Top left: graffiti believed to be in Darlington.  Bottom left: 15 September Facebook post by Darlington flagger, Charlie Park.  Right: some comments on Charlie Park's post

Scott Hunter

17 September 2025

Flagging is all the rage these days. In towns across the country Union and St George’s flags are being hung from lamp posts in huge numbers. Darlington serves as a prime example of the current trend, where flagging began in the Firth Moor and Redhall estates and is now spreading to the parts of the town.

Add to this the work of spray painters adorning of a variety of surfaces with wobbly St George’s. While this has been met with universal disapproval, there has been little backlash against the flaggers. Quite the opposite, in fact. A lot of people seem to think the flags make their neighbourhoods look nicer. 

And a lot of those have been accessing the Facebook of leader of the Conservative group on Darlington Council, Cllr Jonathan Dulston, to express their approval, and even to complain if the flaggers haven’t been round to decorate their street yet.



But it hasn’t all been plain sailing. Following complaints from Council workers doing maintenance on lamp posts that they were being subjected to abuse, Cllr Dulston, on 4 September, issued the following statement to calm the situation:

Approve or Disapprove



Meanwhile expressions of disapproval of the flagging have been met with forthright response, as in this exchange, for example:

To be clear, these comments are not Cllr Dulston’s own.  On the other hand, he did comment on an earlier incident where another Darlington councillor was verbally abused after confronting a group of flaggers in the street. When that councillor posted an account of the incident on her own Facebook, in which she referred to her abusers as ‘angry white men’, he reacted with 

Leading to an angry exchange between the councillor and a representative of Darlington Greens:

For Cllr Dulston, who has been a particularly vocal advocate of flagging the operation is entirely to do with showing ‘British pride’. When we wrote to Cllr Dulston, he reiterated his disapproval of the abuse the councillor had suffered. His response is printed in full at the end of this report.

Abuse of those in elected office has become commonplace years. Cllr Dulston himself states that he has also suffered abuse. This led us to question how much cross-party solidarity there is on this issue. We asked the councillor how much support she had received from colleagues from other parties. Her response was that a number of those in the Labour group had contacted her with messages of support, but that Cllr Dulston had not done so.



Who is putting up flags?

There are a number of comments on Cllr Dulston’s social media indicating that people have been putting up flags on their own property. Whether or not the description that these are “peaceful people taking a stand to show their British pride” is not clear. What is clear is that recent activity is in tandem with the displaying of flags on lamp posts. 

Enter local activist Charlie Park. He is the one person named by Cllr Dulston in connection with the flagging operation. When we wrote to Charlie Park recently to ask about flagging he denied involvement, claiming that he was simply displaying on Facebook videos he had been sent by activists. This, however, is at odds with statements he has made on Cllr Dulston’s Facebook, where, amongst other things, he challenged the councillor to stump up some cash to buy flags:

Despite some idiosyncratic punctuation, Park makes it clear that he is, in fact, involved in the flagging operation (we suspect his denial may be simply that he hasn’t been up ladders). Elsewhere, he admits to being involved in the incident in which the Green Party councillor was abused and also that he was involved in the creation of a video (that went viral) intended to ridicule the councillor. A manipulated image of the councillor showing her holding a Union Jack flag also appears on his Facebook. Yet Park is singled out by Cllr Dulston when praising the flagging operation.

British Pride or British Extremism?

In his response to our enquiry, Cllr Dulston, objects to those on the far right who seek to hijack the flagging of the town, and distances himself from them. While the sentiment is encouraging, the fact is that it is inaccurate to describe far right elements in Darlington as having ‘hijacked’ the operation. Insofar as being a supporter of Tommy Robinson/Yaxley-Lennon and encouraging people to attend his ‘Unite Our Kingdom’ march identifies you as a right-wing extremist, Park ticks all the boxes. Here he is on 31 July:

There was a time when attending an event organised by Tommy Robinson/Yaxley-Lennon was accepted as evidence of extreme right-wing sympathies. And Cllr Dulston rejects any suggestion that he promotes this. In his comment to us, he states

“My posts about the flagging in Darlington have been about one thing only pride in our national flag and in the fact that people in our community are choosing to fly it again. I am proud that local people want to celebrate the flag, and I will never apologise for saying so.

“To suggest that this means I support extremist groups is simply wrong. I cannot control which groups try to hijack symbols like the national flag for their own purposes, and I reject entirely any attempt to link me with their agenda. My support is for local residents showing pride in their country, nothing more, nothing less.”



