BNP councillor resigns from Epping Forest District Council

One of the six British National Party district councillors has resigned saying he can no longer commit sufficient time to his electors. Terry Farr, who represented the Loughton Alderton ward and whose seat is up for re-election next May, was one of the original three BNP councillors elected onto Epping Forest District Council. He announced his resignation this morning in a statement sent to the Epping Forest Guardian.

Mr Farr, who said one of the reasons for his decision was the expansion of his own business, said: "I can no longer spend the volume of time needed to represent fully the needs of Alderton ward. I feel that the people who voted for me deserve total commitment."

He added that when with Pat and Tom Richardson he was elected to the council the trio "broke new ground in Epping". He said they spent the next three years with a "massive" workload that included building the party's base while looking forward to reinforcements which were elected in May 2006.

Mr Farr said: "I trust our latest councillors will put in the same time and commitment that we have done. I have now reached a point in time where I feel I can return to party work, which has become a necessity as we have now become a significant force in British politics, as only a total fool would believe that the British National Party will not have a parliamentary majority within the next decade, especially when you consider the quality of leadership of the so-called mainstream parties."

He added: "I would like to give my thanks to all the people within and outside the BNP for the support shown during my stay on Epping Council and the most precious gift I can leave you all is England and Saint George, and I have every intention of doing so."

Mr Farr was suspended from the council for three months in 2005 after he was found to have brought his office or authority into disrepute following a Standards Board for England investigation into letters he wrote to then Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott and Commission for Racial Equality chairman Trevor Phillips about the Government's housebuilding proposals. Mr Farr refused to apologise for comments made in the letters which sparked a complaint from the commission to the standards board which referred the matter to the council's monitoring officer for final judgement.

Mr Farr could have served a shorter suspension if he agreed to attend training courses but he refused to do so describing the sessions as "institutionally racist".

Epping Forest Guardian