(PORTSWOOD, SOUTHAMPTON) Anti-asylum demonstrations returned to the Highfield House Hotel in Portswood this afternoon as the group Southampton Patriots rallied outside the building where asylum seekers are being housed, drawing a louder and larger counter-protest that once again outnumbered them. Police officers formed a barrier between the two sides along the busy road, keeping traffic moving and tempers in check as chants, music and drumbeats carried down the street.
Witnesses and participants said the Southampton Patriots arrived with Union Jacks and St George Cross flags, a portable speaker pumping pop songs, and a familiar set of slogans. Chants of “refugees aren’t welcome” rang out, along with songs laced with expletives aimed at Prime Minister Keir Starmer. The show of force was mirrored on the opposite pavement by an array of counter-protesters—local residents, charity volunteers, clergy and musicians linked to groups including Southampton Action and Stand Up To Racism—who held banners welcoming refugees and formed a loose cordon of their own outside the hotel’s entrance.
Police counted around 40 anti-migrant protesters at a recent Friday gathering, compared with about 120 counter-protesters standing opposite, a ratio that has become typical in Portswood. Officers said around 20 police were on duty for that event, with another van parked a short distance away in case numbers swelled. That pattern held today, with a visible uniformed presence keeping the groups apart and trading friendly farewells with counter-demonstrators as the protest thinned.
For many of the counter-protesters, the reason to come each week is as immediate as the hotel doors behind them. Joan, a local resident standing with a small “Welcome” sign, said:
“I’m here because they’re here,”
referring to the asylum seekers inside. Others spoke about the fear and isolation they say people in the hotel feel when they hear jeers and chants outside their windows. Nikki, from Southampton Action, said:
“It’s important that the people in the asylum hotel know that they aren’t alone and people welcome them. I personally know a lot of the people in the hotel and I know how scared they are.”
Carol, a regular attendee carrying a thermos and spare gloves to hand out in the evening chill, said:
“I’m here to support immigrants who need as much help as they can get, not abuse.”
The Southampton Patriots have staged regular Friday evening demonstrations outside the Highfield House Hotel since early summer 2025, sometimes shifting to weekend afternoons and periodically drawing larger crowds when far-right activists from outside the city join. The protests have become a standing fixture in Portswood, where shoppers, students and commuters pass through the narrow stretch of road lined with takeaways and terraced houses. Each week, officers set up cordons early, clearing bus stops and shopfronts to prevent bottlenecks as both sides assemble.
Organisers and police had prepared for a larger spectacle on October 24, 2025, when an anti-migrant march was advertised to move from Southampton Common down to the Portswood hotel. Local groups expressed alarm at the prospect of a rolling demonstration converging on a residential area around the dinner hour, and residents along the route worried about noise and blocked streets. On that date, police increased their presence and monitored the route to the hotel. In the end, officers said order was maintained in the neighborhood, though tensions rose as marchers filtered toward the hotel and counter-demonstrators rallied in response.
While today’s protest remained mostly peaceful, the noise was unrelenting. Drums pounded in time to chants on the counter-protest side, while the Southampton Patriots took turns leading slogans through a handheld amplifier. A handful of passersby stopped to watch, filming with their phones before moving on. Taxi drivers honked as they crawled past. Hotel curtains shifted as silhouettes moved behind the glass. The atmosphere is familiar to those who attend weekly: a bristling standoff, carefully managed by police, that rarely tips into confrontation on ordinary nights but can sharpen quickly when numbers grow and outsiders arrive.
Some counter-protesters framed their attendance as a direct response to what they see as a darker shift in national politics. Tim, standing near the hotel gates, said:
“I feel the government has appeased them,”
pointing across the road at the anti-migrant protesters and arguing that official rhetoric has emboldened harassment of refugees. Peter, who has been at several demonstrations, used starker language about the trend he fears is taking hold.
“This country is creeping towards fascism if we’re not careful,”
he warned, urging bystanders to keep showing up so asylum seekers see friendly faces as well as hostile ones.
