2019 British National Party leadership election

The British National Party (BNP) leadership election of 2019 took place in July 2019 to elect the leader of the BNP. Four years had passed since the previous election in 2015, and the party constitution required a leadership election to be held quadrennially. Incumbent BNP leader Adam Walker was first elected in 2015 after previously serving as Acting Leader and Deputy Leader, and he stood for re-election. His sole opponent was BNP press officer, national spokesman, and London mayoral candidate David Furness. He announced his leadership campaign on his YouTube channel and received endorsements from several notable party members.[1][2][3][4] Walker's current term will expire in July 2023, which is when the next leadership election is set to occur.

2019 British National Party leadership election
4 July 2019 (2019-07-04) – 29 July 2019 (2019-07-29)
 
Candidate Adam Walker David Furness Spoiled ballots
Popular vote 308 161 7
Percentage 64.71% 33.82% 1.47%
Leader before election

Adam Walker

 Elected Leader

Adam Walker

Walker was re-elected by a margin of 147 votes, and a margin of victory of 30.88%. The runner-up David Furness received 161 votes, or 33.82% of the total vote. There were 7 spoiled ballots (equal to 1.47% of the vote). Turnout was 40% of eligible voters, an increase from 2015, although the total turnout had decreased. The returning officer David O’Loughlin announced the results at an unnamed venue in North West London on Monday 29th July 2019, starting at 2pm and concluding later that day. The results were added onto the BNP website on July 31.[5] Furness' name has since been removed across the BNP website, and he later joined the British Democratic Party.[6]

Candidates

All candidates were required to produce a 500 word write up[7] and a 5-minute video election address, both to be published on the BNP website. They were also required to attend a series of husting events for voting members in order to appear on the ballot. Two candidates were confirmed:

  • Adam Walker, BNP leader since 2015, previously served as Acting Leader and Deputy Leader
  • David Furness, BNP press officer, national spokesman, and 2016 London mayoral candidate

Results

The share of the vote was split 33.82% to Furness and 64.71% to Walker. There were 7 spoiled ballot papers.

British National Party leadership election, 2019
Candidate Votes %
Adam Walker 308 64.71%
David Furness 161 33.82%
Spoiled ballots 7 1.47%

References
  1. David Furness: BNP Leadership Election Video Archived 2020-02-28 at the Wayback Machine
  2. BNP leadership contest: video Archived 2019-11-05 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Hope not Hate campaign article Archived 2019-07-10 at the Wayback Machine
  4. Hope not Hate results article Archived 2019-08-24 at the Wayback Machine
  5. BNP leadership election – results are in Archived 2019-07-31 at the Wayback Machine
  6. "Former London Mayoral candidate David Furness joins the British Democrats!". Twitter. 8 July 2022.
  7. Leadership contest candidate profiles Archived 2019-08-02 at the Wayback Machine
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