Jonathan Bowden

Jonathan David Anthony Bowden (12 April 1962 – 29 March 2012)^[1] was a British far-right politician.

Early life and education

Bowden was born in Kent, England, and received his early formal education at the Presentation College in Reading in Berkshire. In 1984, he completed one year of a Bachelor of Arts history degree course at Birkbeck College, London University, as a mature student, but then departed without graduating. He subsequently enrolled at Wolfson College, Cambridge University, in autumn 1988, but again left in mysterious circumstances after a few months without completing any required course of study.

Political career

Conservative Party

He began his political career in London as a member of the Conservative Party in Tower Hamlets, as a member of the Bethnal Green and Stepney Constituency Association. In October 1990 he joined the Conservative Monday Club, and the following year made an unsuccessful bid to stand for its Executive Council. In May 1991, he was appointed co-chairman with Stuart Millson of the club's media committee.^[2] During the early 1990s, he stated that he had been the deputy chair of the Western Goals Institute^[3] although this cannot be verified. In 1992, Bowden was expelled from the Monday Club.^[4]

Revolutionary Conservative Caucus

Bowden and Stuart Millson co-founded the Revolutionary Conservative Caucus in November 1992^[5] with the aim of introducing "abstract thought into the nether reaches of the Conservative and Unionist party".^[3] The group published The Revolutionary Conservative journal, and in issue #1 it stated that the Caucus was "dedicated to national sovereignty, European culture, masculinity, ruthless elitism, and racial purity". Their presence within the Conservative fold, even though on the periphery as they were, was soon openly attacked from several directions. The Tory Member of Parliament Norman Fowler in the Sunday Express stated, "These people are not remotely typical of mainstream Conservatives" and Glyn Ford, a Labour Party Member of the European Parliament, when speaking at the Labour Party's 1993 annual conference stated publicly, "The Tories have a Far-Right tendency....I have passed details of the Revolutionary Conservative Caucus to the Special Branch." The group disbanded at the end of 1994.

British National Party

Bowden then joined the Freedom Party, for which he was treasurer for a short time,^[6] and subsequently in company with Adrian Davies was a member of the Bloomsbury Forum.^[7]

In 2003, Bowden broke with attempts to influence Conservatism and moved into openly fascist political activity by joining the British National Party (BNP), becoming an enthusiastic activist as well as a member. He was appointed to the party's Advisory Council, and the newly created post of the party's 'Cultural Officer', a position its leader Nick Griffin had specially created to give Bowden officer status within the organisation. In July 2007, Bowden tendered his resignation and left the BNP after a power struggle against Griffin's leadership failed.

Bowden died of heart failure at his home in Berkshire on 29 March 2012, aged 49.

References

External links

• Jonathan Bowden's official site
• Obituary