Police officers in high-visibility jackets patrolled the line between the two groups, stepping in when a demonstrator edged too close to the central barrier or tried to cross the street. They reminded protesters to keep the pavement clear and asked a pair of drummers to lower their volume during a particularly loud stretch. As the evening wore on and the crowd thinned, officers exchanged easy words with counter-protesters and offered directions to bus stops, an end-of-night routine residents say has become part of the weekly choreography.
The numbers are telling. Recent Fridays have seen around 40 anti-migrant protesters gather under the Southampton Patriots banner, facing roughly 120 counter-protesters—about three to one—who come from church groups, community networks and national anti-racism organisations. On those nights, about 20 officers are on the pavement, with another van on standby nearby. In a setting that often becomes a numbers game, the larger crowd has consistently been those who say they are there to defend the asylum seekers’ dignity and safety.
The anti-migrant protesters’ tactics have remained steady: flags, chants, and music intended to project presence and resolve. Their critics point to the hotel setting as a vulnerable site, housing people who have fled conflict or persecution and are awaiting decisions on their claims. This dynamic—bringing weekly confrontation to the door of a temporary asylum hotel—has stirred unease in Portswood and drawn the attention of citywide groups determined to counter it. Counter-protesters have pledged to hold the line for as long as the Southampton Patriots keep coming. One said simply:
“You can’t let racism and inhumanity stand without opposing it.”
The Highfield House Hotel sits near a junction where the road narrows, a place that amplifies sound and funnels crowds into tight spaces. Police say the layout demands careful planning: early deployment, clear separation, and rapid response if tempers flare. Most weeks pass without serious incident, but officers acknowledge flashpoints when numbers swell or when far-right activists from outside Southampton arrive and try to push through the police line. On a few occasions, confrontations have broken out between anti-migrant protesters and members of the local Muslim community who came to challenge them; each time, police intervened to restore order and move groups apart.
Portswood’s weekly standoff echoes a wider pattern seen across the country, where protests around asylum hotels have sometimes turned violent, ending in clashes, arrests and injuries. Here, however, police say they have kept a lid on escalation in recent weeks. The balance is fragile, and officers rely on fixed routines to reduce risk: separate arrivals, fixed areas for each side, constant movement along the barrier, and quick dispersal once the event winds down.
For residents, the scene has become a Friday fixture. Shopkeepers stack their sandwich boards inside as the first flags appear. A vicar from a nearby church might wave across at students carrying a banner. Charity volunteers share tea and snacks from tote bags and keep a lookout for families passing through. The counter-protest has its own rhythms: a welcoming chant, a steady drumbeat and, at times, a singalong that tries to drown out the Southampton Patriots’ loudspeaker. The tone can be defiant but is typically measured, anchored in a message aimed at the hotel’s residents rather than directed across the street.
The Southampton Patriots’ line is just as consistent, though more abrasive. The chant “refugees aren’t welcome” is repeated often, punctuated by songs that include expletives directed at Prime Minister Keir Starmer. They frame their presence as pressure against housing asylum seekers in local hotels. Residents who oppose the protests argue that the weekly gatherings amount to intimidation of people with few options. The argument plays out in shouts and replies across a public thoroughfare, under the watch of officers who try to keep words from turning into shoves.
Expectations of larger turnouts remain a concern. The planned march on October 24, 2025 from Southampton Common to the hotel illustrated how the protest could spill beyond a single block, pulling in people with fewer ties to Portswood and raising the risk of confrontation along the route. Even on ordinary nights, officers keep an extra van on standby, anticipating the moment when the crowd swells or tempers turn. Counter-protesters say they prepare too, calling networks to bolster numbers quickly if they hear the Southampton Patriots plan a bigger push.
Recent Fridays have followed a similar script. The anti-migrant protesters arrive first, line up with flags and open with music. Counter-protesters gather soon after, setting out banners that say refugees are welcome and clustering at a distance from the hotel entrance to leave space for residents. Organisers coordinate over phones, watching for known faces in the crowd who have caused trouble at previous events. Officers drift between groups, stepping in when voices hit a hard edge and a few people push toward the barrier.
