History
The party contested two parliamentary by-elections in 1996. In Hemsworth, Mike Cooper received 111 votes (0.5%) and, in South East Staffordshire, Steve Edwards received 358 votes (0.8%). Although the NDs never took part in regularly scheduled European elections, they did contest the Merseyside West by-election in which Simon Darby stood but only gained 718 votes (1.2%).
In the 1997 general election, the party contested 21 seats and received a total of 10,829 votes, compared to 35,832 for their rivals in the British National Party (BNP), and 2,719 votes for the NF. The party's best result was in West Bromwich West, where Steven Edwards received 11.4% of the vote. However, this was not a normal constituency, since this was the constituency of then House speaker Betty Boothroyd, which major parties by convention do not contest. The NDs were severely damaged immediately before the 1997 election when it was revealed by The Sunday Times and the Daily Mail that leading member Andy Carmichael was working for MI5. Where the West Midlands had been a stronghold, it now began to fall apart, and in 1998, the local branch, which included leading ND activist Simon Darby, defected to the BNP, leaving only a small number of party loyalists behind. The party did not nominate candidates in the 2001 general election.
The party published a magazine called Vanguard, edited by Stephen Ebbs, and publication of the former NF paper The Flag continued, now in support of the new party.
Read more about this topic: National Democrats (United Kingdom)
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