could be completed, and none of his other designs were commissioned. Politics Previously an activist for the Labour Party, Barnbrook joined the BNP in 1999. He was a BNP candidate in the 2005 general election. He received 4,916 votes (16.9%) in Barking coming third and only 27 votes behind the Conservative candidate, Keith Prince. The constituency was won by Margaret Hodge. Barnbrook was the BNP's candidate for the 2008 London mayoral election, receiving 69,710 first preference votes (2.84% of the total valid first preference votes cast) and 128,609-second preference votes (5.23% of the total valid second preference votes cast). In the separate London-wide Assembly vote he was the top candidate on the BNP's London-wide Assembly Member list. The BNP list received 130,714 votes or 5.33% of the total valid votes cast; this won them one seat in the London Assembly which was filled by Barnbrook. Barnbrook challenged for the leadership of the BNP in July 2010 but, like the other challengers, Butler and Adams, failed to obtain the very large number of nominations required of a challenger to trigger an election. Barnbrook resigned the BNP whip in August 2010, following his demand for an inquiry into allegations of corruption and fiscal mismanagement against the party leadership. He was then expelled from the party and, from August 2010 to 2012 sat in the London Assembly as an independent member. While a member of the BNP he voted in favour of allowing minorities to join the party membership. When Barnbrook's term as a member of the Greater London Assembly expired in May 2012 he did not seek re-election. Standards Committees hearings In September 2008, Barnbrook appeared in an interview in which he was asked about knife crime. The interview appeared on his website, YouTube and his blog on the Daily Telegraph website. Barnbrook states during the recording that "In Barking and Dagenham alone three weeks ago, there was a murder of a young girl. We don't know who's done it, her girlfriend was attacked inside an educational institute. Again, two weeks ago there was another attack by knives on the streets of Barking and Dagenham where two people were murdered." Councillor Valerie Rush subsequently complained to the Greater London Authority that she knew the statements to be false as the alleged murders never happened, and accused Barnbrook of bringing his office into disrepute. In May 2009, a joint investigation by the Greater