Tommy Robinson

Stephen Christopher Yaxley-Lennon (né Yaxley; born 27 November 1982), better known as Tommy Robinson, is a British far-right, anti-Islam activist. Described as "one of [the] UK's most prominent far-right activists", he co-founded the English Defence League (EDL), serving as its leader from 2009 to 2013. Before the EDL, Robinson was a member of the British National Party (BNP), a British fascist political party, from 2004 to 2005. For a short time in 2012, he was joint vice-chairman of the British Freedom Party (BFP). In 2015, after leaving the EDL, he became involved with the development of Pegida UK, a now-defunct British chapter of the German Pegida. From 2017 to 2018, he wrote and appeared in videos on the Canadian website Rebel News. In 2018, he also served as a political advisor to Gerard Batten, then the leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP). Robinson is also known for creating self-produced videos presented in a documentary format, on topics including the grooming gangs scandal. Some of these videos have been found in court to include defamatory false statements about their subjects. Robinson has criminal convictions for assault, threats, harassment, and fraud, as well as contempt of court rulings relating to his videos, and served five prison terms between 2005 and 2025. In June 2022, Robinson said that he lost £100,000 in gambling before declaring bankruptcy in March 2021. He also said he owed an estimated £160,000 to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). In August 2024, The Times said that he owed in the region of £2 million to his creditors, and was the subject of a HMRC investigation over unpaid taxes.