Christmas Greetings From Nick Griffin!

I don't know about you, but Christmas (or “Winterval”, as we Searchlight-controlled Marxists like to call it. Obviously.) for me wouldn't be the same without mulled wine, good cheer, children singing carols and the sight of Nick Griffin ripping off his hapless Members like some kind of Evil Reverse Santa.

Offered today on the BNP website are “Christian” Christmas Cards. Because, as everyone knows, it simply isn't possible to find such an exotic animal outside the Magical Grotto that is “Excalibur”, the BNP's online tat superstore.

Thanks to the generosity of Alwyn Deacon, Santa Griffin's Chief Elf, a pack of 12 such cards is now available for the astonishing price of just £3.99!

Except, if you go to http://www.davidssales.co.uk/shop/Vprod1.asp?cat=183004045 (see screenshot above) you'll find the same pack of cards (“Retail Price Marked £2.99”) from as little as 59p a pack...

Racists routed in BNP by-elections nightmare

The BNP's long, long run of dire local by-election results continued last night when the racist party failed to regain its Camp Hill ward seat on Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council, losing a third of its vote, and was trounced in Hastings St. Helen's ward on a first outing, netting just 6.2%.

The BNP also lost its Broadway seat on Debden Town Council to a Residents' candidate.

And any hopes the BNP had of salvaging something from another train-wreck night by drawing attention to an obscure town council by-election in Dalston, Cumbria, were dashed when Mick Ashburner, facing opposition only from a Labour candidate, was comprehensively demolished, taking just 15% of the vote.

Nuneaton and Bedworth Camp Hill was another self-inflicted by-election for the BNP, sitting councillor Darren Haywood resigning, according to the BNP, because of work commitments. According to everybody else Haywood had been an "invisible councillor" who had achieved nothing for Camp Hill, and nobody was much surprised when he jumped ship.

Stepping up with hopes of taking Haywood's place was the BNP's West Midlands regional organiser, serial candidate (failed), and mine host of Eliot's Bistro, the ever hopeful Alwyn Deacon.

Eliot's bistro, readers will recall, not only plays host to BNP meetings, but Mr Deacon has been so kind as to extend the hospitality of his premises to the openly Nazi British Freedom Fighters, pictured here enjoying a rousing Seig Heil at the end of a good night out.

While the BNP's Camp Hill campaign was underway its remaining Nuneaton and Bedworth councillor, idiotic Griffin groupie Martyn Findlay, gave updates on the party's progress, referring to HOPE not hate campaigners as the "great unwashed", whose "hate filled sheets" gained votes for the BNP.

Findlay, you may recall, was the BNP's candidate for Nuneaton's Arbury and Stockingford division (Warwickshire County Council) by-election on July 16th - the first post-Euro election in which the BNP vote could be tested against a previous performance. Findlay, expecting a win or a good second in the warm post-Euro glow, was shocked when two thirds of the BNP vote evaporated, its share falling from 25% to 14%.

It was the first sign that something was seriously amiss in BNP-land, and - with one aberration, the rot continues.

No amount of gloss can disguise last night's results as being anything other than a disaster for the BNP - one "real" council seat lost, just 6.2% obtained in another, obliteration in tiny Dalston, and a lost town councillor in Debden.

That'll do nicely.

Results:

Nuneaton & Bedworth Camp Hill ward:

Lab 670 (47.08)
BNP 478 (33.59)
Con 275 (19.33)

27.6% turnout

2008 result

BNP 675 (36.17)
Lab 562 (30.12)
Con 541 (28.99)
Soc 88 (4.72)


Hastings BC St. Helen's ward:

Con 609 (40.65)
Lab 550 (36.72)
LibD 210 (14.02)
BNP 93 (6.21)
EngD 36 (2.40)

2008 result

Con 994 (58.51)
Lab 412 (24.25)
LibD 293 (17.25)

BNP loses another councillor

A shock by-election has been called as a councillor has sensationally stepped down from his post as Camp Hill ward representative.

Darren Haywood has cited `job commitments’ as the reason why he has quit the role a little over a year after he was elected. This means that a by-election will now be held on Thursday, December 10 where people who live in the Nuneaton estate will go to the polls to decide who will represent them at the Town Hall. The 30-year-old’s decision to stand down means that the British National Party (BNP) now only has Barpool councillor Martyn Findley, in the council chamber.

The Nuneaton News has been told that candidates are expected to be put forward by the BNP, the controlling Conservatives and the opposing Labour group.

Mr Haywood’s sudden departure has come as `no surprise’ to the leading faces at the two main political parties, who have claimed that he did not carry out his duties properly to the people he was supposed to serve.

Andrew Burtenshaw, chair of Nuneaton Conservatives said: “The people of Camp Hill have been let down by a faceless BNP councillor. Up and down the country, BNP councillors have a shocking record of failing to deliver for the residents that they serve. In contrast, Conservative councillors in Nuneaton and Bedworth have been focussing on keeping our streets clear of crime and grime and delivering good value for money for our residents.

