Jayda Fransen
{{Short description|British activist}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Jayda Fransen
| image =
| image_caption =
| title = Leader of Britain First
| termlabel = Acting
| term_start = December 2016
| term_end = June 2017
| predecessor = Paul Golding
| successor = Paul Golding
| title1 = Deputy leader of Britain First
| term_start1 = July 2014
| term_end1 = January 2019
| leader1 = Paul Golding
| birth_name = Jayda Kaleigh Fransen
| birth_date = {{nowrap|{{Birth-date and age|March 1986}}{{cite web |title=Jayda FRANSEN |url=https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/officers/6bd3ttjHW-TpaNf4ySVaC7ssiP4/appointments |publisher=Companies House |accessdate=13 April 2024}}}}
| birth_place =
| residence =
| party = British Freedom Party (since 2020)
| otherparty = Britain First (2011–2019)
| module =
{{Infobox person | child = yes
| website = [https://www.jaydafransen.online jaydafransen.online]
| criminal_charges = Religiously aggravated harassment
| criminal_penalty = 36 weeks imprisonment
| criminal_status =
}}
}}
Jayda Kaleigh Fransen[https://www.medway.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/1424/rochester_and_strood_2014_by_election.pdf Rochester and Strood Constituency Parliamentary By-Election 20 November 2014 Result of Poll]. Retrieved 30 October 2019. (born March 1986) is a British politician and activist who was convicted of religiously aggravated harassment in 2018. Formerly involved with the English Defence League (EDL), she left due to its association with drink-fuelled violence.We Want Our Country Back, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byRGsYJAPPA&t=210 3:30]: "Jayda told me she used to be part of the EDL, but left because of their reputation for drink-fuelled violence." She then joined the far-right{{cite web|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/world/2017/11/29/who-jayda-fransen-combative-far-right-street-protester-who-trump-retweeted/4UuIMFROurNWqeug3LUGEI/story.html|title=Who is Jayda Fransen, the combative far-right street protester retweeted by Trump?|first=Brian J.|last=White|date=29 November 2017|work=The Boston Globe|access-date=6 May 2021}} fascist political organisation Britain First.{{cite web|last=Bienkov|first=Adam|date=19 June 2014|title=Britain First: The violent new face of British fascism|url=http://www.politics.co.uk/news/2014/06/19/britain-first-the-violent-new-face-of-british-fascism|access-date=20 January 2017|website=Politics}}
- {{cite news|last=Foxton|first=Willard|date=4 November 2014|title=The loathsome Britain First are trying to hijack the poppy – don't let them|work=The Daily Telegraph|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-one/11207973/The-loathsome-Britain-First-are-trying-to-hijack-the-poppy-dont-let-them.html}}
- {{cite news|last=Sabin|first=Lamiat|date=25 October 2014|title='Fascist' group Britain First to start 'direct action' on Mail and Sun journalists over Lynda Bellingham post|work=The Independent|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/fascist-group-britain-first-to-start-direct-action-on-mail-and-sun-journalists-over-lynda-post-9817774.html}}{{cite news|last=Price|first=Chris|title=Former Britain First deputy leader Jayda Fransen quits the party|website=KentOnline|url=https://www.kentonline.co.uk/folkestone/news/britain-first-deputy-leader-quits-197263/|access-date=21 January 2019}}
- {{cite web|title=East London Mosque And Muslim Aid Donate 10 Tonnes Of Food To Homeless|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/east-london-mosque-britain-first_uk_58565f07e4b0acb6e4b861fb|access-date=20 December 2016|website=HuffPost|date=18 December 2016}} With Paul Golding as leader, Fransen was deputy leader from 2014 to 2019. She became acting leader for six months from December 2016 to June 2017, while Golding was imprisoned in December 2016.
