A MIDLAND BNP candidate who likes to dress up as a German trooper to re-enact World War Two battles, has denied having any sympathy with Adolf Hitler or the Nazis.
Double glazing boss Karl Newman, aged 48, who is standing as a BNP candidate for Redditch in Thursday's local elections, collects and sells Nazi memorabilia on his website.
"If I thought there was any link between the BNP and Nazis, I would resign tomorrow," said Mr Newman, who is standing in Redditch's Greenlands ward.
"I don't agree with what the Nazis did and the Holocaust was appalling. I used to take part in battle re-enactments but I haven't done much of that lately. I have only been in the BNP for a year. I am not a racist. I have Jamaican and Asian friends and a Polish employee."
Mr Newman, who runs Redditch-based Mount Pleasant Windows Ltd, has now removed several photographs bearing swastikas from his website and erased Nazi memorabilia.
But a spokesman for the group Unite Against Fascism, said: "Karl Newman's Nazi obsession is sickening."
And Jaqui Smith, Labour MP for Redditch, said: "Redditch people are decent and tolerant. I am shocked that someone seeking to be an elected representative celebrates the Nazis."
