Anne Marie Waters

Anne Marie Waters
Anne Marie Waters in June 2016
Leader of For Britain
Assumed office
October 2017
Preceded by Office created
Personal details
Born Anne Marie Dorothy Waters[1]
(1977-08-24) 24 August 1977[2]
Dublin, Ireland
Political party For Britain (2017–present)
Other political
affiliations		 Labour Party (2010–2014)
UKIP (2014–2017)
Alma mater Nottingham Trent University

Anne Marie Waters (born 24 August 1977) is a far-right[3] politician in the United Kingdom. She is the founder and leader of the anti-Islam party For Britain.[4][5][6] She is also the director of Sharia Watch UK, an organisation which was launched in April 2014.[7] In January 2016, Waters launched Pegida UK in conjunction with activist Tommy Robinson and far-right politician Paul Weston.[8]

Having unsuccessfully attempted to become a Labour Party parliamentary candidate, Waters joined the UK Independence Party (UKIP) and stood in its 2017 leadership election. She came second, with Henry Bolton winning.[9] She subsequently left UKIP to form her own party, For Britain, in October 2017.

Early life

Waters was born and raised in Dublin in Ireland, and went to school in Stoneybatter on the Northside of the city.[10] She became an au pair in Germany during her teens. After living in the Netherlands, she studied journalism at Nottingham Trent University in England, graduating in 2003, and gained a law degree in London while working as a secretary in the NHS.[4][11][12] She also belonged One Law for All, a pressure group that opposed the spread of sharia courts.[13] Waters is a lesbian in a civil partnership,[14] and has described herself as "passionately, loyally, resolutely and proudly British".[15]

Political career

Waters unsuccessfully stood for the Labour Party in the 2010 Lambeth London Borough Council election for Streatham Hill ward. She made two unsuccessful attempts to be selected as a Labour parliamentary candidate: she first sought selection in South Swindon, then in 2013 she was one of two people shortlisted to stand for Labour in Brighton Pavilion.[16]

After leaving the Labour Party, Waters contested the Clapham Common ward for UKIP in the 2014 Lambeth Council election, where she finished in last place. At the 2015 general election, she stood as the UKIP candidate in Lewisham East, finishing in third place with 9.1% of the vote. During the campaign, she called for mass deportations, mosque closures and an end to immigration from majority-Muslim countries.[17] She was initially chosen to stand as a UKIP candidate in the 2016 London Assembly election, but was deselected when her role in Pegida UK was announced.[18] She stood for UKIP in the 2017 Essex County Council election, finishing in eighth place.[19] Waters was selected to be the UKIP candidate for Lewisham East again in the 2017 general election, but was removed after party leader Paul Nuttall described her views as "way above and beyond party policy".[20]

Following Nuttall's resignation as party leader, Waters announced her intention to stand in the 2017 UKIP leadership election.[21] She planned to launch her campaign in Rotherham, leading to concerns among local UKIP branch members that the choice to hold it there was political opportunism. Rotherham football club cancelled her planned stadium rally and her launch took place instead at Dalton parish hall.[22][23] UKIP's Rotherham branch released a statement calling for members to boycott the campaign launch with the backing of MEP Jane Collins after their concerns were ignored by Waters's team.[24] UKIP's National Executive Committee urged members to "think very carefully" before participating in her campaign launch. In early July, over a thousand new members had joined the party in two weeks, leading to accusations of far-right infiltration in support of Waters.[21] Jack Buckby, a former member of the British National Party and Liberty GB, described himself as "basically [her] campaign manager".[25] Waters predicted several times she would have difficulties in being allowed to stand, but on 11 August she passed UKIP's vetting procedure and was allowed to stand as a leadership candidate.[11][22][26] Waters said she would not be opposed to Tommy Robinson joining UKIP, and eighteen of the party's twenty MEPs vowed to leave if she won the leadership.[27] On 29 September 2017, it was announced that Henry Bolton had been elected leader, who had said the party risked becoming the "UK Nazi party" if it chose the wrong candidate, which was perceived as a criticism of Waters. Waters came second with 2,755 votes, a 21.3% share.[9] She described the result as a victory of jihad against truth.[28]