Fransen has been an unsuccessful candidate in several elections since 2014. In addition to online anti-Islamic activism, she has marched while holding a white cross, in what she called "Christian patrols", through predominantly Muslim populated areas of Britain.{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/11/29/deputy-leader-far-right-group-gleefully-wages-one-woman-twitter/|title=Deputy leader of far-Right group Jayda Fransen gleefully wages a one-woman Twitter war against Islam |work=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=9 December 2017|date=29 November 2017|first=Robert|last=Mendick}}{{cite news|last=York|first=Chris|date=2 November 2016|title=Jayda Fransen Trial Hears Britain First Deputy Leader 'Abused Muslim Woman'|work=HuffPost|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/jayda-fransen-trial_uk_581a0fd7e4b0fcdd88581199|access-date=9 December 2017}} In March 2018, she was sentenced to 36 weeks' imprisonment after being convicted of three counts of religiously aggravated harassment.{{cite news|date=7 March 2018|title=Britain First leader and deputy leader jailed for hate crimes|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-43320121|access-date=7 March 2018}}
Political career
= Leadership of Britain First =
Britain First, formed in 2011, is a British fascist political party founded by Jim Dowson. Paul Golding became the leader following the resignation of Dowson,{{cite news|last=Dearden|first=Lizzie|title=Britain First founder Jim Dowson quits over mosque invasions and|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/britain-first-founder-jim-dowson-quits-over-mosque-invasions-and-racists-and-extremists-9632770.html|work=The Independent|date=28 July 2014}} and during this time Fransen was the deputy leader of the party.{{cite news|title=Britain First deputy leader guilty of hurling abuse at Muslim woman|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/britain-first-deputy-leader-jayda-fransen-found-guilty-of-hurling-abuse-of-muslim-woman-wearing-a3386576.html|work=London Evening Standard|date=3 November 2016}} Golding handed over the leadership role to Fransen in November 2016 due to his being sentenced to 2 months in prison for breaching a court order,[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-38326446 "Ex-Britain First leader Paul Golding jailed over mosque ban"], BBC News, 15 December 2016 although Fransen stated that his leave was in order "to address some important, personal family issues".{{cite news|last=Gable|first=Gerry|title=More questions than answers: a Searchlight investigation|url=http://www.searchlightmagazine.com/2016/12/more-questions-than-answers-a-searchlight-investigation/|access-date=7 December 2016|work=Searchlight|date=1 December 2016}} Fransen stepped down from her leadership role in January 2019 and left the party.{{cite web|url=https://www.kentonline.co.uk/folkestone/news/britain-first-deputy-leader-quits-197263/|title=Britain First deputy leader quits|date=19 January 2019|website=Kent Online|access-date=1 July 2019}} She has been described as part of the counter-jihad movement.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j0LBDwAAQBAJ&dq=jayda+fransen+%22Counter-jihad%22&pg=PT208|title=Cumulative Extremism: A Comparative Historical Analysis|first=Alexander J.|last=Carter|publisher=Routledge|year=2019|isbn=9780429594526|via=Google Books}}
In a May 2019 BBC Northern Ireland Spotlight documentary, Fransen accused Paul Golding of violent abuse.{{cite web|access-date=24 April 2020|title=Britain First: Jayda Fransen accuses Paul Golding of violent abuse|url=https://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/news/17671466.britain-first-jayda-fransen-accuses-paul-golding-of-violent-abuse/|website=This Is Local London|date=29 May 2019}}
= Rochester and Strood by-election, 2014 =
{{see also|Britain First#Rochester and Strood by-election}}
Fransen stood as Britain First's first parliamentary candidate for the Rochester and Strood by-election on 20 November 2014, during which she expressed sympathy for the UK Independence Party (UKIP) and its candidate Mark Reckless (a Conservative MP who had switched allegiances to UKIP), who went on to win the seat.{{cite news|last1=Helm|first1=Toby|last2=Cowburn|first2=Ashley|title=We will lose Rochester and Strood byelection, admits senior Conservative|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/nov/15/rochester-strood-ukip-conservatives-admit-defeat|work=The Guardian|date=15 November 2014}}
- {{cite news|last=Hope|first=Christopher|title=Mark Reckless wins Rochester by-election for Ukip with 2,900 majority|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/ukip/11244748/Mark-Reckless-of-Ukip-wins-Rochester-by-election-with-2900-majority.html|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=21 November 2014}}
