May 24, 2010

Griffin to resign. In 2013. Allegedly.

In a move clearly designed to smother any chance of a successful leadership challenge for at least three years, Nick Griffin has told a meeting of the BNP's Advisory Council that he intends to step down at the end 0f 2013.

The carefully crafted plan is designed to undermine support for any potential leadership challengers among the voting membership, large numbers of which will be satisfied that Griffin has apparently set a date for his departure and given promises that he intends to modernise the BNP's election fighting capability.

“By then I would have been leader of the BNP for 15 years and that is long enough,” said Griffin. “It will be time to make way for a younger person who does not have any baggage which can be used against the party.”

Griffin claims he needs the time to put into place the last “building blocks” of the BNP’s administrative and political machine, according to the BNP website.

“This is going to take at least 18 months to implement and after that I intend to hand the party over to someone who will be able to drive support up to where it can be a serious contender for power,” said Griffin.

Griffin's utter political ineptness has been amply demonstrated over the past few weeks of the general election, though somehow the political greenhorns and Griffin cultists among the BNP membership have been fooled (or have fooled themselves) into believing that the party's obliteration was in fact an advance, and that their millstone of a leader remains the man to take them forward.

It would certainly be difficult for Griffin to take the BNP any further backward.

In the meantime, sheltering behind the cover of his putative resignation date and the claims of needing time to put the BNP's electoral machine in order, Griffin will be free to pick off potential challengers and root out dissent within the party. Anybody even thinking about a leadership challenge can and will, on all past form, be labelled a "wrecker" unwilling to give Griffin time to complete his modernisation.

Griffin will also be banking on the virtual certainty of improved voting percentages in local elections, especially by-elections, in which low turnouts favour the party - something denied them in the high turnout general election.

Griffin had already secured his continuance at the helm of the BNP with the introduction of a Byzantine nomination system, which no challenger has any realistic chance of surmounting, and so is perfectly safe, but another danger was the prospect of a breakaway led by some of the party's better known figures. The shuffle announced to the Advisory Council is also designed to short-circuit that possibility.

We have to admit that there is a touch of genius about this manoeuvre. It will almost certainly buy Griffin the time he needs in the short term to consolidate his position, since Griffin knows better than anybody the limited reasoning power of his membership and its submissive reluctance to query his motives.

The question is, what will the internal opposition do to counter Griffin's moves, and will enough of those calling for Griffin's head over the past fortnight or so remain onside to make continued opposition worthwhile?

22 comments:

me said...

Did you know that both jennifer and jackie griffin are on the advisery council?

B31 Antifascist said...

They are quite capable of fucking things up without Griffin.

One thing's for sure, the BNP's founding principles - Aryan supremacy and an all-white unequal Britain as decreed by the party's Founding Father John Tyndall, are set in stone, so if Mickey Mouse the Childrens Favourite were to be named as Griffin's successor he would inherit more 'baggage' than Griffin currently carries.

Though 'cheap publicity stunt not involving a certain brand of yeast extract' screams out at me!!

ex-fascist said...

His call for a "younger man" to take over would also rule out most of his potential challengers, not least Eddy Butler.

If there is nobody significantly younger than himself who is in a reasonable position to take over Griffin might yet be persuaded to stay on "for the good of the party".

In the meantime he has secured himself a second bite of the Euro cherry and the certainty of office for the next three years.

A very shrewd move on his part. The Green Sparrow will be overjoyed.

Anonymous said...

Griffin's desperate and this is an attempt to buy off the opposition. Blair did a similar thing a year or so before he resigned. All it could end up doing is to make Griffin's enemies even more eager to ditch him.

They could say, perfectly resonably, "You're going anyway so avoid being more of a lame duck than you already are and resign sooner rather than later"

Anonymous said...

Collett ?

Old Sailor

ex-fascist said...

I'm sorry, I misread it. He didn't say "younger man", he said "younger person".

This is quite significant, if one considers the name "Jenny Griffin".

Anonymous said...

He's throwing snake oil on troubled waters. Most members will swallow it. Griffin divides and conquers. The Family Business rolls on.

Anonymous said...

Please,please please let it be Dickie Bumbrook as the new leader.

The comedy value alone would be worth a donation!!

Unknown said...

Sounds as if One Lamp has taken a leaf out of the book of a more successful one-eyed demagogue, J-M Le Pen, whose belated retirement will be followed by the coronation (in Republican France!) of his daughter Marine as the Front National's new leader for life.

Anonymous said...

If he did ever leave in 2013 and I doubt it. Gri££in would make certain to clean out all the accounts and call it his 'business expenses'.
He is having a laugh -laughing at his own gullible membership.Can't wait to see what slimy marrow will say on it. He(slimy marrow) probably needs few more uppers right now.

Anonymous said...

so whose the contenders to take over
butler NF
Colgate to common
Martin wingfeid -most folk in the party think hes an arrogant shit
Tina wingfield-easy on the eye but not much up top.
Jefferson-hahahahaha sorry hahahahaha
Colette-hahahahaha again sorry
the only young blood with a modicum of intelligent are James Clayton [loves griffin]baggage
the walker bros [love griffin]baggage

so it look likes they need new blood in the party,how will they get this when there loosing members by the week.oh and dont you have to be a member for 5 yrs before you can be come chairman.
GRIFFIN AINT GOING NO WHERE

Anonymous said...

I see the old Griffinite West Mids Warrior has already been rolled out of mothballs to create some momentum for Griffin's daughter on VNN. How predictable was that?

Anonymous said...

James Clayton ? Now you are taking the piss. Ha ha ha ha ha.

irishtony said...

So the BNP have only got 3 years to try and find amongst its members an articulate, presentable, coherent and intelligent racist leader who doesn't have any previous convictions???

Now that is pressure methinks!!

Anonymous said...

Yes, it's Griffin daughter alright!

Anonymous said...

Oh do lets please be realistic about this, if we as good responsible persons were to take Griffin to the vets, the vet would have no problem whatsoever in agreeing to put the old dog down.

In fact the vet would probably see it as a great kindness to its many owners.

tulip

Anonymous said...

This is quite significant, if one considers the name "Jenny Griffin".

You read it here first!

Anonymous said...

"His call for a "younger man" to take over would also rule out most of his potential challengers, not least Eddy Butler."

Griffin is almost ten years older than Butler

Anonymous said...

Cyclops stand down voluntarily?

Believe it when I see it.

Anonymous said...

"This is quite significant, if one considers the name "Jenny Griffin".

Yes, I've often thought that the BNP is run along the same lines as North Korea. Remember how Kim-Il-Sung handed over leadership to his son Kim Jong-Il?

The same embarrassing adulation is poured on both men (see 'Green Arrow' post) and I think a transfer of leadership to Jenny Griffin is a distinct possibility. We'll know if her profile inside the party is raised within the next year.

3baskets said...

Dowson already owns most of the party, surely he is the obvious successor to Griffin. So long as he can stay out of prison for the 3 years!

ex-fascist said...

"Griffin is almost ten years older than Butler"

I knew Butler in the NF circa 1984. He certainly wasn't 14!