A cab driver, he was a leading member of the Conservatives in Tottenham and had stood as a candidate for them in the Greater London Council.
[1] Following his resignation, Painter joined the National Front, rapidly rising to a post on the NF Directorate by 1974.
It has been argued that the vote was as much a personal one for Painter, a popular businessman in Haringey, as it was an endorsement of the NF.
He wrote an article in a 1974 issue of Spearhead entitled "Let's Make Nationalism Popular" which extolled the virtues of this path.
to a seminar organised by Alan Harvey of the Springbok Club and a one time chairman of the Swinton Circle,[14] with whom he had been in the National Party.