Britain First's campaign for the by-election drew attention when the party uploaded a photo of Fransen together with local activists from UKIP, who responded by saying that the activists were not aware of the implications of the photograph, while Fransen said that the UKIP activists asked for the photo and that she was under the impression that there were strong similarities between the two parties.{{cite news|last=Dearden|first=Lizzie|title=Britain First accuses Ukip of 'playing political game' with snub over Rochester photo|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/britain-first-accuses-ukip-of-playing-political-game-with-snub-over-rochester-photo-9824058.html|access-date=29 October 2014|work=The Independent|date=28 October 2014}} The BBC presenter Nick Robinson was also criticised for his selfie with Fransen during the by-election. Robinson said he did not know who Fransen was and denied supporting her policies.{{cite news|last=Swinford|first=Steven|title=Nick Robinson apologises for Britain First 'selfie'|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/bbc/11245011/Nick-Robinson-apologises-for-Britain-First-selfie.html|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=21 November 2014}}
= London mayoral and Assembly elections, 2016 =
{{see also|Britain First#2016 London mayoral election}}
On 27 September 2015, Paul Golding announced that he would stand as a candidate in the 2016 London mayoral election. In a Facebook post on the decision, Fransen wrote that the party's "pro-EU, Islamist-loving opponents" will "face the wrath of the Britain First movement ... We will not rest until every traitor is punished for their crimes against our country. And by punished, I mean good old fashioned British justice at the end of a rope!"{{cite news|last=York|first=Chris|title=Britain First's Paul Golding To Stand in London Mayoral Election|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/09/27/britain-first-paul-golding-london-mayoral-election_n_8203000.html|access-date=25 October 2015|work=HuffPost|date=27 September 2015}} Golding turned his back on the podium when the election of Sadiq Khan as mayor was announced; and neither Golding nor Fransen was successful as a candidate in the London Assembly election, held simultaneously to the mayoral election.{{cite news|work=HuffPost|title=Britain First's Terrible London Election Results Celebrated By Paul Golding And Jayda Fransen|first=Chris|last=York|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/britain-first-trounced_uk_572cace2e4b0ade291a1c7d7|access-date=9 December 2017|date=6 May 2016}}
=British Freedom Party=
In January 2021, Fransen said she would stand for the Glasgow Southside seat, held by Nicola Sturgeon, in the 2021 Scottish Parliament election.{{cite web|first=Annie|last=Brown|accessdate=1 April 2021|title=Far-right bigot who targeted Humza Yousaf launches doomed bid to become MSP|url=https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/far-right-bigot-who-targeted-23370172|date=23 January 2021|website=Daily Record}} Fransen and Sturgeon had a tense confrontation outside a polling station on election day.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-57013769|title=Sturgeon calls out 'fascist' candidate in tense confrontation|date=6 May 2021|work=BBC News}} Fransen received 46 votes (0.1%), coming last.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/election/2021/scotland/constituencies/S16000122|title=Glasgow Southside - Scottish Parliament constituency|work=BBC News}} She also received the fewest votes among the 357 constituency candidates in the election.{{cite tweet|user=BBCPhilipSim|last=Sim|first=Philip|number=1391389451046297601|title=Picking over the numbers - this was the fewest votes polled by any candidate on the constituency ballot. If Scotland was one big constituency she would have been placed 357th out of 357|access-date=11 May 2021}}
= 2021 Batley and Spen by-election =
{{See also|2021 Batley and Spen by-election}}
The 2021 Batley and Spen by-election followed the resignation of Tracy Brabin after she was elected as Mayor of West Yorkshire.{{Cite web |title=The accidental by-election: How Labour triggered another divisive vote for the people of Batley and Spen |url=https://news.sky.com/story/the-accidental-by-election-how-labour-triggered-another-divisive-vote-for-the-people-of-batley-and-spen-12340984 |access-date=27 May 2022 |website=Sky News}} Fransen came second to last with 50 votes.{{cite news|url=https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/politics/batley-and-spen-by-election-results-kim-leadbeater-retains-seat-for-labour-3293753|title=Batley and Spen by-election results: Kim Leadbeater wins seat for Labour with narrow majority of 323 over Conservatives|author=Grace Hammond|date=2 July 2021|work=The Yorkshire Post|accessdate=27 May 2022}}
