Patrick Harrington (activist)

Patrick Antony Harrington (born 24 May 1964) is a far-right British political activist and writer of Irish Catholic family origins, who has published pamphlets by the Social Credit advocate and former editor of the Liverpool Newsletter, Anthony Cooney, about prominent Catholic writers such as G.K. Chesterton, J.R.R. Tolkien and Hilaire Belloc. He is currently general secretary of Solidarity – The Union for British Workers and a director of the Third Way, a think tank (since 1989). He is a committed and lifelong vegetarian. He has two children and lives in Edinburgh. Harrington was born in Kennington, London, and his secondary education was at the Pimlico Comprehensive School and Tenison's School, both also in London. His further and higher education were at City of Westminster College of Further Education (1980–82), Polytechnic of North London (1982–85), Edinburgh's Telford College (1994–95), West London Technology Centre (1993), Kensington & Chelsea College (1992–93), College of the Distributive Trades (1991–93), University of Greenwich (1997–99) and the University of Northumbria (2011–14). He has described himself as a "life-long vegetarian and pagan". Although he first came to prominence as a leading member of the National Front in the 1980s, Patrick Harrington claims he has undergone substantial ideological change since he voted to disband the NF in 1989. In his profile on the Third Way website, he cites Rabbi Mayer Schiller as a particular influence on this development. Schiller is the subject of a biography on the Third Way website, although his role in the party is unclear. In an interview with Wayne John Sturgeon of Alternative Green magazine, Harrington said:"I voted for the disbandment of the National Front in 1989 which I think speaks for itself. Since that time I have worked with my Third Way colleagues for harmony and progress in our country. There are aspects of my involvement with the NF which I deeply regret. I wasted a lot of time trying to move people to more positive, inclusive positions.