The Lifetime Anti-Fascist Achievement Award goes to… Kenny Smith

 It is time to give the master saboteur his flowers 

As the year draws to a close, HOPE not hate would like to extend a special award to Kenny Smith in recognition of his service to the anti-fascist cause.

Over two decades, the infamously obstinate organiser has been at the centre of crippling rifts in three of the UK’s largest fascist organisations.

Hailing from the Isle of Skye, Smith joined the British National Party in 1991, rising to Scottish Secretary and eventually National Admin Officer. The extent of his disruptive talents became clear in 2007, when his spat with a youthful faction — which included one Mark Collett — exploded into a civil war. Smith was sacked for “gross misconduct”, the party accusing him of an attempted coup. 

In 2019, Smith resurfaced in Patriotic Alternative (PA), the neo-Nazi group led by his old rival Collett. As National Admin Officer, he would be central in choking the new organisation’s growth through excessively stringent vetting procedures. 

Internal frustration over these procedures factored into Smith’s resignation from PA in 2023. Smith also cited PA’s repeated failure to register as a political party — despite having been involved in the registration process himself.

Smith’s walkout triggered the mass defection of dozens of PA’s appointed officers, including six regional organisers, its Scottish and West Midlands branches wholesale and chunks of the East Midlands and East England membership. PA has never fully recovered from this blow.

The defectors, who regrouped as the Homeland Party, successfully gained registered status. However, by the May 2025 local elections, Smith was diverting his party’s time and energy away from its candidates and towards his own jollies abroad, hobbling Homeland’s prospects at the polls.

From late 2024, the group experienced a remarkable membership boom thanks to its online operation. However, Smith’s habit of telling new recruits exactly what they wanted to hear led to wildly conflicting understandings of the group’s nature. These tensions exploded into a series of public rifts this year, with Homeland’s best known figures walking and forming a loud and angry chorus of critics online.

At the heart of their grievances is Smith — who is accused of despotic leadership and habitual backbiting, and described by former members as “volatile, paranoid, and ideologically inconsistent”. 

Rumours are now circulating about a further split within Homeland – a party that may yet pan out to be another dead end.

So here’s to Kenny – the anti-fascist community salutes you.