BNP and the Conservatives

How the BNP got elected in Cumbria

During the 2019 general election there were many constituencies where the conservative party stood candidates in places they never really expected to win and so did not properly vet said candidates. One place was Workington in Cumbria, a labour town that voted leave during the 2016 referendum and became a symbol of possible Tory gains in the north, The Workington Man. In 2019 Workington Conservatives put forward Mark Jenkinson, a local man, who did the impossible and won the seat from Labour thanks in part due to Labours brexit strategy. The problem with Mark Jenkinson is that the local Tory party didn't seem to bother to vet him and his previous connections to far right politics in the area.

The Conservatives have a declared policy of not allowing people to stand for the party if they were members of the BNP in the past and have claimed to have banned members for associations with the far right party in the past. I have now heard from 3 different sources who claim that Mark Jenkinson was a member of the party as well as becoming a member of UKIP after the BNP fell. One person told me that Mark was very outspoken about his associations with the BNP in the past often helping to organise for the party in Workington and the surrounding area. He was often cited by members of the organisation as being an integral member who often helped with setting up events and demonstrations in the town and was a ever present fixture at such events.

Another source has told me that Mark along with several associates would harass and intimidate anyone on the left including assaulting a left wing campaigner in a car park with a couple of friends beating him up with several others. There has been talk of Mark and friends often assaulting left wing campaigners who tried to demonstrate or protest in the town. There has also been a number of claims from other individuals of Mark Jenkinson using threats of violence and racial slurs to intimidate left wing activists hoping to scare them away. His virulent anti Muslim and anti black views as well as horrific anti immigration views known to many people in the area. There was a sense of disbelief at the time of his nomination to the Workington seat as how he could of been allowed to stand after knowing his views and past connections.

When asked about these connections Mark Jenkinson denies his involvement with various far right parties and he doesn't appear on any lists of members however many different sources have come to me and stated they know of his connections to the BNP and his past with the far right in Cumbria and his racist views.