Some weeks back, a list of members to the neo-fascist group the British National Party leaked to the media. 

The British National Party has lost its membership list – the whole thing has been published online.

The list includes names, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses of all members up to September 2008. It also includes some people’s ages, especially those under 18 – the BNP offers family membership for £40. Many entries also contain more personal comments about jobs or hobbies. That’s how we know that that BNP members include receptionists, district nurses, amateur historians, pagans, line dancers and a male witch.

But line dancers and witches are only part of it.

The British blog Lenin’s Tomb features a breakdown of the occupations represented in the list. The analysis shows a preponderance of prison guards, police and bouncers, as well as the kinds of small business people who traditionally form the core of the ultra-right. But the most interesting statistic is this: seven per cent of the members describe themselves as ‘artists’.

One wonders what the equivalent statistic would be among Australian writers.