"People in Camp Hill will now have a choice between a Conservative council that has been spending residents’ money wisely, and a Labour party that spent 34 years allowing money to be frittered away on fountains and supaloos instead of getting the basics right.”

Councillor Dennis Harvey, leader of the Labour group, said that he knows only too well the lack of service given by Mr Haywood as he also represents the Camp Hill ward.

“This does not come as much of a surprise,” he said. “As far as I know, Mr Haywood has attended no meetings of the council since June and the BNP have shown an abysmal interest in representing Camp Hill since their candidate was elected in 2008. The Labour Party has always been at the forefront of representing the interests of Camp Hill and will continue to do so.”

Alwyn Deacon, West Midlands organiser for the BNP, defended Mr Haywood, saying: “I cannot believe that Labour and the Conservatives suggested that we are faceless, I could name some of their councillors who are just there to make up the numbers. He has resigned for his work commitments, he could have stayed on but he felt that it was only fair to give the electorate the choice to decide who they want to represent them because, as a result of his work, he was not able to do that. He has to work, he has a mortgage to pay and he didn’t think it was fair on the people of Camp Hill to suffer because of this.

“We expected to be criticised, we always are, but let me say this, when it came to fighting to try and stop the closure of the green grocers in Camp Hill, the BNP councillors stood shoulderto- shoulder with the people who were protesting. They also voted against an increase in councillor’s allowances and were the only councillors to give their increase to charity, namely the riding centre in Galley Common, so to say we have done nothing is a fabrication.”

Philip Richardson, assistant director for legal and democratic services at the borough council explained the by-election process.

“We are aiming to hold the byelection on Thursday, December 10 this year, to comply with government regulations,” he said. “Residents in the Camp Hill ward who have requested a postal vote will be receiving their forms shortly. They should complete these and return them to the council as quickly as possible.

Anyone who wishes to vote and who isn’t currently on the electoral roll must register by Wednesday, November 25.”

Nuneaton News

2 pints of lager and a packet of BNP leaflets

The BNP website reports:

The British National Party in the West Midlands is expanding once again, reports new regional organiser Alwyn Deacon.

Speaking to BNP News after his first regional council meeting held after the European elections, Mr Deacon said he had already appointed four new organisers, one new fund holder and three new contacts for up and coming areas.

Along with the report, we find a cheery picture of West Midlands BNP activists standing outside a pub:

Take note of the logo in the background. We've seen that somewhere before. Back in April of this year, I noted the activities of the British Freedom Fighters, a gang of openly Nazi skinhead thugs, who had posted photos of themselves out and about, stomping around the streets of an unspecified location and enjoying a beer and sieg heiling session at a pub:

So, where might this pub be, a pub visited by both the jolly West Midlands BNP brigade and the BFF boneheads?

A bit of digging based on street signs and shop names in BFF pictures turned up a bar in Nuneaton called 'Eliotts Bistro'. According to the pub's listing on nuneatonpages.co.uk, Eliott's Bistro offers a 'welcoming and friendly atmosphere' and the contact is given as 'A. Deacon'. Note the logo:

What are the chances of that? The West Midlands BNP regional organiser is one Alwyn Deacon, and his crew are pictured outside a pub run by an A. Deacon. According to a May 2008 Coventry Telegraph report, 'BNP leader Alwyn Deacon, a Nuneaton pub landlord, failed by just 16 votes to oust Labour stalwart Bill Hancox in Bede ward'. This same Alwyn Deacon also stood for the BNP in the recent local election there.

Now either there are two pub landlords in Nuneaton called A. Deacon - one BNP and one non-BNP - and the BNP A. Deacon likes taking his BNP buddies for drinks at the pub of the non-BNP A. Deacon, or BNP organiser Alwyn Deacon is indeed the landlord of Eliotts Bistro. I'm going to take a wild stab in the dark and go with the latter.

Given this, it is interesting that of all the pubs in Nuneaton that the BFF could have chosen for their boozy stiff arm session it just happened to be the pub of BNP activist and landlord Alwyn Deacon. An odd coincidence, no doubt...

Still, for anyone planning a night out in Nuneaton who doesn't relish the thought of spending time at a pub run by a BNP activist, you might like to give Eliotts Bistro a miss.

Edmund Standing at Harry's Place

Thursday's by-elections - still no breakthrough for BNP

Thursday's crop of local by-election results brought no sign of a revival for the electorally moribund British National Party. In only one ward (Southend Shoeburyness) did they improve over their May vote - by 0.5%, their candidate coming fourth out of five standing, with 13.94%.

Elsewhere where the BNP's by-election vote can be measured against its May outings the trend of BNP stagnation and vote leakage continued.

