man' did not constitute a breaking of the ban. The tactic split the Anti-Nazi League in two and made a farce of the ban whilst attracting more media publicity for the Front.
...
Wikipedia