But when Park turned up at the Unite the Kingdom march, Dulston, far from calling him out, sends out a post supporting his action:

This is not the first time that Cllr Dulston has expressed his approval of Park. The following was posted on 30 August:

Here, in addition to providing a link to Park’s Facebook, he links to site called #RaiseThe Flag. This, unlike the apparently similar Operation Raise the Colours, was not known to us. When we checked it turns out to be a slogan put out by an organisation called Turning Point UK. This is the British arm of Turning Point USA, a right-wing extremist organisation set up by the recently assassinated, Charlie Kirk (for the record, Tees Valley Monitor does not condone the assassination but observes that Kirk’s career was as right-wing provocateur promoting racist and misogynist views that many find highly offensive). Not quite the company you’d expect a Conservative councillor who abhors extremism to keep.

Park’s Patriotism

The trouble with modern-day patriots is that they often come with baggage. Charlie Park is no exception to this. He is the owner of DHM Roofing and Building which, in December 2024 (Teesside Live 20 December 2024), was found guilty in his absence of two cases of fly tipping having previously failed to pay a fixed penalty notice. Fly tipping is regarded by some a particularly egregious act of anti-social behaviour. Cllr Dulston is among them and has often posted about it on Facebook.

It's a similar story elsewhere. The Daily Mail (and others) have reported (Daily Mail, 2 September 2025) that the organiser of Operation Raise The Colours, and Manchester flagger, Lee Twamley, is a convicted people smuggler.

When Park posted comment on the incident involving the Green Party councillor, one of his readers, Thomas Tyers of Ferryhill made the following comment in support of Park’s actions:

As this appears to be both an expression of approval of Park’s actions and an exhortation to sexual violence, we contacted Thomas Tyers on social media to ask for clarification. He began with “sorry” and went on to explain that he has mental health issues, is on 19 tablets a day, and must have been having a bad day. Given that he had made an apology to us for his comment, we asked if he would like us to put him in touch with the councillor concerned to apologise directly. He did not reply.

All of this left us wondering if other patriots would find it unacceptable to have these three in the tent. A recent report in the Times exposed the activity of one Anthony Styles, convicted sex offender who concealed his offending history when engaging in right wing private social media groups. When this was revealed, he was removed from the groups in question, which indicates that, in far right circles, there is an upper tolerance limit and known sex offenders are excluded. It is unclear whether fly tipping, people smuggling and harbouring rape fantasies would be similarly handled. 

Back to Darlington: Councillors and Public



Such is the frenzy in Darlington that there are now rival gangs of flaggers. While Park is the one being promoted by Cllr Dulston, there are others, one of whom is collecting donations from local residents in his area to fund the operation. The receipts are on his Facebook:

We can’t help but notice that this particular flagger, while offering the service, does not offer his donors in Redhall value for money. We have found similar flags online priced at 54p per unit for bulk orders. And, for the avoidance of doubt, this flagger’s motivation, like Park’s has nothing to with the Land of Hope and Glory stuff of Cllr Dulston’s imagination. One of his posts makes clear that his motivation is not pride but protest, of the 'our country is broken -make our country great again' type.

Local Politics and Social Media

All of the flaggers are extremely active on social media. As for Cllr Dulston, his involvement in the flagging operation has got him noticed. His Facebook posts on the subject are attracting each around 80 comments. His posts on almost any other topic are barely looked at.

It is difficult to draw definitive conclusions about the real reasons behind the overwhelming approval that the flagging of the town has been met with. Do those who have posted comments on Cllr Dulston’s site simply see it as a way of making the town look nicer? Or are they dedicated supporters of the far right trying to sound innocent? Or maybe people who have heard the right-wing rhetoric and accept its premise simply because they’re not hearing any alternative? Do those who say that the flags look nice, also quietly ‘want their country back’?

While we believe that Cllr Dulston is stepping delicately between engaging local residents on the one hand and indulging far right elements on the other, it’s important to acknowledge that his posts have attracted local public attention to a degree that other councillors can only dream of. Flagging is not a local matter but his posts ‘feel’ local. Presented as an issue of local pride, it is little wonder that he gets a response from certain sections of the public.

