The British National Party is a far-right political party in the United Kingdom. The party was formed by John Tyndall in 1982 from the merging of several political parties, and from 1999 to 2014 was led by Nick Griffin. It advocates "voluntary resettlement whereby immigrants and their descendants are afforded the opportunity to return to their lands of ethnic origin." In July 2014, Griffin stepped down as chairman and was replaced with an acting chairman, Adam Walker, a BNP activist from Spennymoor, England, and a former teacher who was banned from the profession for life. As well as anti-immigration policies, the party advocates the reintroduction of capital punishment and opposes same-sex marriage, multiculturalism and what it perceives as the Islamification of the UK. The party's ideology has been described as fascist or neo-fascist by political scientists and commentators, though the party denies this. High-profile groups and people including The Royal British Legion and David Cameron have criticised the BNP, and BNP membership is prohibited for people of certain occupations.