the modern British National Party but the proposed deal fell through and was repudiated by Martin Wingfield in The Flag newspaper. British National Party After leaving the 'official' National Front, in 1986, Brons chiefly dedicated himself to the duties of his lectureship at Harrogate College until his retirement in 2005. However, he maintained his membership of the National Front (as the Flag Group became known on the dissolution of the 'official' party in 1989) until 1999. Upon his retirement, Brons joined the BNP in 2005. He subsequently wrote at least two articles for the BNP's official magazine Identity. Brons had a "tentative agreement" to return to work at Harrogate College in September 2009. He had however been selected as BNP lead candidate for the European Elections 2009 in the Yorkshire and the Humber constituency, and upon becoming the BNP's first Member of the European Parliament he declined the college's offer. Brons stood as a parliamentary candidate for the Keighley constituency at the 2010 general election. He came fourth in the election with 1,962 votes. In August 2010, Brons and fellow members of the BNP Policy Committee were asked by the Chairman and Advisory Council to carry out a consultation of members about possible changes to the party's constitution, with particular reference to two areas, governance of the party nationally and the rules for internal elections. On 8 November, his findings were published online. At the end of May 2011, Brons announced that he would seek nomination for the leadership of the British National Party in an internal election which would have been held in the autumn. Following constitutional changes rushed through by Nick Griffin, the leadership election was brought forward to the summer. Brons was narrowly defeated, receiving 1,148 votes to Griffin's 1,157. On 16 October 2012, Brons resigned the BNP whip following disputes with the party leader Griffin, stating that Griffin had described him "in a text to his attack dogs as 'vermin'". He continued as an MEP until 2014 when he did not stand for re-election. Member of the European Parliament Upon election to the European Parliament, Brons and his fellow BNP MEP Nick Griffin were heavily critical of any legislation, current or pending, which they saw as designed to reduce the national sovereignty and independence of member states or to have a negative impact on Britain. He was a member of the Constitutional Affairs Committee and a