Two students were stabbed at a 1982 protest march calling for the resignation of Andrew Brons, then a Harrogate College lecturer and
leader of the National Front.

Brons, now 62, was the first member of the British National Party to secure a seat at the European Parliament on Sunday, with more than 120,000 votes for the Yorkshire and Humber region.

Controversy had followed his election campaign as it emerged that he was a member of the neo-Nazi National Socialist Movement aged just 17.

He went on to join the National Front, becoming leader in 1979, while still a lecturer of politics at Harrogate College.

Stabbings

The Harrogate Advertiser reported that Brons' appointment prompted a series of rallies across the town calling for his resignation, one of which turned violent and resulted in two stabbings.

More than 300 protesters had gathered outside his classroom on Haywra Street, where the college was then based, in February 1982, chanting and waving placards.

He was led away to safety, and a group of 100 National Front supporters formed a counter-demonstration, taunting the Anti-Nazi League marchers.

It took 500 mounted police officers, drafted in from across North Yorkshire, to separate the groups, but two students were been stabbed in the clash.

Arrests

Windows of a town centre bar were smashed, a TV cameraman attacked, and a further six people were arrested for criminal damage and public disorder.

Mr Brons was this week celebrating his appointment to Brussels, representing the wider county of Yorkshire and the Humber in one of six seats.

But his progress up the political ladder has been met with opposition and he has received threats to firebomb his Harrogate home.

Harrogate Police was notified that Mr Brons' name and address had been published on a Leyton Orient football club fansite, a website where fans can message each other.

For the full story, see this week's Harrogate Advertiser.