= 2022 Southend West by-election =
{{see also|2022 Southend West by-election}}
After the murder of the Conservative MP David Amess in October 2021, Fransen said she would be running for the vacancy in Southend West for the British Freedom Party. All major parties in the UK apart from the Conservatives had already announced that they would refrain from nominating a candidate in order to avoid exploitation of the murder.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-58964399|title=Sir David Amess replacement must be from area, insist Southend Tories|work=BBC News|date=19 October 2021|accessdate=20 October 2021}} She received 299 votes, 2% of the total vote. As with her campaign in the 2021 Batley and Spen by-election, she was recorded as an independent candidate and not a representative of the British Freedom Party.{{cite web|url=https://www.southend.gov.uk/elections-registering-vote/election-results-1|title= Election Results Southend West by-election 2022|publisher=Southend-on-Sea Borough Council|date=4 February 2022|access-date=4 February 2022}}
= 2022 Wakefield by-election =
{{see also|2022 Wakefield by-election}}
In June 2022, standing as an independent, she received 23 votes (0.1%) in the Wakefield by-election, the lowest of 15 candidates.{{cite web|url=https://www.wakefield.gov.uk/elections/elections-2022/by-election-results-2022|title =By election results 2022|publisher=Wakefield Council|date =24 June 2022}}
Legal issues
= 2016 conviction and arrest =
After one of Britain First's "Christian patrols" in Luton, in November 2016, Fransen was convicted of religiously aggravated harassment and ordered to pay a fine of £1,000 after she harassed a Muslim mother of four who was wearing a hijab. She was also fined £200 for breaching the Public Order Act 1936 by wearing a political uniform and ordered to pay £620 in costs (including a £100 victim surcharge), and issued with a two-year restraining order to prevent her from contacting the victim or engaging in intimidating behaviour towards her. Fransen had denied all charges, accusing the courts of being "absurd", and engaging in "a really clear display of Islamic appeasement".{{cite news|author1=Press Association|title=Deputy leader of Britain First guilty over verbal abuse of Muslim woman|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/nov/03/deputy-leader-britain-first-guilty-over-verbal-abuse-muslim-woman-jayda-fransen-hijab|work=The Guardian|date=3 November 2016}}
- {{cite news|last=Cobain|first=Ian|title=RE teacher who posted Islamophobic comments struck off|url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/nov/04/re-teacher-who-posted-islamophobic-comments-struck-off|work=The Guardian|date=4 November 2016}}
= 2017 arrests and conviction =
In September 2017, Fransen was arrested with Golding and charged with religious harassment. They were bailed and ordered to appear before Medway magistrates on 17 October 2017. Their arrests followed an investigation by Kent Police into the distribution of leaflets in the Thanet and Canterbury areas, and the posting of online videos during a trial at Canterbury Crown Court in May 2017.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-41338328|title=Britain First leaders charged with religious harassment|date=20 September 2017|work=BBC News|access-date=20 September 2017}} On 14 October 2017, following a broadcast on Radio Aryan, Fransen was re-arrested and detained overnight at a protest in Sunderland for breaking the terms of her bail.{{cite news|work=HuffPost|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/jayda-fransen-bail_uk_59e30cdee4b03a7be5812335|title=Jayda Fransen, Britain First Deputy Leader, Arrested in Sunderland After Neo-Nazi Radio Appearance|access-date=30 November 2017|date=15 October 2017}} On 17 October 2017, after Fransen and Golding pleaded not guilty before Medway magistrates, their case was adjourned until a hearing at Folkestone Magistrates' Court on 29 January 2018 and they were both ordered to report weekly at Bromley Police Station.{{cite news|url=http://www.halesowennews.co.uk/news/15624821.Britain_First_plan_rally_in_Bromley|title=Britain First changes plans for rally in Bromley|date=3 November 2017|access-date=30 November 2017|work=Halesowen News}}
