Initially, it called for the compulsory expulsion of non-whites, although since 1999 has advocated voluntary removals with financial incentives. It calls for an end to non-white migration into the UK. The party is ethnic nationalist, and it once espoused the view that only white people should be citizens of the United Kingdom. Under Tyndall's leadership, it was more specifically regarded as neo-Nazi. Ideologically positioned on the extreme-right or far-right of British politics, the BNP has been characterised as fascist or neo-fascist by political scientists. By this point the BNP's membership and vote share had declined dramatically, groups like Britain First and National Action had splintered off, and the English Defence League had supplanted it as the UK's foremost far-right group. Concerns regarding financial mismanagement resulted in Griffin being removed as leader in 2014.

This resulted in increased electoral growth throughout the 2000s, to the extent that it became the most electorally successful far-right party in British history. The new leader Nick Griffin sought to broaden the BNP's electoral base by presenting a more moderate image, targeting concerns about rising immigration rates, and emphasising localised community campaigns. A growing 'moderniser' faction was frustrated by Tyndall's leadership, and ousted him in 1999. Instead, it focused on street marches and rallies, creating the Combat 18 paramilitary-its name a coded reference to Nazi German leader Adolf Hitler-to protect its events from anti-fascist protesters.

During the 1980s and 1990s, the BNP placed little emphasis on contesting elections, in which it did poorly. Taking its name from that of a defunct 1960s far-right party, the BNP was created by John Tyndall and other former members of the fascist National Front (NF).

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