As for Labour, most councillors do not post individually, but post by ward. We looked at the Facebook page “Haughton Matters” which has a ‘tea and cake on the village green’ feel about it. Others we looked at were posting generic Labour Party material. Much of what was on the Green Party’s Facebook page was similarly generic, as was the Liberal Democrats. None of them was attracting much social media attention. And neither does their social media warrant it.

The anti-immigrant rhetoric coming from right wing organisations is relentless. But how many people know what the situation is in their own area? Has any group seen to it that the public know that in mid-2023, at the height of the influx of refugees into the country, the quota of (approved) asylum seekers to be housed in Darlington was raised by the Home Office from 95 to 195? Did any party in the town take responsibility for sharing that with the public? Did any party take responsibility for pointing out, that despite the increase, this hardly amounts to an invasion that undermines the British way of life? 

Defending Elected Officials from Online Abuse

Over the course of this weekend the government has been criticised for having too little to say to counter the toxic rhetoric of the far right.  This is entirely justified, but is, in itself, a reflection of the over-centralised political landscape that persists in this country. The silence is just as problematic at local level as it is at Westminster and no.10.

We therefore wrote to the leader of Darlington Council, Stephen Harker, to question why there was no official response to the intimidation of the Green Party councillor by Park’s associates. We received no reply. In this climate, the abuse of elected officials will continue unchecked. Official public condemnation of the abuse would have been a good start but was not forthcoming. But, in reality, that would have been insufficient.

 It is clear that those who wish to abuse elected officers online have a free hand with no office available to rein that in. There needs to be one, and it needs to be local. The abuse here was not anonymous, yet it was no one’s job to approach them to advise them to curtail their activities. Zero tolerance of abuse is a cross-party issue, and as Cllr Dulston has complained that he too has been subjected to it, we would expect him to support measures to tackle it. Whether cross-party collaboration is possible in the current political environment, however, is uncertain.

And in the current climate, those, who, like Cllr Dulston, are promoting the vogue for flagging, do so fully aware that it is the work of extremists. Given his position as leader of the Conservative group on the council, we might interpret his actions as evidence that, at grass roots level, the Conservative Party is crumbling.  Were it not, then it is not unreasonable to suppose that someone at Conservative Central Office might be casting a critical eye over Cllr Dulston’s new allegiance (but note reporting today in Politico about Kemi Badenoch during an interview on LBC where "Badenoch also refused to acknowledge that campaigner Tommy Robinson was “far right” and declined to say that billionaire businessman Elon Musk’s remarks at a rally on Saturday that attendees should “fight back” or “die” was an incitement to violence.")

Tommy Robinson (Yaxley-Lennon), it appears, now dictates what patriotism is, and Cllr Dulston is happy just to fall into line.

Full statement by Cllr Jonathan Dulston

"Thank you for raising this with me. Let me be absolutely clear: I do not support right-wing extremism, and I utterly condemn any attempt to intimidate elected officials. I have personally been on the receiving end of such behaviour and know exactly how unacceptable it is.

"My posts about the flagging in Darlington have been about one thing only pride in our national flag and in the fact that people in our community are choosing to fly it again. I am proud that local people want to celebrate the flag, and I will never apologise for saying so.

"To suggest that this means I support extremist groups is simply wrong. I cannot control which groups try to hijack symbols like the national flag for their own purposes, and I reject entirely any attempt to link me with their agenda. My support is for local residents showing pride in their country, nothing more, nothing less.

"There is no “underlying threat” in flagging when it is done in the spirit I support: with pride, positivity, and community spirit. The threat lies only with those who seek to twist that pride into division, and I stand firmly against that."

Postscript re. Charlie Park

Tees Valley Monitor corresponded with Charlie Park on four occasions, the first to obtain information about the flagging operation that we believed him and his associates to be undertaking, the last to offer him the right to reply to criticism we have made of his actions.

As we wished to determine how the flags were being paid for, we asked if they were being funded by his company, DHM Building and Roofing.  He turned out to be sensitive to the mention of his company, for reasons that were not immediately apparent to us.  After all, as far as we could see from his social media posts, DHM seems to be successful.  Our search through his posts reveals that on a number of occasions he has sought to recruit workers, as in this one, which is where we obtained his email address:

We find it of some concern that, in the 15 September Facebook post shown at the top of this report, he describes our viewing of his posts as 'stalking', when he himself has put the information into the public domain.  Bizarrely, he also described our report as 'lies' two days before it was published.  Is this evidence of psychic powers?