Who were the key figures at the Unite the Kingdom rally in London?

Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, AKA Tommy Robinson

Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon. Photograph: Lucy North/PA

Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, 42, most commonly known as Tommy Robinson, is a British far-right activist who “organised” the Unite the Kingdom march in London on 13 September.

After losing his job as an engineering apprentice for assaulting a police officer, Robinson moved into activism in 2009 by founding the English Defence League (EDL), an Islamophobic organisation forged in the football terraces in Luton before spreading nationally. The EDL was involved in frequent displays of violence, including at a demonstration in Birmingham that led to 50 individuals receiving criminal convictions, but fizzled out shortly after Robinson left in 2013.

Rebranding himself as a “journalist” around 2017, Robinson, took up a role with conspiracy theory-peddling Canadian outlet Rebel News. He has focused on sexual grooming gangs in the UK from predominantly Asian backgrounds and has accused the police of facilitating “the rape of children”. “We have a two-tier police force that treats crimes within the Muslim community differently,” he once said.

Robinson has also warned of a “military invasion” of Europe as hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees – many fleeing the Islamic State extremist group – sought asylum from war. He has published two books, including one titled Muhammad’s Koran: Why Muslims Kill for Islam.

Robinson’s criminal record is lengthy. It includes convictions for violence and financial and immigration frauds. He has been convicted for cocaine possession with intent to supply and for public order offences. He also has convictions for stalking and harassing journalists and has twice been convicted for contempt of court.

Elon Musk

Elon Musk spoke to demonstrators via video link on Saturday, telling them to prepare for violence outbreaks in the UK. Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Reuters

Elon Musk is one of the world’s richest men, the chief executive of electric car maker Tesla and owner of social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. He addressed the Unite the Kingdom protest via videolink, and claimed a “dissolution of parliament” is needed and “massive uncontrolled migration” was contributing to the “destruction of Britain”. He also said “violence is coming” and that “you either fight back or you die”.

Musk, 54, is a US citizen after migrating to the country from South Africa via Canada. He has become increasingly interventionist in politics across the world, most notably since he acquired Twitter in 2022, rebranding it and encouraging the spread of rightwing views.

He has thrown his weight behind several far-right figures. He was the largest donor in the 2024 US presidential election, backing Donald Trump. He also urged Germans to vote for the far-right party Alternative für Deutschland (Alternative for Germany).

In the UK, he has pledged support for the populist party Reform UK, led by Nigel Farage (who was not at the rally), although Musk’s support has been inconsistent. He has been consistent, however, in his repeated attacks on the UK government under Keir Starmer, criticising “free speech” laws and the country’s approach to sexual exploitation of young girls by so-called grooming gangs.

Ant Middleton

Ant Middleton in 2020. He appeared at last year’s Reform UK party conference. Photograph: Ken McKay/ITV/Rex/Shutterstock

Ant Middleton is a British former soldier who served with UK special forces and the Royal Marines. He addressed the crowd at the Unite the Kingdom rally, announcing his decision to run for London mayor in 2028. “We will function under our British cultured umbrella, we will adhere to the boundaries of the umbrella. Doesn’t matter who you are, we will make sure you adhere to it,” he said.

Born in Hampshire, Middleton spent many years in his childhood in rural France and has spoken of how living in another country enriched his life. Now 44, he is most well known for his appearance on the UK television programme SAS: Who Dares Wins as chief instructor of a reality military training television programme.

Middleton has flirted with the Reform party, giving it his support and appearing at its party conference in 2024, and he reportedly formed part of the party’s delegation to Donald Trump’s second inauguration.

He was convicted of the unlawful wounding of a male police officer and the common assault of a female police officer in a nightclub in Chelmsford, Essex in 2013. In March 2025, the Insolvency Service announced he and his wife had been banned from becoming a director of a company for four years following the failure of his company to pay more than £1m in tax.

Ben Habib

Ben Habib leads leads the far-right Advance UK party. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA

Ben Habib previously served as a co-deputy leader of the Reform UK political party and now leads the far-right Advance UK party. He addressed the Unite the Kingdom rally and said he and his party stand for “our constitutional Christian roots”, adding: “We will stand against the indoctrination of our children who taught to be ashamed of our forefathers.”

Habib, 60, was born in Pakistan to a Pakistani father and British mother. He moved to the UK in his teens and attended a private school before attending the University of Cambridge.

He was a supporter of and donor to the Conservative party until 2019 when he stood for the Brexit party in European elections. He was made co-deputy leader of Reform in 2023 but quit over differences with Farage.

In April 2024, Habib suggested in a broadcast interview that some migrants travelling to the UK by boat should be left to drown.

Éric Zemmour

Éric Zemmour, a leading figure on the French far right, addressed demonstrators from the stage. Photograph: Pauletto Francois/Avenir Pictures/Abaca/Shutterstock

Éric Zemmour is a French far-right politician who came in fourth place in the first round of the 2022 French presidential election. He addressed the Unite the Kingdom rally from the stage.

Zemmour has been convicted for inciting racial hatred, attacked by historians for claiming the Nazi collaborator Marshal Philippe Pétain saved French Jews rather than aiding their deportation to death camps, and was described by a French justice minister as a dangerous racist and Holocaust denier.

He spoke at the rally about “the great replacement of our European people by peoples coming from the south and of Muslim culture” and said: “You and we are being colonised by our former colonies.”