Ashlea Simon, co-leader of far-right group Britain First and romantic partner of the organisation’s founder Paul Golding, has announced that she is leaving the party and will henceforth operate as an independent activist.
The announcement offers no explanation for her departure, but has fuelled speculation about her personal views and her relationship with Golding.
Simon has been the public face of Britain First’s electoral operation since joining in 2019.
Born and based in Salford in 1988, she rose rapidly through the ranks, being appointed party chairman before being elevated to co-leader at the spring conference of 2024.
In that role, she headed the political and electoral work while Golding concentrated on street activity.
Significantly, she has also been posting online that civic nationalism (which defines a nation through shared citizenship, political values, laws and civic participation) is dead and that ethno-nationalism (which defines a nation through shared ancestry, ethnicity, culture, language, religion or bloodline) is the only way forward.
Golding’s previous deputy, Jayda Fransen, was also his romantic partner, and when that relationship collapsed it ended in acrimony. Fransen subsequently alleged that Golding had subjected her to physical violence on multiple occasions.
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Ashlea Simon frequently portrays mass immigration, particularly from Muslim-majority countries, as an existential threat to England’s ethnic English identity, culture and safety.
Her posts blend historical nostalgia, Christian symbolism, and direct calls to “put England first,” making her one of the most visible public faces of Britain First’s brand of street-level nationalist activism.
Her rhetoric emphasises remigration (mass deportation) as the solution to demographic change. Following incidents involving non-native perpetrators, she has called for “TOTAL REMIGRATION” and argued that “Europe needs remigration” to protect native children from “savages who don’t belong here.”
She openly identifies with ethno-nationalism, asserting that “English blood is white” and that England belongs to the ethnic English people built by “white English hands.”
Simon’s criticism of Islam is explicit and doctrinal as well as demographic. She has highlighted “Islamist terrorism” — including references to attacks such as the murder of Lee Rigby and the Manchester Arena bombing — alongside grooming scandals, framing Islam as expansionist and incompatible with British and Christian society.
