Mark Cotterill
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Mark Adrian Cotterill (born 3 October 1960) 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 (politics), nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on ...
political figure who has been involved in a number of movements throughout his career. He is noted for activity to establish links between the far right in
Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...
and
America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, by founding the American Friends of the British National Party.


National Front and Patriotic Forum years

Cotterill was a member of the National Front (NF) from 1977 to 1979 and again from 1984 to 1992, and was the party's South West England organiser from 1985 to 1991. He "helped promulgate the New Atlantic Charter, signed between the National Front and the Nationalist Movement, pledging Anglo-American solidarity" and was "instrumental in arranging the exchange visit of (Nick)
Griffin The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (; Classical Latin: ''gryps'' or ''grypus''; Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk ...
to America". In 1992 Cotterill left the NF and formed the Patriotic Forum. The Patriotic Forum was largely composed of fellow ex-NF members, such as Darren Copeland (as Chairman), Keith Jowsey (as secretary), and Alan Harvey. The Patriotic Forum published a right-wing conservative magazine entitled ''British Patriot'' which Cotterill edited, and which also featured articles by Steve Brady and Alan Harvey. Alan Harvey had formed the short-lived White Rhino Club, which supported
apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English:  , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...
in
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
; Harvey later accused Cotterill of sabotaging the Club's activities, but without substantiating the claim. In turn Cotterill claimed to have expelled Harvey from the Patriotic Forum, although the organisation had no formal membership. Cotterill was, for a short time, a member of the Conservative Party in
Torquay Torquay ( ) is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies south of the county town of Exeter and east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paignt ...
in 1993, and was active in the Revolutionary Conservative Caucus. In 1994, he was attacked, receiving severe head injuries, by two members of
Anti-Fascist Action Anti-Fascist Action (AFA) was a militant anti-fascist organisation, founded in the UK in 1985 by a wide range of anti-racist and anti-fascist organisations. It was active in fighting far-right organisations, particularly the National Front a ...
who were subsequently "charged with unlawful wounding". He stood as an Independent Conservative in the local elections in 1995. Cotterill wound up the Patriotic Forum and ceased publication of ''British Patriot'' in 1995.


British National Party years

Cotterill then moved to 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 ...
(BNP). In 1998, when he lived just outside
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
, he formed and ran the American Friends of the British National Party (AFBNP), which raised funds for the BNP. While living in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
he campaigned for
David Duke David Ernest Duke (born July 1, 1950) is an American politician, neo-Nazi, conspiracy theorist, and former grand wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. From 1989 to 1992, he was a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives for the ...
in his bid to be elected to the
United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...
in 1999, and worked for
Pat Buchanan Patrick Joseph Buchanan ( ; born November 2, 1938) is an American paleoconservative author, political commentator, and politician. He was an assistant and special consultant to U.S. presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Ronald Reagan. He ...
's bid to be elected President of the United States in the 2000 U.S. presidential election. However, "Buchanan's campaign threw out Cotterill and other racist volunteers after their presence was exposed by the Center for New Community and other groups". This involved Buchanan losing three-quarters of his Northern Virginia campaign staff. Cotterill became an associate of William Pierce, editing one issue of his ''Resistance'' magazine in 1999; he was also the U.S. distributor for '' Right Now!'' magazine. Cotterill was by now defined by the
Southern Poverty Law Center The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal advocacy organization specializing in civil rights and public interest litigation. Based in Montgomery, Alabama, it is known for its legal cases against white ...
as a "key British neofascist". In 2002, Cotterill was excluded from the U.S. for ten years.


England First Party years

Back in England, Cotterill broke with the BNP and in 2004 founded the England First Party (EFP). He publishes and edits an ethnic nationalist bimonthly magazine called ''Heritage and Destiny''. He was elected councillor for Meadowhead on
Blackburn with Darwen Blackburn with Darwen is a unitary authority area with borough status in the ceremonial county of Lancashire, North West England. The borough includes the towns of Blackburn and Darwen plus a wider rural area which includes the villages of ...
Borough Council in the 2006 local elections as leader of the England First Party, defeating the incumbent Labour councillor by more than 400 votes. However, Cotterill resigned the seat in May 2007 and also stood down from the party leadership. In the Preston local council elections in
2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...
,
2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
,
2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
and
2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
, Cotterill stood as the EFP candidate. In
2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...
he was a candidate for the Preston East division of Lancashire County Council.


Media coverage

On 7 May 2019, Cotterill was interviewed for an article about the UK far right published in the ''
Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...
''. On 21 September 2023, the '' Lancashire Evening Post'' detailed how Cotterill hired a conference room claiming it was for a meeting of military veterans (securing a discount) whereas in reality it was for his far right group Heritage and Destiny.


References


External links


Heritage and Destiny website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cotterill, Mark National Front (UK) politicians British far-right politicians British National Party politicians Councillors in Lancashire Living people 1960 births Leaders of political parties in the United Kingdom