Ray Hill

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

Biography

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.^[1] From here he met Colin Jordan and soon became a member of the British Movement, being appointed Organiser for Leicester in 1968.^[2] He emigrated to South Africa the following year and became disabused of his former views after becoming friendly with members of South Africa's Jewish community. He was asked by a friend to infiltrate the South African National Front, an organisation for ex-pat whites, eventually rising to the chairmanship as well as undertaking a series of speaking engagements for the Afrikaans Herstigte Nasionale Party (a radical breakaway from the ruling National Party).^[3]

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.^[4] Around this time Hill also began to work in secret for Searchlight, helping to foil an alleged gun-running plot by the BDP.^[5]

By then deputy leader of the BM, Hill clashed with leader Michael McLaughlin in 1982 and succeeded in splitting the party.^[6] 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).^[7] In the 1983 general election, he contested Leicester West for the BNP, receiving 469 votes (1.0%).^[8]

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, said to have been planned by the National Socialist Action Party.^[9] 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 the journalist Andrew Bell. He has also been elected as an Honorary Vice President of the National Union of Students. He no longer writes for Searchlight.

Elections contested

References

Bibliography

• R. Hill & A. Bell, The Other Face of Terror- Inside Europe’s Neo-Nazi Network, London: Collins, 1988

External links

• Can Fascists Recant?
• Ray Hill's Speech at The Cambridge Union Society (audio recording)