Waters later left UKIP to establish a new far-right political party called For Britain.[5][29] Waters stood as a For Britain candidate in the Lewisham East by-election on 14 June 2018. She lost her deposit and finished in seventh place with 1.2% of the vote.[30]

Political views

Waters has been criticised for her association with far-right politicians and organisations and has praised Geert Wilders and Marine Le Pen.[31] The Huffington Post has pointed to her membership of the senior management of the anti-Islam group Pegida UK alongside Tommy Robinson, former leader of the English Defence League and Paul Weston, at the time leader of the ultranationalist Liberty GB.[32]

In an ITV documentary broadcast in November 2017, called "Undercover: Inside Britain's New Far Right", it was revealed that a UKIP member who regularly attended Waters’ events was also a member of white-nationalist group Generation Identity. Waters has since said that he was not a close associate and would not be welcome at future events.[33] Waters was filmed advocating the reduction of Muslim birthrates, stopping Muslim immigration and accusing the EU of conspiring to turn Europe into an Islamic state.[34] She later told ITV she opposed "racism, antisemitism, misogyny and the oppression usually associated with the far right".[33]

Waters says she has been an LGBT activist since her days at university, and she considers herself to be a feminist.[35][4] Waters is also an agnostic, and until June 2014 she was a director of the National Secular Society.[4][36]

Elections contested

UK Parliament elections

Date Constituency Party Votes % votes
2015 general electionLewisham EastUK Independence Party3,8869.1[37]
2018 by-electionLewisham EastThe For Britain Movement2661.2[30]

