The EDL originated from a group known as the "United Peoples of Luton", which itself was formed in response to a March 2009 protest against Royal Anglian Regiment troops returning from the Afghan War organised by the Islamist group Al-Muhajiroun and including members of the group Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaah. The EDL evolved from the football casual subculture and is loosely organised around figures in hooligan firms. When the Luton counter-demonstration led to arrests, local football supporters, using social networking websites, collaborated with other football casual groups, including those associated with hooliganism. The organization has been described as Islamophobic.

The EDL leadership has estimated that the EDL has 100,000 members. A research group has given a lower figure of 25,000 to 35,000 members.

 EDL源於一組被稱為“聯合國盧頓人民”，這本身就形成了2009年3月返回伊斯蘭組織的Al-Muhajiroun組織的阿富汗戰爭，包括成員的抗議皇家盎格魯團部隊響應組Ahlus聖訓沃爾瑪Jamaah。 EDL演變而來足球休閒的亞文化和周圍組織鬆散的數字流氓公司。當盧頓反示威導致逮捕，當地足球的支持者，使用社交網站，與其他足球休閒群體，包括那些與流氓行為。該組織已被形容為仇視伊斯蘭教。

估計，EDL EDL領導，擁有100,000名成員。一個研究小組已經給出一個較低的數字為25,000至35,000名成員。

EDL membership figures are not clear. Nigel Copsey notes that "There is no official membership card, or fees/subs as such". This, he suggests, allows the advantage of not having a membership list to leak In October 2009, the EDL claimed to have thousands of members in scores of branches and the organisation's spokesman Trevor Kelway explained that about 300 active supporters attended demonstrations with support from Cardiff, Swansea, Luton and Portsmouth. At the time "an analyst" claimed the group had between 300 to 500 active supporters that it could mobilise at any given time. Researchers have suggested that the EDL is unusual among far-right groups, because it seeks to attract non-white support, but its discourse is seen as "one that reflects that of the BNP and others albeit tailored to be more inclusive and by consequence, more relevant to contemporary Britain’s inherent diversity".^[8][33] However, scholarly fieldwork into the group has suggested that racism and Islamophobia "may well be more commonplace among the EDL’s ‘rank and file’ than the group’s leaders would publicly admit," and at least one of their marches was heavily promoted on the fascist and white supremacist website "Stormfront."

EDL成員數字尚不清楚。奈傑爾·科普塞指出，“有沒有正式的會員卡，或費用等。”此，他建議，允許不有一個成員名單洩露的優勢。在2009年10月，EDL聲稱有分數分行數千名成員，和該組織的發言人特雷弗Kelway解釋，約300積極支持者參加示威，支持從加的夫，斯旺西，盧頓和朴茨茅斯當時“一分析師稱：”本集團有300到500之間，它可以在任何給定的時間內調動的積極支持者。研究表明，EDL是極右團體之間的不尋常，因為它旨在吸引非白人的支持，但其話語被看作是“一個反映，儘管法國和其他定制更具包容性和通過的後果，更相關的當代英國的固有的多樣性“。然而，學術實地調查入組已建議種族主義和仇視伊斯蘭教的”以及更加普遍的EDL的“職級和文件'比該集團的領導人之間將公開承認，“至少有一個法西斯和白人至上主義網站”暴鋒大力推廣他們的遊行。