First things, first – props go out to Dizzy & Tim (read the comments) for a tidy piece of detective work in tracing the recently launched Labour List clone, Labourist, back to a Matthew Birks, a British ex-pat, currently living in Canada and for flagging up a possible connection to Chris Birks, who, it appears, may be currently dividing his time between a day job as a radio presenter on Mansfield 103.2 and a political sideline as the branch chairman of North East Derbyshire Conservative Future.

Superficially, a connection between the two seems possible as, prior to shipping out to Canada, Matthew Birks was born, according to his bio, in Nottingham, although our Matthew has been living out of the area since 2000 and Birks seems a fairly common surname in and around Nottingham. So, maybe not a brother but perhaps a cousin or similar relative.

Chris, if he’s involved, is an altogether more interesting character, not because he works in radio but because it appears that, until September 2006 he may well have been a member of the BNP, or that seems to be the possibility as there’s a Chris Birks on the leaked list of BNP members, living at an address in Alfreton, Derbyshire (10 miles from Mansfield) who’s listed as a ‘media worker’.

There’s also, so no one gets the wrong idea,  there is a Matthew Birks listed at a Nottingham address on the same membership list, but a quick check indicates that its not our Matthew, as the BNP’s Matthew is currently living at the given Nottingham address and appears to be, at most, 2o years old. Another possible familial connection – maybe, but its impossible to tell without going after a bunch of birth and marriage records, and I’ve neither the time nor the inclination to spend any cash on this.

Anyway, getting back to Chris Birks, there’s only one Chris Birks listed as living in Alfreton and he’s a Christopher D Birks – and by no great coincidence, Radio Mansfield’s Chris Birks is a ‘Christoper David’.

Oh, and a search for Chris Birks in Mansfield, itself, draws a blank in fact, there appears to be only two Chris Birks listed on the electoral register for the whole of Derbyshire, and as the other appears to be in their late 20′s or early 30′s and lives in Chesterfield, then it seems a fair bet that Christopher David Birks, the radio presenter is the same Chris Birks who chairs a branch of Conservative Future in North East Derbyshire AND the Chris Birks who was, until September 2006, a full paid up member of the British National Party.

Somehow,I get the feeling that when Derek Draper get wind of this, CCHQ may be fielding a few phone calls.

UPDATE

There’s a rather interesting story about Chris Birks and his BNP membership in my next post…

UPDATE – 28 Jan

If you check the comments, you’ll see that Matthew Birks has put in a personal appearance to deny any connection to ex-BNP member, Chris Birks, and I’ve no particular reason to doubt that assertion, that seems to close the book on the possibility of a BNP connection to the Labourist spoiler site.

So, one story becomes two separate but none the less interesting stories.

There’s Matthew Birks who, when he’s not setting up spoiler websites using false registration information, appears to be into making Twat-o-Tron type complaints to the BBC…

The BBC News website is showing an unpleasant and offensive photograph of Gordon Brown, alongside a planted story relating to Brown’s self described ‘ambitious’ and ‘co-ordinated’ recovery plan for the UK economy. There must be some mistake. I think an unfiltered Government press release has accidently been published rather than an unbiased and objective news story. Perhaps you will take a look at the issue and ensure that no more Government press releases make it onto the BBC News website. Thanks.

And then there’s Chris Birks, who might just have got away with bullshitting the press over his BNP membership had Matthew not been just a little more open and honest in his activities.