On 22 October 2009, Nick Griffin, the leader of the far-right British National Party (BNP), appeared as a panellist on the BBC’s flagship debate programme, Question Time. The decision by the BBC to invite Griffin, the first time the BNP had been represented on the programme, was immensely controversial.

Griffin’s appearance drew a record audience of approximately eight million viewers – more than double the previous record high for Question Time.

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By 2009, the BNP had achieved notable local electoral advances; it had also won two seats and 943,598 votes (6.2%) in that year’s European parliament elections.

Mark Thompson, the Director-General of the BBC, defended the decision to invite Griffin on this basis. He argued that the BNP had “demonstrated a level of support that would normally lead to an occasional invitation to join the panel on Question Time.”

In an article for the Guardian, published on 21 October, Thompson added: “It is for that reason – not for some misguided desire to be controversial, but for that reason alone – that the invitation has been extended…

“The case against inviting the BNP to appear on Question Time is a case for censorship”.

In September 2009, the BBC said it was bound to treat all political parties with “due impartiality”.

The decision was met with condemnation from across the political spectrum. Peter Hain, the secretary of state for Wales, accused the BBC of being “apologists” for the BNP.

Hain commented: “I am very sad that the BBC I grew up with and held in such high regard has made one of the biggest mistakes in its proud history… This gift of credibility will last [Griffin] a political lifetime.”

The Welsh secretary maintained that the BNP was “an unlawful body” after a court ruling on its membership policy. The BNP’s constitution restricted membership of the party to “indigenous Caucasian” people.

Hain’s appeal to the BBC Trust to block the appearance failed.

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Griffin’s invitation generated hundreds of complaints to the regulator Ofcom.

Ahead of his appearance, Griffin told supporters: “Never before have we had the chance to present our patriotic, common sense solutions to Britain’s nightmare situation to the public at large in such a prominent fashion.”

On the evening of the broadcast, mass protests organised by anti-fascist groups took place outside BBC Television Centre in London. The corporation was forced to deploy extra security and briefly lock down the building.

The pre-recorded programme featured Griffin alongside the justice secretary, Jack Straw; shadow community cohesion minister, Baroness Warsi; Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesperson, Chris Huhne; and writer, Bonnie Greer.

The panellists were questioned by David Dimbleby as host and moderator.

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In the first question, the panel was asked whether it was fair that the BNP had “hijacked” the image of former prime minister Winston Churchill.

Griffin responded that Churchill would have been a member of the BNP “because no other party would have him for what he said in the early days of mass immigration into this country”.

On one occasion, Dimbleby asked Griffin why he had denied the Holocaust. The host then interjected: “Why are you smiling, it is not a particularly amusing issue?”

Griffin said: “I was very critical of the way in which the Holocaust was, and is, abused to prevent serious discussion.”

He added: “I have changed my mind [about the Holocaust]… one of the key things which makes me change my mind is British radio intercepts of German transmissions about the brutal mass murder of innocent Jews on the Eastern fronts during anti-partisan warfare.”

Griffin also claimed his immigration policy was supported by “84% of the British people” – a claim that was rubbished by subsequent fact-checking.

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In a press conference held on 23 October, Griffin said he was the victim of a “lynch mob” audience drawn from a city that had been “ethnically cleansed”.

He said: “That audience was taken from a city that is no longer British… That was not my country any more. Why not come down and do it in Thurrock, do it in Stoke, do it in Burnley?

“Do it somewhere where there are still significant numbers of English and British people [living], and they haven’t been ethnically cleansed from their own country.”

No BNP politician has appeared on Question Time since Griffin’s 2009 appearance.

At the 2010 general election, the BNP stood 338 candidates, failing to win a seat with 564,331 votes (1.9%). This represented the fifth largest national vote share of all parties that contested the election.

In the 2013 local elections, the BNP fielded 99 candidates but failed to secure any council seats.

Griffin lost his seat in the European parliament at the 2014 European elections. The BNP leader blamed the insurgent UK Independence Party (Ukip) for the result.

Griffin stood down as BNP leader in July 2014.