Derek William Beackon (born 1946 in Stepney) is a British far-right politician. He is currently a member of the British Democratic Party (BDP), and a former member of the British National Party (BNP) and National Front. In 1993, he became the BNP's first elected councillor, although he served for only eight months.
Beackon and the emergence of the BNP
Beackon joined the BNP in 1986 as an associate member, and became a full member two years later. Known as 'Daddy', Beackon first stood as a candidate for the BNP in 1990 in the Redcoat ward of London Borough of Tower Hamlets where he gained 3% of the vote, a typically low total for the party at the time.
Although Beackon's personal result had been a disappointment in Tower Hamlets, the area had slowly been growing as a centre of support for the BNP. The BNP still lagged behind the National Front (NF) in terms of public profile (even though that movement had fallen into severe decline). The BNP had respectable results in the area in a series of council by-elections in 1990. The area had also been one of the centres of support for John Tyndall during the 1992 general election; Tyndall had stood in Bow and Poplar, which included much of Tower Hamlets.
Under the directorship of local organizer Eddy Butler, the party had instigated a 'Rights for Whites' campaign in the area, bringing back a slogan that had been employed by Martin Webster and the NF during the 1970s. Focusing on the perceived negative impact of immigration on the area of employment and housing, the campaign operated as if it was simply a local pressure group before gradually introducing the BNP name into Rights for Whites literature.
The initiative first produced results in the Millwall ward in October 1992 when a strong canvassing effort by local activists helped BNP candidate Barry Osborne capture 20% of the vote in a by-election. Millwall had long been a seat of unemployment associated with the declining docklands area. Most of the population had been descended from the 19th century workers who had built and operated the docks. With the building of the Limehouse Link Road, predominantly Bangladeshi families from a run-down Council estate in Limehouse (the St Vincent Estate) were rehoused in properties in Millwall. These properties had been marketed as 'luxury', but had failed to sell after a downturn in the property market. This was presented as favourable treatment on grounds of race by the "Liberal Democrat Focus Team" seeking to capitalise on the issue. However, in a close three-way contest, the BNP gained from this campaign more than its authors.
A Labour councillor resigned in the same ward soon after this, sparking another by-election on 16 September 1993. Beackon was chosen as the candidate this time, following the local party's policy of rotating members. Beackon's campaign followed Butler's blueprint of emphasising 'Rights for Whites' through canvassing and leafleting. He abandoned the old policy of holding a public meeting as he felt they proved too counterproductive by attracting large crowds of protesters, particularly from the Anti-Nazi League and Anti-Fascist Action. Beackon won the by-election of 16 September 1993 with 1480 votes (33.9%), beating Labour by 7 votes, with an overall turnout of 44%. He thus became the first elected representative for the party.
Reaction to Beackon's win
The immediate reaction to Beackon's election was widespread condemnation from many sections of wider society. The Daily Mirror headline on 18 September read "SIEG HEIL...and Now He's a British Councillor", setting the tone for a slew of condemnation on the basis of Beackon being a white nationalist. Among those to express their outrage were the main political parties, the Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey and the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Sir Paul Condon. Beackon's own use of immoderate language also damaged him and he was quoted in the Daily Mirror when, after being asked about refuse collection, he said that "The Asians are rubbish and that is what we are going to clear from the streets."
Beackon as a councillor
As a councillor, Beackon found it hard to discharge his duties effectively because of a boycott by other councillors and staff, who staged a protest walk-out after his election. He was hampered by his own inexperience: the BNP press office had to speak for him after he failed to distinguish between the housing and social service departments in a newspaper interview with the East London Advertiser. He had to flee his flat in Wapping to live in hiding with his brother in Bethnal Green during which time his housing benefit was cancelled.