BNP candidate stands in York AND Edinburgh

The British National Party was today accused of "blatant opportunism" after it emerged its leading candidate in York was simultaneously seeking election to the Scottish Parliament.

Ian Dawson is standing in next month's City of York Council election for Acomb ward, where he says he will put local people first. He is one of nine BNP candidates in the city, but The Press has learned that, on the same day as he is trying to win a foothold in York, Mr Dawson is aiming to win a seat in Scotland, through the regional party list system.

In his campaign literature, Mr Dawson writes: "I will be a strong voice for local people." But, were he to win both seats, it would mean that at the same time as representing his 7,700 Acomb constituents on the council, he would also be representing about 550,000 Scottish voters, 210 miles away at Holyrood.

Ben Drake, of the York branch of Unite Against Fascism (UAF), said: "It shows the BNP's blatant opportunism. They have no real commitment to local people. They just want to exploit issues to build themselves up. All they will bring to our city is division and conflict."

Conservative agent John Galvin said: "They are not credible, and should be treated with contempt."

York Labour leader Dave Merrett said: "I think it's important people see through some of the more positive glosses to see the extremely unpleasant individuals and regime behind the BNP."

But Mr Dawson hit back, and claimed he could realistically do a good job in both authorities. He said: "I don't think it is a problem. I would proportion my time between both places if I was to win both. I will be going for both, and we will see what happens."

Mr Dawson said he was "not bothered" what UAF said, given they were not standing for election. He denied he would be unable to represent York residents from Scotland, or vice-versa, saying such claims were "complete and utter nonsense". He said: "Is Gordon Brown less committed to his Scottish constituency, just because he spends lots of time in London?"

Mr Dawson said his partner was Scottish, he loved the country, and spent a lot of time there. He said: "I am going to give as many people as possible a chance to vote BNP."

Standing for, or sitting on, two autonomous authorities is not illegal under electoral law.

Liberal Democrat leader Steve Galloway said: "How could anyone seek to represent two separate communities on two different Government bodies 200 miles apart? Fortunately, few York people are showing any signs of being duped by this gang of opportunists."

The Scottish voting system

Minority parties have more chance of success in Scotland, due to the proportional representation voting system.

For the Scottish Parliament, party lists of candidates are used to "top up" the constituency seats so if, for example, a party wins five per cent of the vote in a region, they get five per cent of the seats. This helped parties such as the Green Party and Scottish Socialist Party do well in the 2003 elections.

The BNP have always been less popular in Scotland than England.

The Press