On 18 November 2017, Fransen was arrested in London by detectives from the Police Service of Northern Ireland in relation to a speech she had made at a rally outside Belfast City Hall on 6 August.{{cite news|last=D'Arcy |first=Scott |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/britain-first-arrested-far-right-extremism-jayda-fransen-speech-belfast-northern-ireland-a8063206.html |title=Jayda Fransen: Deputy leader of far-right group Britain First arrested over speech in Belfast|work=The Independent|agency=Press Association|date=19 November 2017|access-date=29 November 2017}} She was charged with employing "threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour" under the Public Order (Northern Ireland) Order 1987 and on 14 December appeared at Belfast Magistrates' Court, where she pleaded not guilty.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-42040719|work=BBC News|access-date=29 November 2017|date=19 November 2017|title=Britain First deputy leader Jayda Fransen charged}} Fransen was immediately re-arrested outside the court and charged the following day over anti-Islamic comments posted online in a video filmed on 13 December at a peace wall separating Catholic and Protestant communities in West Belfast; she was ordered to appear in court on 9 January 2018 and released on bail, subject to an exclusion order from all processions and demonstrations in Northern Ireland.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-42359462|title=Britain First's Jayda Fransen appears in Belfast court|date=15 December 2017|access-date=16 December 2017|work=BBC News}}
- {{cite news|work=The Belfast Telegraph|date=15 December 2017|access-date=16 December 2017|url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/britain-first-deputy-head-jayda-fransen-released-on-bail-over-comments-on-islam-36411490.html|title=Britain First deputy head Jayda Fransen released on bail over comments on Islam}}
On 29 March 2019, Fransen was convicted of stirring up hatred at the Belfast rally and for separate comments at a peace wall. The other defendants
Paul Golding, John Banks and Paul Rimmer, were acquitted on similar charges. Fransen was sentenced to 180 hours community service.{{cite news|accessdate=23 February 2021|title=Jayda Fransen: Ex-Britain First deputy leader convicted over hate speech|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-47750137|newspaper=BBC News|date=29 March 2019}}
- {{cite news|accessdate=23 February 2021|title=Jayda Fransen sentenced over Belfast Islam speech|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-48147994|newspaper=BBC News|date=3 May 2019}}
= 2018 conviction =
On 7 March 2018, Fransen and Golding were found guilty of religiously aggravated harassment at Folkestone magistrates' court, as a result of an investigation concerning the distribution of leaflets in 2017 in the Thanet and Canterbury areas. The pair were convicted over an incident at a takeaway in Ramsgate, Kent, during which Fransen screamed "paedophile" and "foreigner", while Fransen was also convicted for approaching an address she believed to belong to a Muslim defendant on a rape trial. They were both sentenced to prison, with 36 weeks for Fransen and 18 weeks for Golding.{{Cite news| work=The Guardian |title=Britain First leaders jailed over anti-Muslim hate crimes| date=7 March 2018| url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/07/britain-first-leaders-convicted-of-anti-muslim-hate-crimes|access-date=8 March 2018}}
Kent Police released mugshots of Fransen and Golding, taken when they were originally in custody, because of "the nature of the offences committed and the impact they had on the wider community". The usual procedure is that only offenders sentenced to a year or more in custody have their mugshots released.{{Cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/britain-first-leaders-jayda-fransen-paul-golding-jailed-mugshots-police-muslim-hate-crime-kent-a8246571.html|author=Lizzie Dearden|title=Britain First leaders jailed: Police release mugshots of Jayda Fransen and Paul Golding because of impact on community|date=9 March 2018|work=The Independent|access-date=9 March 2018}}
Following her release, Jayda left Britain First and formed the British Freedom Party, following an admission by Paul Golding that he attacked Fransen.{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/paul-golding-jayda-fransen-attack-britain-first-assault-recording-far-right-a8934336.html|title=Britain First leader Paul Golding admits attacking deputy Jayda Fransen in secret recording|work=The Independent|author=Colin Drury|date=29 May 2019|access-date=15 October 2020}}
- {{cite news|url=https://www.hopenothate.org.uk/2020/09/19/griffins-return-holds-reminders-of-past-and-future-failures/|title=Griffin's modest return will be anything but humble|work=Hope not Hate|author=Matthew Collins|date=19 September 2020|access-date=15 October 2020}}
Donald Trump retweets and Twitter suspension
{{main|Donald Trump on social media#Britain First videos}}
