ROGUE OF THE YEAR

"The ASeekers 'Rogue of the Year 2026' award goes to Ryan Bridge, co-founder of the anti-immigrant group Raise the Colours, whose contradictory relationship with immigration enforcement reached new depths of hypocrisy this year. Despite his criminal conviction for smuggling refugees into the UK and being reportedly wanted in Spain for multimillion pound offences, Bridge spent 2026 leading flag-raising campaigns against immigration while spewing anti-immigrant rhetoric. His arrest in Oxford in March 2026 for racially aggravated harassment, followed by another arrest for illegally hanging Union Jack flags in defiance of local councils, exemplified his pattern of lawless behavior disguised as patriotic activism. Bridge's toxic influence throughout 2026 demonstrated how convicted smugglers can rebrand themselves as anti-immigration crusaders while actively undermining both refugee protection and legitimate political discourse."