Anne Marie Dorothy Waters (born 24 August 1977) is a

far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...

politician and activist in the United Kingdom. She founded and led the anti-Islam party

For Britain The For Britain Movement was a minor far-right political party in the United Kingdom, founded by the anti-Islam and "counter-jihad" activist Anne Marie Waters after she was defeated in the 2017 UK Independence Party leadership election. H ...

until its dissolution in 2022. She is also the director of Sharia Watch UK, an organisation launched in April 2014. In January 2016, Waters launched

Pegida UK Pegida UK was an anti-Islam group in the United Kingdom established by Tommy Robinson in 2016. It was named after the German group Pegida – . History Following one attempted "Pegida UK" march in London in summer 2015 by ex-English Defence ...

in conjunction with activist

Tommy Robinson Stephen Christopher Yaxley-Lennon (' Yaxley; born 27 November 1982), better known as Tommy Robinson, is a British anti-Islam sentiment, anti-Islam campaigner and one of the UK's most prominent far-right activists. Robinson has been active in ...

and far-right politician

Paul Weston Paul Weston (né Wetstein; March 12, 1912 – September 20, 1996) was an American pianist, arranger, composer, and conductor who worked in music and television from the 1930s to the 1970s, pioneering mood music and becoming known as "the Fathe ...

. Having unsuccessfully attempted to become a Labour Party

parliamentary candidate In British politics, a prospective parliamentary candidate (PPC) is a candidate selected by political parties to contest under individual Westminster constituencies in advance of a general election. The term originally came into use because of t ...

, Waters joined the

UK Independence Party The UK Independence Party (UKIP, ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two members of parliament (both through defect ...

(UKIP) and stood in its 2017 leadership election. She came second to Henry Bolton. She subsequently left UKIP to form her own party, For Britain, in October 2017. Following the dissolution of For Britain in 2022, Waters rejoined UKIP in 2023.

Early life

Waters was born and raised in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, and went to school in Stoneybatter on the

Northside Northside or North Side may refer to: Music * Northside (band), a musical group from Manchester, EngIand * NorthSide, an American record label * NorthSide Festival (Denmark), a music festival in Aarhus, Denmark * "Norf Norf", a 2015 song by Vince ...

of the city. She became an

au pair An au pair (; : au pairs) is a person working for, and living as part of, a homestay, host family. Typically, au pairs take on a share of the family’s responsibility for child care as well as some homemaking, housework, and receive a monetary ...

in Germany during her teens. After living in the Netherlands, she studied journalism at

Nottingham Trent University Nottingham Trent University (NTU) is a public research university located in Nottingham, England. Its origins date back to 1843 with the establishment of the Nottingham School of Design, Nottingham Government School of Design, which still opera ...

in England, graduating in 2003, and gained a law degree in London while working as a secretary in the NHS. She also belonged to ''One Law for All'', a pressure group that opposed the spread of

sharia Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...

courts. Waters is a lesbian in a civil partnership, and, although born and raised in Ireland, has described herself as "passionately, loyally, resolutely and proudly British".

Political career

Waters unsuccessfully stood for the Labour Party in the

2010 Lambeth London Borough Council election Elections to Lambeth London Borough Council were held on 6 May 2010. All 63 seats were up for election. Turnout was 58%.Streatham Hill ward. She made two unsuccessful attempts to be selected as a Labour parliamentary candidate, in South Swindon, then, in 2013, she was one of two people shortlisted to stand for Labour in

Brighton Pavilion The Royal Pavilion (also known as the Brighton Pavilion) and surrounding gardens is a Grade I listed former royal residence located in Brighton, England. Beginning in 1787, it was built in three stages as a seaside retreat for George, Prince o ...

. After leaving the Labour Party, Waters contested the

Clapham Common Clapham Common is a large triangular urban park in Clapham, south London, England. Originally common land for the parishes of Battersea and Clapham, it was converted to parkland under the terms of the Metropolitan Commons Act 1878. It is of gr ...

ward for the

(UKIP) in the 2014 Lambeth Council election, where she finished in last place. At the 2015 general election, she stood as the UKIP candidate in

Lewisham East Lewisham East could refer to: *Lewisham East (UK Parliament constituency) Lewisham East is a parliamentary constituency in South London represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since the by-election on 14 June 2018 by Janet Dab ...