In Worcester St. Clements their vote dropped from 15.8% to 11.67%, a loss of 4.3%, giving them third place in a field of five. In Birmingham Brandwood the loss was 2.65%, down from an already low 8.85% to 6.2%., putting the BNP third in a field of eight.

Sharon Ebanks's rebel New Nationalist Party also stood in Brandwood, scoring a paltry 25 votes (0.5%) - a fact BNP members are already using to take the focus off their own dismal performance. Ebanks's party has for some time been considered a spent force and this result can only further underline its irrelevance.

In Wigan's West ward the BNP's vote loss was marginal. The lack of a Conservative candidate this time around did not help them and it appears that most Tory voters gave their support to the Liberal Democrats, who did not contest the seat in May. With 264 votes (13.78%) the BNP came a poor third to the LibDems, who took 24.22%.

The BNP broke fresh ground in two other wards, obtaining a better result than it claims it expected in Copeland Harbour (Whitehaven) and a worse than expected result in Nuneaton and Bedworth Abbey.

In Copeland Harbour ward BNP candidate Bill Pugh came third of three with 23.44% of the vote, a surprise to the BNP and anti-fascists alike. The turnout was disappointing with only a third of electors bothering to take part, a fact which may have helped the BNP, which conducted an intensive campaign and pulled out all the stops to get its vote out on polling day.

The BNP's biggest disappointment of the night came in Nuneaton and Bedworth's Abbey ward, contested by serial candidate Alwyn Deacon. The BNP believed it might win the ward and never failed to talk up its prospects, BNP deputy leader Simon Darby writing on his blog that the election would be "close" and that he thought the BNP were "in with a chance".

It wasn't to be. The BNP came second in a field of six, mustering 21.49% to Labour's 37.94% - putting the BNP more than 16% adrift and leaving questions to be asked about the effectiveness of its research and the veracity of its canvass returns. The Liberal Democrat vote collapsed back from nearly 36% to just over 19%, the party's supporters switching to Labour as the perceived scale of the BNP threat became apparent in the last days of the campaign.

We have previously said that the months' long picture of BNP vote stall may be interrupted by the odd nasty surprise and the Copeland Harbour result certainly comes close to being that, but overall the story of electoral stagnation continues. It should be borne in mind that these are isolated by-elections and that the BNP is able to concentrate its supporters and finances into these small areas for intensive campaign work, a luxury that will not be available to the party next May.

Even so, while a comparison of last night's votes with those obtained in May (where possible) certainly indicates that the BNP is as far away from a breakthrough as ever, the results from Copeland Harbour and Nuneaton and Bedworth Abbey wards deserve some attention. There was no danger of the BNP being elected in either of these places, but the party has established a strong base vote in both. Though our feeling is that this is as good as it's going to get for the BNP in these wards and that subsequent elections will see their vote fall back, nothing can be taken for granted.

No matter how the BNP spins last night's results - and they will spin them - electorally the party is clearly at bay. We must be frank and admit that pre-May we quietly shared the BNP's expectation that by now we would be dealing with around 100 BNP councillors and recording a number of local by-election successes. That hasn't happened and on current form seems unlikely to happen any time in the near future, pleasing us as much as it has caused bitter disappointment within the BNP - but this relative good news does not mean that we can afford to take our eye off the ball.

The BNP will be looking for ways to break out of its present electoral impasse and we must remain as vigilant as ever. A single terrorist incident or a misguided statement by a leading politician could put a completely different gloss on the situation.

In no small measure the BNP's retreat into electoral stagnation can be ascribed to the unsung and untiring efforts of those small groups of anti-fascists who take the ugly truth of the BNP to the doorsteps of voters come rain or shine. They deserve our gratitude and support. Thank you, boys and girls. Your success is their failure.

Results (May percentages on right):

Birmingham Brandwood
Lab	1998	42.74
Con	1663	35.57
LibDem	285	6.10
BNP	290	6.20	8.85
Green	193	4.13
UKIP	64	1.37
NNP	25	0.53
Ind	157	3.36
Total	4675
Copeland Harbour
Lab	463	44.31
Con	337	32.25
BNP	245	23.44
Total	1045
Wigan West
Lab	837	43.68
LibDem	464	24.22
BNP	264	13.78	13.8
Com Act	219	11.43
Ind	72	3.76
Green	60	3.13
Total	1916
Southend Shoeburyness
Lab	460	23.48
Con	494	25.22
LibDem	66	3.37
BNP	273	13.94	13.41
Ind	666	34.00
Total	1959
Worcester St. Clements
Lab	604	42.48
Con	478	33.61
BNP	166	11.67	15.8
Green	52	3.66
UKIP	122	8.58
Total	1422
Nuneaton and Bedworth Abbey
Lab	807	37.94
Con	329	15.47
LibDem	409	19.23
BNP	457	21.49
Green	115	5.41
Ind	10	0.47
Total	2127