A Friday earlier this month illustrated the pattern in numbers: roughly 40 anti-migrant protesters on one side, about 120 counter-protesters on the other, and around 20 police in between, with another van stationed outside the immediate scene. By the end of the evening, officers saw both crowds peel away in twos and threes. As the counter-protesters left, police exchanged nods and a few friendly words—part of a quiet coda to a noisy night. Those present said the same routine played out today, with a similar split in the crowd and a familiar ending as the music faded and banners were rolled up.
For those supporting asylum seekers at the hotel, consistency matters as much as numbers. Nikki’s message to the people inside remains direct and personal.
“It’s important that the people in the asylum hotel know that they aren’t alone and people welcome them. I personally know a lot of the people in the hotel and I know how scared they are.”
Others echoed that worry, arguing that a weekly show of solidarity can help counter feelings of fear and isolation when chants drift through open windows. Carol framed her presence in practical terms:
“I’m here to support immigrants who need as much help as they can get, not abuse.”
Officials have not announced changes to the asylum arrangements at the Highfield House Hotel, and no major incidents have been reported in recent weeks in Portswood despite concerns about larger marches and the involvement of outside activists. Nationally, the asylum system and the use of hotels remain deeply contested, with official guidance available on the UK Home Office asylum process page. Locally, the debate plays out at street level each week, and for people living near the hotel, the sight of flags and banners on a Friday is no longer unusual.
As the crowd dispersed tonight, a line of officers stood watch until the last drums and chants faded. Across the road, a small group from Southampton Action huddled briefly to plan for next week. A few anti-migrant protesters lingered, folding flags and stowing the speaker. The hotel entrance remained quiet. Regulars on both sides say they expect the routine to continue as long as the building houses asylum seekers and the Southampton Patriots keep calling their supporters out.
The dates and headcounts have started to blur for those who turn up each week, but certain markers stand out. The larger push around October 24, 2025 tested police planning and community nerves. A recent Friday with roughly 40 anti-migrant protesters, 120 counter-protesters and 20 officers cemented the ratio that has held across the autumn. And the steady metronome of weekly gatherings since early summer 2025 has bound this corner of Portswood to a broader national argument about who gets to feel welcome—and who decides.
Today’s exchanges ended, as they often do, with small gestures. A constable waved off a driver slowing to film. A counter-protester handed a spare pair of gloves to someone headed into the hotel. A Southampton Patriots supporter paused to adjust a flag before heading down the pavement toward the bus stop. Joan’s simple explanation for showing up—
“I’m here because they’re here”
—captured the tug that pulls people back to the same stretch of road week after week. Tim and Peter’s warnings—
“I feel the government has appeased them”
and
“This country is creeping towards fascism if we’re not careful”
—pointed to a broader anxiety that reaches far beyond Portswood.
What began as a local response to an asylum hotel has settled into a ritual that defines Friday evenings on this street. The anti-migrant protesters have their place; the counter-protesters have theirs. Police stand in between, counting numbers, judging tone, ready for the moment a chant becomes a shove. For now, the balance holds. Whether it lasts may depend on what happens the next time a march is called, a crowd grows, or a song with expletives turns into something louder than words. And as long as asylum seekers remain inside the Highfield House Hotel, both sides say they will be back outside, the Southampton Patriots with their flags and speaker, and the people across the road with their banners and drums, keeping vigil until the night ends and the pavements are clear again.
This Article in a Nutshell
Anti-asylum demonstrations by the Southampton Patriots resumed outside Highfield House Hotel in Portswood, prompting a larger counter-protest of local residents, volunteers and campaign groups. Police deployed about 20 officers to form cordons and keep the two sides apart; a van remained on standby. Typical attendance recently has been about 40 anti-migrant protesters versus 120 counter-protesters. Organisers and authorities prepared for a larger march on October 24, 2025, but recent weeks passed with tensions high but no major incidents.
