Tony Lecomber

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Anthony Mark Lecomber (born 1963), usually known as Tony, was Group Development Director for the British National Party until January 2006.[1] On 2006-01-16 the website of the Lancaster branch of Unite Against Fascism claimed he had been forced to resign after making a statement which could have caused harm to the party; and that Nick Cass, the party's Yorkshire Regional Organiser, had been appointed acting Group Development Director in his place.

One alleged reason for Lecomber's resignation was provided by Larry O'Hara, editor of Notes From the Borderland magazine. On January 21, 2006, O'Hara reported on the urban75.net forums that Lecomber had approached ex-BNP member Joe Owens seeking to recruit him in a campaign to murder members of the political establishment. The same account was given (without naming Owens) by former National Front organiser Martin Webster in his Electronic Loose Cannon newsletter of the same date. Searchlight magazine also reported Lecomber's dismissal on their website[2] (link viewed 2006-01-23).

A statement by Joe Owens has now been released which claims that Lecomber is still working undercover for the BNP, and lays the blame for the murder plot solely at the hands of Lecomber, calling for Lecomber to be arrested under anti-terrorism laws, and for the conspiracy to murder [3] As yet, Lecomber has not been interviewed by the police.

Lecomber's role has now been permanently filled by Sadie Graham.[4]

Lecomber has been active in far right politics since the early 1980s. His role is mainly behind the scenes in planning BNP election campaigns, but his history of convictions for violence and plotting explosions have given him prominence in anti-BNP publicity.

Lecomber joined the National Front in the early 1980s, but allied with John Tyndall who was already being blamed for the NF's poor performance at the 1979 general election. When Tyndall split to form the New National Front and later the British National Party, Lecomber followed him. For a time he changed his name to Tony Wells, fearing that Lecomber sounded too "foreign." He became editor of Young Nationalist magazine.

In 1985 Lecomber was injured by a nailbomb that he was carrying to the offices of the Workers Revolutionary Party. Police found 10 grenades, seven petrol bombs and two detonators at his home (Nick Cohen, "Hold On a Minute ... Will It Be Boots and Broadcasts at the BNP?", The Observer, 5 January 1997). He was convicted on five counts for offences under the Explosive Substances Act 1883 and jailed for three years.[5] The conviction led to his rhyming nickname "The Bomber".

On his release he returned to activity with the BNP, and worked to try to build up BNP branches across Britain.

In 1991, when he was Propaganda Director of the BNP,^[1] Lecomber saw a Jewish teacher removing a BNP sticker at a London Underground station and attacked him. This assault resulted in a conviction and a further sentence of three years' imprisonment.[6] He was released in time to play a key part in the BNP's by-election win in Millwall ward of Tower Hamlets in September 1993.

Later in the 1990s, Lecomber became closer to Nick Griffin and supported Griffin when he successfully challenged John Tyndall's leadership of the BNP in 1999. Tyndall identified Lecomber as the man primarily responsible for undermining him. Under Griffin, Lecomber became, in effect, Deputy Leader of the BNP, and acted as national agent during election campaigns.