, finishing in third place with 9.1% of the vote. During the campaign, she called for mass deportations, mosque closures and an end to immigration from majority-Muslim countries. She was initially chosen to stand as a UKIP candidate in the

2016 London Assembly election The 2016 London Assembly election was an election held on 5 May 2016 to elect the members of the London Assembly. It took place on the same day as the London mayoral election and the United Kingdom local elections. Four parties had AMs in th ...

, but was deselected when her role in

was announced. She stood for UKIP in the 2017 Essex County Council election, finishing in eighth place. Waters was selected to be the UKIP candidate for Lewisham East again in the 2017 general election, but was removed after party leader

Paul Nuttall Paul Andrew Nuttall (born 30 November 1976) is a British politician who served as Leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) from 2016 to 2017. He was elected to the European Parliament in 2009 as a UK Independence Party (UKIP) candidate, and ...

described her views as "way above and beyond party policy". Following Nuttall's resignation as party leader, Waters announced her intention to stand in the 2017 UKIP leadership election. She planned to launch her campaign in Rotherham, leading to concerns among local UKIP branch members that the choice to hold it there was political opportunism. Rotherham football club cancelled her planned stadium rally and her launch took place instead at Dalton parish hall. UKIP's Rotherham branch released a statement calling for members to boycott the campaign launch with the backing of MEP

Jane Collins Jane Maria Collins (born 17 February 1962) is a British politician and horse show-jumper who served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Yorkshire and the Humber from 2014 to 2019. She was elected in May 2014 as a member of the UK ...

after their concerns were ignored by Waters's team. UKIP's National Executive Committee urged members to "think very carefully" before participating in her campaign launch. In early July, over a thousand new members had joined the party in two weeks, leading to accusations of far-right infiltration in support of Waters. Jack Buckby, a former member of the

British National Party The British National Party (BNP) is a Far-right politics, far-right, British fascism, fascist list of political parties in the United Kingdom, political party in the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in Wigton, Cumbria, and is led by Adam ...

and

Liberty GB Liberty Great Britain or Liberty GB was a minor far-right British nationalist political party founded and led by Paul Weston that described itself as "counter-jihad". Liberty GB was anti-immigration, anti-Islamic and traditionalist. The group' ...

, described himself as "basically ercampaign manager". Waters predicted several times she would have difficulties in being allowed to stand, but on 11 August she passed UKIP's vetting procedure and was allowed to stand as a leadership candidate. Waters said she would not be opposed to Tommy Robinson joining UKIP, and eighteen of the party's twenty MEPs vowed to leave if she won the leadership. On 29 September 2017, it was announced that Henry Bolton had been elected leader, who had said the party risked becoming the "UK Nazi party" if it chose the wrong candidate, which was perceived as a criticism of Waters. Waters came second with 2,755 votes, a 21.3% share. She described the result as a victory of

jihad ''Jihad'' (; ) is an Arabic word that means "exerting", "striving", or "struggling", particularly with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it encompasses almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with God in Islam, God ...

against truth. Waters later left UKIP to establish a new far-right political party called

. Waters stood as a For Britain candidate in the Lewisham East by-election on 14 June 2018. She lost her deposit and finished in seventh place with 1.2% of the vote. The Electoral Commission records that the For Britain Movement was registered by Anna Maria Waters (not Anne Marie Waters) et al. In March 2021, she moved to

Hartlepool Hartlepool ( ) is a seaside resort, seaside and port town in County Durham, England. It is governed by a unitary authority borough Borough of Hartlepool, named after the town. The borough is part of the devolved Tees Valley area with an estimat ...

and stood as a candidate in the 2021 Hartlepool Borough Council election for De Bruce ward. The ward had a For Britain councillor, one of the two elected in 2019. She lost the election, coming in sixth place with 10.7% of the vote. Later in 2021, she stood in the Batley and Spen by-election, with Robinson supporting her campaign; she finished twelfth out of sixteen candidates with 0.3% of the vote. In July 2022, she was in

St Helen's Square St Helen's Square is an open space in the city centre of York, England. History During the Roman era, Eboracum's south-western gate, the ''porta praetoria'', lay where the square is now. Until the mid-18th century much of the space was occup ...

, York, with supporters from organisations including For Britain and

Patriotic Alternative Patriotic Alternative (PA) is a British far-right, fascist, neo-Nazi and white nationalist hate group which states that it has active branches nationwide. ''The Times'' described it in 2023 as "Britain's largest far-right white supremacist movem ...