On 29 November 2017, President of the United States Donald Trump caused controversy when he retweeted three anti-Muslim videos shared by Fransen on her Twitter account.{{Cite news|work=BBC News |title=Trump Twitter account retweets incendiary videos|date=29 November 2017|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-42166663}} She responded on Twitter in capital letters, "The President of the United States, Donald Trump, has retweeted three of Deputy Leader Jayda Fransen’s Twitter videos! Donald Trump himself has retweeted these videos and has around 44 million followers! God bless you Trump! God bless America!"{{cite news|last=Dearden|first=Lizzie|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-britain-first-retweet-muslim-migrants-jayda-fransen-deputy-leader-a8082001.html| title=Donald Trump retweets Britain First deputy leader's Islamophobic posts|work=The Independent|date=29 November 2017|access-date=29 November 2017}} Fransen later posted a video of herself requesting Trump to assist her in a forthcoming court case in Belfast.{{cite news|work=The Guardian|title=Far-right hatemongers cheer Trump's Twitter endorsement|date=30 November 2017|access-date=1 December 2017|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/nov/30/trump-twitter-far-right-racism-hate}} She is reported as saying, "The leader of the free world has signified his disgust at an elected leader being arrested and possibly facing two years in prison over an Islamic blasphemy law. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have laws where you can't speak out about Islam. The UK doesn't."
Describing herself on her Twitter account as "faithful to God and Britannia", she had made over 15,000 tweets since opening the account in mid-2016.Ashley Parker & John Wagner, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/11/29/trump-retweets-inflammatory-and-unverified-anti-muslim-videos/ Trump retweets inflammatory and unverified anti-Muslim videos] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171129230340/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/11/29/trump-retweets-inflammatory-and-unverified-anti-muslim-videos/ |date=29 November 2017}}, Washington Post, 29 November 2017. One of the videos (titled "Muslim migrant beats up Dutch boy on crutches!") purported to show an assault by a Muslim immigrant. According to the Dutch embassy in the US, the teenage perpetrator was "born and raised in the Netherlands"; and the embassy later confirmed that he was not Muslim.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/nov/30/videos-tweeted-by-trump-where-are-they-from-and-what-do-they-really-show|title=Videos tweeted by Trump: where are they from and what do they really show?|work=The Guardian|date=30 November 2017|access-date=16 December 2017}}
- {{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/dec/02/how-trump-uses-twitter-storms-to-make-the-political-weather|work=The Guardian|date=2 December 2017|access-date=16 December 2017|title= How Trump uses Twitter storms to make the political weather}} Another video ("Muslim Destroys a Statue of Virgin Mary!") was filmed during the Syrian civil war in 2013 and showed a man, who is believed to be an Al-Nusra supporter, destroying a statue of Mary. The third video ("Islamist mob pushes teenage boy off roof and beats him to death!") contained footage in Alexandria, Egypt during a period of violent unrest following the 2013 Egyptian coup d'état: it showed supporters of the deposed president Mohamed Morsi attacking one of his critics.{{cite news|last=Lawless|first=Jill|title=Trump's Muslim retweets draw fire from US and abroad|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/trumps-muslim-retweets-draw-fire-from-us-and-abroad/2017/11/29/19166c60-d52c-11e7-9ad9-ca0619edfa05_story.html|access-date=30 November 2017|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=29 November 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171130123926/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/trumps-muslim-retweets-draw-fire-from-us-and-abroad/2017/11/29/19166c60-d52c-11e7-9ad9-ca0619edfa05_story.html|archive-date=30 November 2017}}
- {{cite news|last=Harrison|first=Angus|title=The Truth Behind Those Anti-Muslim Videos Donald Trump Just Retweeted|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-truth-behind-those-anti-muslim-videos-donald-trump-just-retweeted/|access-date=29 November 2017|work=Vice|date=29 November 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171130024631/https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/qvzdb5/the-truth-behind-those-anti-muslim-videos-donald-trump-just-retweeted|archive-date=30 November 2017}}
- {{cite news|last = Staff writer|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-42166663|title=Trump account retweets anti-Muslim videos|work=BBC News|date=29 November 2017|access-date=29 November 2017}}
-[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/11/29/the-murky-origins-of-the-britain-first-videos-trump-retweeted/ "The murky origins of the ‘Britain First’ videos Trump retweeted"], The Washington Post, 29 November 2017.
