'Amateur' BNP chiefs ruined election chances

The British National Party candidate in the Cranbrook by-election vowed to never stand again following a crushing electoral defeat. Anthony Young, 77, of Belgrave Road, Ilford, criticised his party's leadership and the management of his campaign after he won just 37 votes.

He said: "The scruffy and amateurish-looking leaflet distributed only on the Tuesday evening, some 36 hours before the polls opened - and to at the most, some 400 people carefully selected from the register as having British, European or Jewish-looking names - cannot have helped. The even more pathetic result than the May 1 GLA figures for the ward was personally painful. I won't stand for election again for anything anywhere. Perhaps in heaven, if I ever get there, it will be different, but frankly, it helps nobody to pretend that someone of my vintage is physically or mentally up to the job."

Before voters went to the polls, Mr Young said he could not understand why he was standing in the election, after Cranbrook ward gained the lowest number of votes out of Redbridge's 21 wards in the May 1 elections.

"If you were to ask me why we bothered to fight this time round, I would have to reply that trying to understand what my party's leadership is thinking is like trying to read the mind of God."

Simon Derby, deputy leader of the BNP, said:"I have no idea why he said that. He shouldn't really be coming up with statements like that. He wasn't pushed into standing. I would suggest that he won't be standing again.

Ilford Recorder

Brief review of last night’s election results for the BNP and National Front

This article was submitted by one of our readers, Hexapla. We welcome any contributions from our supporters (as long as those contributions conform to the law and are in reasonably good taste). Please send your articles to us via email.

Last night’s crop of four by-elections produced a set of rather lacklustre results for two of Britain’s leading fascist and racist parties, the BNP and National Front.

In the Cranbrook ward by-election, the BNP came last with just 37 votes or 1.4% of the overall vote:

Con 1,625 (60.0%)
Lab 729 (26.9%)
LD 318 (11.7%)
BNP 37 (1.4%)

The Cranbrook result is highly disappointing for the BNP (even more so as the Conservatives, who won, fielded an Asian candidate). The Cranbrook ward is situated in Redbridge, a key target area for the BNP, on the fringes of east London. Redbridge already has one sitting BNP councillor with neighbouring areas several more (the paucity of BNP votes in Cranbrook has echoes of the December 2007 Canons ward by-election result in Harrow, where the BNP also came last with only 56 votes).

Perhaps the most disappointing result for the BNP was its faltering regression in one of its electoral strongholds, Kirklees. In the Dalton ward by-election the BNP attained only 157 votes or 4.54% of the overall vote, dramatically down from the 460 votes or 10.77% of the vote it achieved earlier in May:

Labour 1397 (40.48%)
Lib Dem 1155 (33.46%)
Con 605 (17.53%)
BNP 157 (4.54%)
Green 103 (2.98%)
Ind 34 (0.98%)

Dalton result in May 2008

Lib Dem 1467 (34.33%)
Lab 1303 (30.50%)
Con 830 (19.43%)
BNP 460 (10.77%)
Green 212 (4.96%)

The Dalton by-election witnessed a lower voter turnout than in May. Traditionally, lower voter turnout favours the BNP, helping it to bolster its share of the vote. However, as the result shows, the BNP, for whatever reason, failed to capitalise on what is normally an inherent advantage for it. What will be a key test of the BNP’s electoral strength in Kirklees is the upcoming Dewsbury East ward by-election, inaugurated by the decision of BNP councillor, Colin Auty, to quit the BNP following his recent failed attempt to remove Nick Griffin as leader of the BNP.

Turning to the Wigan West ward by-election, the BNP came forth with 200 votes or 9.39% of the overall vote, down from the 264 votes or 13.78% of the vote it achieved last September:

Labour 817 (38.3%)
Conservative 528 (24.78%)
Liberal Democrat 344 (16.14%)
BNP 200 (9.39%)
UKIP 124 (5.82%)
Community Action 118 (5.54%)

Wigan West result in September 2007:

Lab 837 (43.68%)
LibDem 464 (24.22%)
BNP 264 (13.78%)
Com Act 219 (11.43%)
Ind 72 (3.76%)
Green 60 (3.13%)

The Haltemprice and Howden by-election, returning David Davis, saw the National Front just managing to beat the one-woman novelty party, Miss Great Britain Party, with 554 votes or 2.19% of the overall vote. Interestingly, the BNP did not field a candidate for this by-election:

David Davis (C) 17,113 (72.06%)
Shan Oakes (Green) 1,758 (7.40%)
Joanne Robinson (Eng Dem) 1,714 (7.22%)
Tess Culnane (NF) 544 (2.29%)
Gemma Garrett (Miss GB Party) 521 (2.19%)
Jill Saward (Ind) 492 (2.07%)
Mad Cow-Girl (Loony) 412 (1.73%)
Walter Sweeney (Ind) 238 (1.00%)
David Craig (Ind) 135 (0.57%)
David Pinder (New Party) 135 (0.57%)
David Icke (ND) 110 (0.46%)
Hamish Howitt (Freedom) 91 (0.38%)
Christopher Talbot (SEP) 84 (0.35%)
Grace Astley (Ind) 77 (0.32%)
George Hargreaves (Ch P) 76 (0.32%)
David Bishop (Elvis) 44 (0.19%)
John Upex (Ind) 38 (0.16%)
Greg Wood (Ind) 32 (0.13%)
Eamonn Fitzpatrick (Ind) 31 (0.13%)
Ronnie Carroll (History) 29 (0.12%)
Thomas Darwood (Ind) 25 (0.11%)
Christopher Foren (Ind) 23 (0.10%)
Herbert Crossman (Ind) 11 (0.05%)
Tony Farnon (Ind) 8 (0.03%)
Norman Scarth (Ind) 8 (0.03%)

For those interested readers, the National Front candidate, Tess Culnane, is a former failed BNP candidate (who recently stood in the London Assembly elections) who lost her libel action against a Liberal Democrat candidate and his agent.