Andrew Brons

Andrew Henry William Brons (born 3 June 1947, London) is a British politician and former MEP. Long active in far right politics in Britain, he was elected as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Yorkshire and the Humber for the British National Party (BNP) at the 2009 European Parliament election. He was the Chairman of the National Front in the early 1980s. He resigned the BNP whip in October 2012 and became patron of the British Democratic Party. He did not seek re-election in 2014.

Family background and early life

Brons, who has English and German ancestry, was born in Hackney, East London, two years after the end of the Second World War. He spent most of his childhood in Sidcup, on the outskirts of London, before his family moved to Harrogate when he was 11. He attended at Harrogate Grammar School until the age of 16, when he left to join the civil service, where he remained for 16 months before following part-time A Levels in law and economics at Harrogate College. He studied politics at the University of York, graduating in 1970.

European Parliament

The European Parliament (EP) is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union (EU). Together with the Council of the European Union (the Council) and the European Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU. The Parliament is composed of 751 (previously 766) members, who represent the second largest democratic electorate in the world (after the Parliament of India) and the largest trans-national democratic electorate in the world (375 million eligible voters in 2009).

It has been directly elected every five years by universal suffrage since 1979. However, turnout at European Parliament elections has fallen consecutively at each election since that date, and has been under 50% since 1999. Turnout in 2014 stood at 42.54% of all European voters.

Although the European Parliament has legislative power that the Council and Commission do not possess, it does not formally possess legislative initiative, as most national parliaments of European Union member states do. The Parliament is the "first institution" of the EU (mentioned first in the treaties, having ceremonial precedence over all authority at European level), and shares equal legislative and budgetary powers with the Council (except in a few areas where the special legislative procedures apply). It likewise has equal control over the EU budget. Finally, the European Commission, the executive body of the EU, is accountable to Parliament. In particular, Parliament elects the President of the Commission, and approves (or rejects) the appointment of the Commission as a whole. It can subsequently force the Commission as a body to resign by adopting a motion of censure.

British Democratic Party

The British Democratic Party (BDP) was a short-lived far-right political party in the United Kingdom. A breakaway group from the National Front the BDP was severely damaged after it became involved in a gun-running sting and was absorbed by the British National Party.

Formation and naming controversy

The BDP emerged following the 1979 general election in which the National Front (NF) had put up the greatest number of candidates in its history. However despite this results fell way below the party's expectations. The recriminations that followed this financially costly defeat saw Andrew Brons replace John Tyndall as chairman whilst a number of groups broke away from the NF, notably the New National Front and the Constitutional Movement.

Within the NF, the Leicester branch had become one of the most active in the country and, since 1972, this group had been led by Anthony Reed Herbert, a local solicitor whose talent for organisation had made Leicester a model branch. Reed Herbert took the opportunity provided by the 1979 collapse of the NF to launch his own group, initially selecting the name British Peoples Party. However, the name was quickly changed in order to avoid association with the earlier British People's Party, a splinter group from the National Socialist League, organised either side of the Second World War. The name was thus changed to British Democratic Party even though a British Democratic Party, a minor right wing anti-communist group, had also previously existed in the 1930s.

Democratic Party

The following is a list of political parties whose names (in English) could be translated to Democratic Party or the Democrats.

Active parties

Former parties

See also

Andrew

Andrew is the English form of a given name common in many countries. In the 1990s it was among the top ten most popular names for boys in English-speaking countries. In Italian, the equivalent to "Andrew" is "Andrea", though "Andrea" is feminine in most other languages. "Andrew" is frequently shortened to "Andy" or "Drew". The word is derived from the Greek: Ανδρέας, Andreas, itself related to Ancient Greek: ἀνήρ/ἀνδρός aner/andros, "man" (as opposed to "woman"), thus meaning "manly" and, as consequence, "strong", "courageous", and "warrior". In the King James Bible, the Greek "Ἀνδρέας" is translated as Andrew.

Popularity

Australia

In 2000, the name Andrew was the second most popular name in Australia. In 1999, it was the 19th most common name, while in 1940, it was the 31st most common name. Andrew was the first most popular boys name in the Northern Territory in 2003 to 2015 and continuing. In Victoria, Andrew was the first most popular name for a boy in the 1970s.

Canada

Andrew was the 20th most popular name chosen for male infants in 2005. Andrew was the 16th most popular name for infants in British Columbia in 2004, the 17th most popular name in 2003, and the 19th most popular name in 2002. In 2001, it was the 18th most common name. From 1999 – 2003, Andrew was the sixth most often chosen name for a boy.