Tommy Robinson (activist)

Tommy Robinson
Robinson in 2023
Born	Stephen Christopher Yaxley (1982-11-27) 27 November 1982 (age 41) Luton, England
Other names	Andrew McMaster Paul Harris Wayne King
Known for	English Defence League Far-right activism
Political party	BNP (2004–2005) BFP (2012) UKIP (2018–2019)
Movement	Anti-Islam far-right
Criminal charges	Contempt of court assault public order offence false identity mortgage fraud stalking anti-social behaviour
Criminal penalty	Prison sentences: 15-month (2005) 12-month (2013) 18-month (2014) 10-month (2018) 9-month (2019) Suspended sentences: 12-week (2011) 3-month (2018, activated) Community rehabilitation: 12-month (2011)

Stephen Christopher Yaxley-Lennon (born Stephen Christopher Yaxley, 27 November 1982), better known as Tommy Robinson, is a British anti-Islam campaigner, convicted criminal, and one of the UK’s most prominent far-right activists.^[1][2] He was a political advisor to former UK Independence Party (UKIP) leader Gerard Batten.

Robinson has been active in far-right politics for many years. He was a member of the British National Party (BNP), a neo-fascist and white nationalist political party, from 2004 to 2005. For a short time in 2012, he was joint vice-chairman of the far-right British Freedom Party (BFP). He co-founded the far-right English Defence League (EDL) in 2009 and led it until 8 October 2013. In 2015, he became involved with the development of Pegida UK, a now-defunct British chapter of the German far-right Pegida. From 2017 to 2018, he wrote and appeared in videos on the Canadian far-right website Rebel News.

Robinson has been convicted for multiple crimes involving violence, stalking, financial and immigration fraud, drug possession, public order offences, and contempt of court. He has served at least four separate prison terms: for assault in 2005, for using false travel documents to enter the United States in 2012, for mortgage fraud in 2014, and 13 months in 2018 for contempt of court after publishing a Facebook Live video of defendants entering a law court (contravening a court order that disallows reporting on such trials while proceedings are ongoing). In August 2018, due to procedural errors, he was released on bail pending a new hearing. In July 2019, he was again found guilty of contempt of court at the retrial and was committed at the Old Bailey to nine months in prison․ Before his sentencing, he appeared on the American far-right website InfoWars to appeal for political asylum in the U.S. He was released from prison on 13 September 2019 after nine weeks.

In July 2021, Robinson was found to have libelled a 15-year-old refugee at a school in Huddersfield and was ordered to pay £100,000 plus legal costs, although he had filed for bankruptcy in March 2021. In October 2021, he was made subject to a five-year stalking order for harassing journalist Lizzie Dearden and her partner.