[2] Known as 'Daddy', Beackon first stood as a candidate for the BNP in 1990 in the Redcoat ward of London Borough of Tower Hamlets where he gained 3% of the vote, a typically low total for the party at the time.
[3] Under the directorship of local organizer Eddy Butler, the party had instigated a 'Rights for Whites' campaign in the area, bringing back a slogan that had been employed by Martin Webster and the NF during the 1970s.
Focusing on the perceived negative impact of immigration on the area of employment and housing, the campaign operated as if it was simply a local pressure group before gradually introducing the BNP name into Rights for Whites literature.
[4] The initiative first produced results in the Millwall ward in October 1992 when a strong canvassing effort by local activists helped BNP candidate Barry Osborne capture 20% of the vote in a by-election.
[citation needed] This was presented as favourable treatment on grounds of race by the "Liberal Democrat Focus Team" seeking to capitalise on the issue.
He abandoned the old policy of holding a public meeting as he felt they proved too counterproductive by attracting large crowds of protesters, particularly from the Anti-Nazi League and Anti-Fascist Action.
The Daily Mirror headline on 18 September read "SIEG HEIL...and Now He's a British Councillor", setting the tone for a slew of condemnation on the basis of Beackon being a white nationalist.
[8] Among those to express their outrage were the main political parties, the Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey and the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Sir Paul Condon.
[9] Beackon's own use of immoderate language also damaged him and he was quoted in the Daily Mirror when, after being asked about refuse collection, he said that "The Asians are rubbish and that is what we are going to clear from the streets.
He was hampered by his own inexperience: the BNP press office had to speak for him after he failed to distinguish between the housing and social service departments in a newspaper interview with the East London Advertiser.
[11] At the time it was suggested that Beackon was virtually illiterate and was unable to read council documents; he later strenuously denied the allegations while admitting that he had trouble understanding their meaning.