During that time he attended Limoges College of Art and Craft on a minor scholarship and while there gained his first lecturing position (1984).

[1][4] His art projects included writing and directing the theatre piece Human Soup and the film HMS Discovery: A Love Story,[4] the latter of which received substantial media coverage as a result of its scenes of male nudity and homoerotic themes, and which was described as "gay pornography",[4][5] but which Barnbrook insists was nothing more than an art film and certainly not homoerotic.

[6] In 2000, Barnbrook set up and was appointed managing director and artistic designer to the Jubilee Woods Trust,[7] which he established to create new woodland plantations with the theme of environment, education and art, one for every county in the UK, to mark the Queen's Golden Jubilee, to which Sting was one of the principal benefactors and Sir David Attenborough showed support.

Barnbrook received acclaim for his designs for heraldic planting formations, but only one of these came to fruition in Sefton, north Liverpool.

Barnbrook resigned the BNP whip in August 2010, following his demand for an inquiry into allegations of corruption and fiscal mismanagement against the party leadership.

[citation needed] When Barnbrook's term as a member of the Greater London Assembly expired in May 2012 he did not seek re-election.

"[10][11] Councillor Valerie Rush subsequently complained to the Greater London Authority that she knew the statements to be false as the alleged murders never happened,[12] and accused Barnbrook of bringing his office into disrepute.

[11] A hearing held by the standards committees of both the assembly and council was adjourned on 21 July 2009 when Barnbrook failed to appear, after being given sick leave on grounds of stress.

Barnbrook said he had made "unintentional inaccuracies" in the interview on knife crime due to his dyslexia and background noise.

Harrington's key argument was that Barnbrook at any one time wears three hats: the first for his political position within the BNP, the second as Assembly member for the GLA, and the third of LBBD Councillor.

When Barnbrook made reference to Barking and Dagenham it was by way of an illustration in the same way as he had cited incidents that had occurred in other parts of England.

Counsel for the GLA made it clear that it had never been part of their case that Richard Barnbrook had intentionally given out false information.

Barnbrook's major painting and installation exhibitions between 1971 and 2009 include: Film, theatre and video installations between 1993–1988 include: Designs for shows and spectaculars: The majority of Barnbrook's art work focuses on the theme of landscape, either by representation or choreography and cinemagraphics and much of his output has been characterised by his particular penchant for the environment and his interpretive response to the natural world.

[22] In statements made before he met Clarke, however, Barnbrook was quoted as saying, apropos her relationship with Yat-Sen Chang and their daughter, Olivia, "I'm not opposed to mixed marriages but their children are washing out the identity of this country's indigenous people."