An anti-Muslim street protest organisation which emerged as the British National Party (BNP) was collapsing and [around 35,000 people are estimated to have attended their demonstrations](https://www.demos.co.uk/files/Inside_the_edl_WEB.pdf) through the course of their existence. Led by former BNP member Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, who showed no interest in leading a political organisation. The EDL rapidly fell apart and a brief dalliance with electoral politics went nowhere. Yaxley-Lennon was more interested in building his own profile and raising money in donations from his supporters.