The Metropolitan Police has banned the UK Independence Party (Ukip) from protesting in Whitechapel this Saturday, explaining that it could cause “serious disorder”.
Cdr Nick John from the force said: "Tower Hamlets has the largest percentage of Muslim residents anywhere in the UK and the prospect of this protest taking place in the heart of the borough has been the cause of significant concern locally.
"It is our assessment that there is a realistic prospect of serious disorder if it was to go ahead in the proposed location."
Promoted as a “mass deportations tour”, organisers described the demonstration as a “crusade”, urging supporters to “reclaim Whitechapel from the Islamists” and “take our country back”. In banning the march, UKIP said the police had "caved into the Islamists”.
The right-wing party was founded by Nigel Farage in 1993. He resigned in 2016, and Ukip faced ten leadership changes in five years. Nick Tenconi, COO of Turning Point UK, is now the party leader.
Here’s everything we know about the Ukip leader:
What is Nick Tenconi’s background?
Mr Tenconi was born into a wealthy family from Eastbourne, East Sussex. He says he went to a private junior school, followed by a state secondary school.
He went on to work in sales, then launched his own personal training business, Tenco Training, in 2013.
Mr Tenconi’s political career began when he joined the right-wing group Turning Point UK, an offshoot of Turning Point US, which was headed by Charlie Kirk.
As part of the conservative organization’s mission “to challenge the left leaning bias in our institutions and wider society; expose the far left and end the tyranny of woke ideology”, Mr Tenconi visited universities for student debates.
What does he stand for?
Since becoming Ukip’s leader, Mr Tenconi has made Christian identity politics an important part of UKIP’s campaign.
He’s said that liberalism “breeds degeneracy”, and that British people should “return” to traditional values.
He’s also been outspoken about Britain’s immigration ‘problem’ and said that Brits need to “outbreed the invaders”.
Why is he controversial?
Under Mr Tenconi’s leadership, the UK would pause immigration for five years, including those seeking asylum.
Mr Tenconi said that he will deport “Islamists, communists and those here to subvert our culture and our faith.”
He’s spoken about sending communists and Marxists to North Korea.
Mr Tenconi has also been criticised for his stance on LGBTQIA+ people. On 27 May 2023, Tenconi stood outside a pub to protest Drag Queen Story Hour, a series of child-friendly book reading events by drag artists. He’s said that there are “no such things as pronouns” and that trans people were “something sinister”.
While Mr Tenconi has said that his group were “strong supporters of the LGB community”, his Ukip manifesto includes repealing the 2013 Marriage Act, which allows same sex couples to marry, as well as permitting adoption agencies to discriminate in favour of married heterosexual couples.
What happened with the alleged Nazi salute?
In August, Mr Tenconi was accused of doing a Nazi salute in a video he shared on X.
We are sending them home. 🇬🇧 pic.twitter.com/5al0y6yaWP
— Nick Marcel Tenconi (@NickTenconi) August 8, 2025
The Ukip leader can be seen dancing outside the Royal Beach Hotel in Southsea, Portsmouth, to the 1999 Italian hit 'L'Amour Toujours'.
Organisers of Munich’s Oktoberfest banned the disco track last year after it became an anthem of the German far-right.
Mr Tenconi can be seen putting his fist to his chest and then raising his right arm in the air. He says that the accusation that this is a Nazi salute is “libellous.”
“I have never done a Nazi salute,” he told The Standard.