References

  1. ↑ Waters, Anne Marie (28 June 2017). "Anne Marie Waters on Twitter: "Dorothy."". @AMDWaters. Twitter. Archived from the original on 25 August 2017. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  2. ↑ Waters, Anne Marie (24 August 2017). "Anne Marie Waters on Twitter: "Big 4-0. I'll be spending it at a hustings in Yorkshire!"". @AMDWaters. Twitter. Archived from the original on 24 August 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  3. ↑ Eve, Carl (25 January 2018). "Police prepare for protest as far-right politician comes to Devon". Devon Live.
    - Hodgkinson, Will (17 November 2017). "Pop review: Morrissey: Low in High School". The Times.
    - Smith-Spark, Laura. "Morrissey postpones tour dates amid dispute over racism claims". CNN.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Bloodworth, James (18 August 2017). "Meet Anne Marie Waters – the Ukip politician too extreme for Nigel Farage". New Statesman. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
  5. 1 2 Humphries, Will (12 October 2017). "Ukip loser will start far-right party". The Times. p. 11. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  6. ↑ "Anne Marie Waters: Irishwoman running to become next UKIP leader accused of 'dividing Britain'". Irish Post. 30 August 2017.
    - "Far-right extremists preparing for 'war against Islam', report warns after terror plots exposed". The Independent. 12 March 2018.
  7. ↑ Wheeler, Brian (30 June 2017). "Anti-Islam campaigner Anne Marie Waters launches UKIP bid". BBC News. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
  8. ↑ Douglas Murray. "Cologne exposes a crisis in our continent, yet parliament is debating Donald Trump". The Spectator.
  9. 1 2 Walker, Peter (29 September 2017). "Henry Bolton elected new leader of Ukip". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
  10. ↑ McKinney, Conor James (29 August 2017). "Irish-born candidate to lead Ukip rejects 'neo-fascist' label". Irish Times. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  11. 1 2 Fisher, Lucy (10 August 2017). "Is Anne Marie Waters too extreme even for Ukip?". The Times. Retrieved 12 August 2017. (subscription required)
  12. ↑ "About Me". Annemarie. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
  13. ↑ Cohen, Nick (29 July 2017). "Bigot who would lead Ukip is a product of our times". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  14. ↑ Bartlett, Jamie (2017). Radicals: Outsiders Changing the World. London: William Heinemann. p. 49. ISBN 9781785150371.
  15. ↑ "Who is Anne Marie Waters, the Dublin-born woman aiming to become the next leader of Ukip?". DublinLive. 30 August 2017.
  16. ↑ Le Duc, Frank (19 July 2013). "Labour poised to choose parliamentary candidate for Brighton Pavilion". Brighton and Hove News. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
  17. ↑ Wright, Paul. "Who is Anne Marie Waters? Ukip leadership hopeful accused of stoking up anti-Muslim hatred". International Business Times. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
  18. ↑ Niall Flynn. "Pegida member says 'there's still time for Ireland'". The Irish Times.
  19. ↑ "Statement of Persons Nominated". Basildon Borough Council. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
    - "Election results for Wickford Crouch, 4 May 2017". 4 May 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
  20. ↑ Proctor, Kate (28 April 2017). "Ukip leader Paul Nuttall to investigate anti-Islam election candidate for Lewisham". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
    - David Lawrence (9 May 2017). "'For Britain' campaign: anti-Muslim activist Anne Marie Waters targets UKIP leader". Hope Not Hate. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  21. 1 2 Walker, Peter (2 July 2017). "Large influx of new Ukip members prompts fears of far-right takeover". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  22. 1 2 Wheeler, Brian (30 June 2017). "Anti-Islam campaigner Anne Marie Waters launches UKIP bid". BBC News. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  23. ↑ "UKIP leadership bid launched in Dalton". Rotherham Advertiser. 5 July 2017. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
  24. ↑ Wheeler, Brian (30 June 2017). "Anti-Islam campaigner Anne Marie Waters launches UKIP bid". BBC News. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  25. ↑ "What I Learned From Spending A Year Infiltrating Britain's Far-Right". HuffPost UK. 9 November 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
    - Walker, Peter (27 July 2017). "Ukip leadership hopeful gets help with campaign from ex-BNP member". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  26. ↑ "Ukip divided over anti-Islam leadership candidate". ITV News. 12 August 2017. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
    - Walker, Peter (11 August 2017). "Ukip allows anti-Muslim activist to stand in leadership contest". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  27. ↑ Roberts, Rachel (5 September 2017). "Ukip leadership hopeful opens door to Tommy Robinson joining party". The Independent. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
  28. ↑ Oppenheim, Maya (30 September 2017). "Failed Ukip leadership candidate proclaims 'Jihad 1, Truth 0' after shock defeat". The Independent. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  29. ↑ "Former UKIP leadership candidate to launch new far-right party". Politico. 12 October 2017.
  30. 1 2 "Lewisham East by-election results 2018". Lewisham London Borough Council. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  31. ↑ Walker, Peter (26 October 2017). "Ukip under fire for choosing candidate who called Islam evil". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 June 2017. Anne Marie Waters, an activist from the anti-Islam Pegida movement, has also praised the far-right leaders Marine Le Pen and Geert Wilders.
  32. ↑ Hopkins, Steven (4 January 2017). "Pegida: Tommy Robinson Reveals New Leaders Paul Weston And Sharia Watch's Anne Marie Waters". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  33. 1 2 Grierson, Jamie (8 November 2017). "UK far-right activists attend military-style camps with anti-Islam group". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
  34. ↑ "Ex-Ukip leadership candidate's extreme views revealed". ITV News. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  35. ↑ Butterworth, Benjamin (14 June 2017). "Lesbian ally of the EDL's Tommy Robinson standing to be UKIP leader". Pink News. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
  36. ↑ Mills, Tom (22 June 2015). "Taking racism seriously: Islamophobia, civil liberties and the state". Open Democracy. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  37. ↑ "Lewisham East parliamentary constituency". BBC News.


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