Ray Hill

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Ray Hill (1939-) was a leading figure in the British far right who went on to become a well-known informant.

Born in Lancashire, he spent three years in the army before making his first steps in the far right with the Racial Preservation Society in Leicester in the late 1960s. From here he met Colin Jordan and soon became a member of the British Movement, being appointed Organiser for Leicester in 1968. He emigrated to South Africa the following year, eventually rising to the chairmanship of the South African National Front, an organisation for ex-pat whites, as well as undertaking a series of speaking engagements for the Afrikaans Herstigte Nasionale Party (a radical breakaway from the ruling National Party).

Hill returned to Leicester in 1980 where he became associated with Anthony Reed Herbert, initially in the British National Front, then in the British Democratic Party. Hill didn't actually join either group; instead he renewed his membership in the British Movement. Around this time Hill also began to work in secret for Searchlight magazine, helping to foil an alleged gun-running plot by the BDP.

By then deputy leader of the BM, Hill clashed with leader Michael McLaughlin in 1982 and succeeded in splitting the party. Hill, a former boxer in the army with a reputation as a street fighter, had the support of the BM's large skinhead following and took them with him when he joined in the newly launched British National Party in 1982 (also convincing Reed Herbert to bring his BDP on board).

Hill revealed himself to be a 'mole' in 1984 in a documentary for Channel 4 which focused on the links between the British far right and international terrorism, as well as plots to launch bomb attacks in London. Hill became a regular columnist for Searchlight from then on, and in 1988 published a book about his experiences, The Other Face of Terror, with journalist Andrew Bell. He has since worked with the student movement, which has led to his election as an Honorary Vice President of the National Union of Students. He no longer writes for Searchlight.