. Her speech was met by counter-protesters organised by York Stand Up To Racism. On 13 July 2022, she announced on the For Britain website that the party was ceasing operations immediately. In April 2023, it was announced that she was rejoining UKIP as the "Justice spokes erson, and the following month it was announced that she had been selected as the UKIP candidate for

for the

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

. She stood for election in the party's 2024 leadership election, though withdrew her candidacy during the campaign.

Political views

Waters has been criticised for her association with far-right politicians and organisations and has praised

Geert Wilders Geert Wilders (born 6 September 1963) is a Dutch politician who has led the far-right Party for Freedom (PVV) since he founded it in 2006. He is also the party's leader in the House of Representatives. Wilders is best known for his right-wing p ...

and

Marine Le Pen Marion Anne Perrine "Marine" Le Pen (; born 5 August 1968) is a French lawyer and politician of the far-right National Rally, National Rally party (RN). She served as the party's president from 2011 to 2021, and ran for the French presidency in ...

. ''

HuffPost ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...

'' has pointed to her membership of the senior management of the anti-Islam group Pegida UK alongside Tommy Robinson, former leader of the

English Defence League The English Defence League (EDL) was a Far-right politics, far-right, Islamophobia, Islamophobic organisation active in England from 2009 until the mid-late 2010s. A social movement and Advocacy group, pressure group that employed street demo ...

and

, at the time leader of the ultranationalist

. She has been described by ''

Hope not Hate Hope not Hate (stylised as HOPE not hate) is an advocacy group based in the United Kingdom which campaigns against racism and fascism. It has also mounted campaigns against Islamic extremism and antisemitism. It is self-described as a "non-pa ...

'' as "heavily involved in the

counter-jihad Counter-jihad (also known as the counter-jihad movement) is a self-titled Islamophobia, anti-Muslim political movement loosely consisting of authors, bloggers, think tanks, demonstrators, and other activists across the Western world. Proponents are ...

scene". In an ITV documentary broadcast in November 2017, called "Undercover: Inside Britain's New Far Right", Waters advocated the reduction of Muslim birthrates, stopping Muslim immigration and accusing the EU of conspiring to turn Europe into an Islamic state. She later told ITV she opposed "racism, antisemitism, misogyny and the oppression usually associated with the far right". The documentary also revealed that a UKIP member who regularly attended Waters’ events was also a member of the white-nationalist group

Generation Identity Les Identitaires (English: The Identitarians), formerly the Bloc identitaire (English: ''Identitarian Bloc''), is an Identitarian nationalist movement in France. Like the French New Right, some generally consider the movement far-right or s ...

. Waters has since said that he was not a close associate and would not be welcome at future events. However, in 2019, she spoke at a Generation Identity conference, and claimed in her speech that mass immigration was being used to remove political power from white people. The speech was billed by its supporters as the "first

great replacement The Great Replacement (), also known as replacement theory or great replacement theory, is a debunked white nationalist far-right conspiracy theoryPT71. espoused by French author Renaud Camus. The original theory states that, with the complicit ...

speech by a UK politician". Waters says she has been an

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

activist since her days at university, and she considers herself to be a

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

. Waters is also an

agnostic Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, the divine, or the supernatural is either unknowable in principle or unknown in fact. (page 56 in 1967 edition) It can also mean an apathy towards such religious belief and refer to ...

, and between November 2011 and June 2014 she was listed as a director of the

National Secular Society The National Secular Society (NSS) is a British campaigning organisation that promotes secularism and the separation of church and state. It holds that no one should gain advantage or disadvantage because of their religion or lack of it. The Soc ...

.

Companies House entry for Anne Marie Waters
She had left the NSS by 2017. She is the author of ''Beyond Terror: Islam's Slow Erosion of Western Democracy'' (2018).

Elections contested

UK Parliament elections

Council elections

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Waters, Anne 1977 births Living people 21st-century Irish LGBTQ people Alumni of Nottingham Trent University Au pairs British agnostics British critics of Islam British feminists British political party founders British counter-jihad activists Critics of the Catholic Church Former Roman Catholics Irish agnostics Irish conspiracy theorists Irish domestic workers Irish expatriates in the United Kingdom Irish far-right politicians Irish feminists Irish lesbian politicians Irish LGBTQ rights activists Irish women activists Labour Party (UK) people Leaders of political parties in the United Kingdom LGBTQ conservatism National Health Service people Pegida activists Place of birth missing (living people) Politicians from Dublin (city) UK Independence Party parliamentary candidates Women civil rights activists Right-wing populists in the United Kingdom