Colin Wyper (Councillor)

Councillor Colin Wyper

Colin Wyper is a Scottish Councillor. He was elected as an Independent to the Dee Ward of Dumfries and Galloway Council in the 2012 Scottish local elections. He is from Kirkcudbright.

"Lapsed" British National Party (BNP) membership

Wyper is a former member of the far-right British National Party, and is listed as such in the leaked membership documents.

Under the heading 'My Mistake', Wyper published a statement on his personal website which refutes allegations that he is racist. Wyper writes:

On the 8th of July 2005, the day after the London bombings when 52 people died and over 700 were injured I joined the BNP. I felt so let down by our government, so frustrated, so angry, I made a mistake. I very quickly learned their moderate website propaganda was masking a more sinister side.

I never “unjoined”, I simply let my membership lapse and never really gave it much thought for years, until now. I was also a member of the SNP years ago if anyone is interested.

I never participated in any way, attended meetings or donated any money to their cause.

Islamophobia

Colin Wyper's original 'My Mistake' post

Wyper's online statement continues - giving some indication of his Islamophobic views:

I am not a racist, it would not put me up nor down if a Hindu, Sikh, Chinese, Russian, Pole or Spaniard moved in next door.

I was and still am terrified of Islam, of their gradual and steady takeover of the western world, some countries such as Australia and Holland have woken up to the threat and are saying enough is enough.

The UK government, England in particular have done nothing to protect the interests of our citizens, Muslims are allowed to protest in the streets, calling for death to British servicemen, Police and politicians, basically death to all non Muslims.

If we dare stand up and even whisper a criticism we are branded racist. I am not a racist, I mean no harm to anyone. I simply want justice for the British people.

I believe our governments are doing us all, no matter what your political persuasion, a massive disservice by allowing Islamic fundamentalism to flourish almost unchecked in the very heart of our society.

If you disagree with me on this then simply answer one question, name one Muslim country you would wish to live in or for your children to grow up in. There are many, many peace loving decent Muslims, they are never the ones to hold power, it is always the fanatics.

I simply want a government that is not afraid to stand up to all those out there who are allowing the fanatics to ruin our country. The BNP is not the party for this, I made a mistake.

I seriously thought of withdrawing from this election, but that is the problem, people with views such as mine, no matter how moderate are branded racist and shunned from society.

I am not some right wing thug, just someone with children and grandchildren who genuinely fears for the future.[bold emphases added]

Website revision

Prior to deleting the page on his personal website, the above statements were revised in advance of the elections on 3rd May 2012. The revised statement read as follows:

I made what I regard as a fairly minor mistake on the 8th of July 2005, out of protest I clicked the join button on the BNP’s website.

I had just watched over 50 of my countrymen slaughtered by extremist Islamic militants, for this one act I am branded forever a racist.

Yes I had a very good idea what the BNP were all about, no I did not fully realise the extent of the bigotry, I never renewed my membership. I considered this to be the end of the matter.

Everyone is entitled to their point of view, including me, I do not attempt to force my opinions down other’s throats, have never taken part in any march or protest, never sent a hate mail to anyone.

The vociferous minority in this country who shout racist at even the mildest criticism of Islamic extremism seem intent on stifling free speech, we are all terrified of the race tag.

I only ask that those that choose to live in this country do so peacefully and lawfully, no one is forcing you to live here, if you wish different laws, moral codes or ethics then simply move somewhere where your values are practised.

I do not see anything unreasonable in this, if you do then you are part of the problem.

I went into this election for all the right reasons, the Galloway News has published numerous articles and letters from all the political party candidates, I have had one sentence.

This issue apart I know I would make an excellent councillor, someone who will listen, act for you, truly represent you no matter where you are from or what ethnic background you have.

They are trying by all means to scupper my chances on Thursday, I am asking those of you reading this to stand up for the silenced majority, read the rest of my website, put aside what was a stupid mistake 7 years ago and give me a chance.

By the 5th May 2012, the page on his website had been deleted in its entirety.

"Local Politics for Local People"

Colin Wyper's campaign poster

Wyper campaigned on a platform of "Local Politics for Local People". On his website he outlines his position on housing, the local school, his former membership of the BNP, roads and wind farms.

Election to Dumfries and Galloway Council

Wyper was one of three councillors elected on the 4th May 2012 in Dee, Ward 4 of Dumfries and Galloway Council. The turnout for the Dee ward was 54.7%, with 4034 votes cast. Wyper was elected in the first round of results in the single transferable voting (STV) system with 1473 first preference votes, the highest number of first prefernce votes in the Dee ward.

Response

According to one local journalist, Wyper's response was as follows:

Activities as a councillor

Housing

On housing, Wyper writes on his personal blog:

I will be keeping a close eye on the Merse Croft development and will be doing my utmost to make DGHP keep their promise to “give priority” to Kirkcudbright people when these houses are built [bold emphasis added].

Committees

Wyper writes on his personal blog that at the full Council meeting on 22nd May 2012, he was elected to the following committees: Education, DG First and Scrutiny and Performance.

Wyper meets the Queen and First Minister Alex Salmond

Attending alongside a colleague in his capacity as general manager of Kirkcudbright Swimming Pool, Wyper was invited to a garden party at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh in July 2012. Local newspaper The Galloway News reported the visit as follows:

Ahead of the visit Colin received a call to say the palace had asked for a personal presentation to the Queen ahead of the party.

The pair were ushered in through a private entrance and lead through the palace, emerging onto a red carpet in front of a crowd of 8,000. They were the first to meet the Queen after the national anthem was played and they told her about the hard work undertaken by many volunteers to raise money to build the facility as well as the ongoing work to keep it going, including the charity shop and fundraisers.

They also met First Minister Alex Salmond, who commented on Colin’s saltire tie, and they also bumped into a number of people from Kirkcudbright.

Resources

• Islamophobia Watch, entry on Colin Wyper
• Wikileaks, British National Party membership lists and other information