In October 2015, Blair Cottrell replaced Shermon Burgess as chairman of the United Patriots Front, and is a founding member of the Lads Society.

[6] In September 2017, Cottrell, Neil Erikson, and Chris Shortis were found guilty by a magistrate of inciting contempt against Muslims after they had enacted and made a video of a fake beheading, to protest against the building of a mosque in Bendigo.

Having a political end is not a defence to the charge.“[10] In the aftermath of the Christchurch mosque shootings at Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Islamic Centre in Christchurch, New Zealand on 15 March 2019, it was discovered that the perpetrator, Brenton Harrison Tarrant of Grafton, New South Wales, Australia, had interacted with Cottrell's United Patriots Front (UPF) on its Facebook pages.

Sky News reporter Laura Jayes took offence at his appearance on the program due to the fact that he has expressed admiration for Hitler and claimed to have manipulated women "using violence and terror".

[14][15] In 2012, Cottrell served four months in Port Phillip Prison after being convicted of stalking his ex-girlfriend and her new partner, and of arson after attempting to burn down the man's house.

[9][8] In 2015, Cottrell stated on Facebook a desire to see a portrait of Adolf Hitler hung in Australian classrooms and for copies of Mein Kampf to be "issued annually" to students, and has made anti-Semitic and racist comments in support of Nazism.