Prime Minister Theresa May condemned Trump's retweets of the anti-Muslim videos, stating that "it is wrong for the president to have done this", and, "Britain First seeks to divide communities through their use of hateful narratives which peddle lies and stoke tensions".{{cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/president-trump-retweets-anti-muslim-videos-posted-far-right-u-n824836|title=British PM May issues rare rebuke of Trump for retweeting anti-Muslim videos|last=Smith|first=Saphora|date=30 November 2017|work=NBC News|access-date=30 November 2017}}
- {{cite news|last1=Masters|first1=James|last2=Landers|first2=Elizabeth|title=Trump retweets anti-Muslim videos|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2017/11/29/politics/donald-trump-retweet-jayda-fransen/index.html|access-date=29 November 2017|website=CNN|date=29 November 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171129152208/http://edition.cnn.com/2017/11/29/politics/donald-trump-retweet-jayda-fransen/index.html|archive-date=29 November 2017}}
On 18 December 2017, Twitter permanently suspended the accounts of Fransen and Golding, together with the official account of Britain First, as part of its general policy towards any groups which glorify violence or use hate-inciting imagery to fulfill their goals. The company's stated aim in enforcing such bans was to "reduce the amount of abusive behaviour and hateful conduct" on the web. Permanent suspension of an account would result whenever the profile contained "a violent threat or multiple slurs, epithets, racist or sexist tropes, incite[d] fear, or reduce[d] someone to less than human". The three retweets by Trump have been removed as a consequence of Fransen's ban.{{cite news| url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-42402570|title=Twitter suspends Britain First leaders|work=BBC News|date=18 December 2017|access-date=18 December 2017}}
– {{cite news|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=18 December 2017|access-date=19 December 2017|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2017/12/18/twitter-bans-britain-first-account-whose-anti-muslim-videos/|title=Twitter bans Britain First leaders after anti-Muslim videos shared by Donald Trump}}
– {{cite news|work=HuffPost|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/twitter-britain-first-jayda-fransen-paul-golding_uk_5a37d588e4b01d429ccaae5d|title=Britain First's Jayda Fransen And Paul Golding Suspended From Twitter Amid Crackdown On 'Hateful Conduct'|date=18 December 2017|access-date=19 December 2017}} As a result of the ban, Fransen and Golding joined the Gab social networking service, and urged their followers to do likewise.Sarah Marsh, [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/dec/20/britain-first-gab-social-media-twitter-ban "Britain First signs up to fringe social media site after Twitter ban"], The Guardian, 20 December 2017.
Electoral history
=Westminster by-elections=
class="wikitable" |
Date of election
! Constituency ! Party ! Votes ! % ! Source(s) |
---|
20 November 2014
|56 |0.1 |
1 July 2021
|50 |0.13 |
3 February 2022
|299 |2.0 |
23 June 2022
|23 |0.1 |
=Scottish Parliament elections=
2021 Scottish Parliament election
class="wikitable" |
Date of election
! Constituency ! Party ! Votes ! % ! Source(s) |
---|
6 May 2021
|Independent |46 |0.1 |
References
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}
External links
{{Wikiquote}}
- [https://gab.com/JaydaFransen Jayda Fransen] on Gab
- Research quoted in {{cite news|last=York|first=Chris|title=Someone Researched The Family Tree Of Britain First's Deputy Leader And It's A Bit Awkward|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/12/28/britain-first-deputy-jayda-fransen_n_8883910.html|work=HuffPost|date=28 December 2015}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fransen, Jayda Kaleigh}}
Category:British counter-jihad activists
Category:British far-right politicians
Category:British people convicted of hate crimes
Category:British politicians convicted of crimes
Category:Critics of multiculturalism
Category:English female criminals
Category:English prisoners and detainees
Category:Independent British political candidates