Police chiefs have issued a warning to all their officers that they will be sacked for being members of the British National Party.
The Association of Chief Police Officers has outlawed joining the far right BNP for any officer or civilian member of police staff in England and Wales.
ACPO President Chris Fox said he is personally “extremely pleased” by the move.
Mr Fox said: “Under this policy no member of the police service, whether police officer or police staff, may be a member of an organisation whose constitution, aims, objectives or pronouncements contradict the general duty to promote race equality.
“This specifically includes the BNP and we anticipate that non-compliance will result in dismissal.”
ACPO introduced the policy through a change to regulations which govern the conduct of police and support staff and it was unanimously backed at a meeting of chief constables earlier this month.
BNP press officer Phil Edwards claimed it would lead to a “witch-hunt” and had been forced by political pressure from the Home Office.
“I know a lot of coppers who support the BNP and quite a few who are in it,” he said.
“This is the sort of thing they used to do in the Soviet Union, removing peoples’ democratic right to join a legal political party.”