Sticky Post: BNP Candidates 2011

Could you send through any confirmed BNP candidates for this years local elections. I'm going to compile a list and compare it to previous years. Even at this early stage it's not looking good for them. Two candidates in Leeds and none in Sunderland and several ex BNP standing for the English Democrats.
Cheers

Hope not Hate have provided a map with all the details they have of the candidates standing for far right parties which you can find here

Leeds - 2 candidates. Down from over 30 last year
Sunderland - 0 candidates. Down from 27 candidates in 2007
Kirklees - 4 candidates. Down from 20 last year.
Oldham - 0 candidates.
Newcastle - 9 candidates. Down from 22 or 23 last year
Sandwell - 2 candidates. Down from 24 last year
Broxbourne - 0 candidates. Down from 10 last year and a full slate in 08.
Stoke on Trent - 10 candidates.
Walsall - 1 candidate.
Rotherham - 6 candidates. Down from 11 last year.
King's Lynn/W Norfolk 0 candidates. 2 in 2007.
Wigan - 3 candidates. Down from 19 last time
Epping Forest - 0. How many councillors did they have there at one point?
Burnley - 7
Gateshead - 0. 13 stood there last time
Sheffield - 2. 13 or 14 there last time and the lowest total since 2004.
Amber Valley - 5.
Northamptonshire - 12. Seems to be one of the few places with more than last time.
Leicester - 0.
Tameside - 6. Down from 15 in 07
Birmingham - 15. Down from 40 in 06 or 07
Plymouth - 0.
Torbay - 0.
South Hams DC - 0.
North Devon - 0. The South West isn't looking very good for the BNP
Swindon - 1. 6 stood last time
Charnwood - 3. Down from 13 in 07
North West Leicestershire - 1.
Hinckley and Bosworth - 0.
Pendle - 3. 9 stood last time
Solihull - 2. Down from all time high of approx 14.
Wakefield - 2. Down from 19 last year. ouch
South Tyneside - 7. Down from 18 last year.
Colchester BC - 0
Northern Ireland - 4[four]. Don't laugh, it's better than Epping, Leeds and Oldham.
Bradford - 1. Just 14 in total in West Yorkshire.
Bridlington - 0. down from 3 2007
Scarborough - 0.
Beverley - 0.
Harborough - 0.
Allerdale - 6. Jefferson promised 15 candidates for this council.
Copeland - 4. Jefferson promised 15 candidates for this council.
Carlise - 2.
Thurrock - 7. Had 16 candidates in 07 and last year.
Hull - 1. The NF have 5 candidates here
Liverpool - 4.
Salford - 5.
Ashfield - 0.
Dacorum - 0.
Coventry - 13.
Calderdale - 5.
Middlesbrough - 1. No Mayoral candidate either.
Barnsley - 19. 2 off being a full slate.
Bracknell Forest - 0.
North Tyneside - 1.
Cannock Chase - 1.
Lancaster - 0.
Medway - 1.
Manchester - 5.
Trafford - 0
Ashfield - 0.
Dacorum - 0.
Coventry - 13.

A bad, bad day for the BNP - how sad, how very, very sad

This article was submitted by one of our readers, Iliacus. 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.

Griffin's failure in Barking, and the almost laughable performance by Simon Darby in Stoke-on-Trent (in reality the word actually is superfluous - it was a laughable performance, at several levels), have attracted significant media comment - and of course put big smiles on the faces of anti-fascists (and rational human beings!) everywhere.

But in the long term the local council elections may prove to be even more significant in pointing to the BNP's decline. Now once upon a time it was relatively easy to explain the structure of local government in England, but successive piecemeal reorganisations have led to different arrangements in different places so I shall review BNP performance (with passing reference to other parties of the right) by the different types of council. (And at this point I need to point out that what follows is based on the 148 local authorities whose final results are available as of today - the few remaining authorities are unlikely to affect the general picture.)

London Boroughs

I have figures for 15 London Boroughs, all of which feature all-out elections (i.e. the whole council is up for election every four years). In 14 of these the BNP had no councillors, and still have no councillors! The fifteenth of course is Barking & Dagenham, which the BNP was claiming as a target for outright control. They went in holding 12 seats - and lost the lot!

Across the 15 boroughs 868 councillors were elected. The BNP scored...nil.

Metropolitan Boroughs (the 'Mets')

These are the authorities within what used to be the Metropolitan counties (before they were abolished by Thatcher). Areas like South & West Yorkshire, the West Midlands, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, and authorities such as Liverpool, Birmingham, Leeds, Sunderland, Wolverhampton and so on. Their electoral arrangements are different, using election 'by thirds'. Generally they have three-member wards, with one councillor up for re-election at a time - 2010, 2011 & 2012 then starting again from 2014. The 'blank' year (2013, 2017 etc) used to be the Metropolitan County election year.

The BNP had representation on seven of these councils going into this election. In Calderdale and Rotherham they have a single councillor, but not up for re-election this year. In Kirklees, Leeds and Solihull they had single councillors, all due for re-election this year. All lost. In Sandwell they had two councillors. Both faced their electorate this time. Both lost. In Bradford they had two councillors, one of whom (Cromie) was up for re-election. He held on by 15 votes.

To summarise the BNP held nine seats in total. Three were safe, in that they were not up this year. Of the six who were up for re-election five lost.

There was also an English Democrat up for re-election in Calderdale. He lost. Across the Mets in total 824 councillors were elected. The BNP won...one.

Unitaries

These are single-tier local authorities, mostly in larger towns and cities away from the major metropolitan conurbations, ranging from Bristol through places like Hull and Plymouth to towns such as Hartlepool or Southend. There were 19 of them voting this week, and they elect by thirds.

Only two of them had BNP councillors (Stoke and Thurrock), and one (Blackburn) had a single English Democrat councillor - he lost. The sole BNPer in Thurrock was not up for re-election.

In Stoke the BNP was defending two seats - and lost both of them. The BNP group there has now gone from nine members a few weeks ago to five today - two resignations (Alby and Mrs Walker), and two rejections by the electorate. In the Abbey Green ward (won for the BNP by said Mr & Mrs Walker) the result was Labour 1,639; Conservative 1,170; BNP 835; Lib Dem 809; Walker - ex BNP 279; Ind 258.

Across the 19 unitaries 340 councillors were elected. The BNP amassed...no seats!

Shire Districts

These are the district councils in areas which have two-tier structures i.e. district councils and a county council. An example would be Lancashire which has a County Council, but also a series of District Councils (e.g. Burnley, West Lancashire, Preston). Again, they hold elections by thirds.

No fewer than 78 of these councils went to the polls. The BNP had a presence in six of these. In two (Nuneaton and Three Rivers) they have a single councillor on a different electoral cycle, and therefore not up for re-election. In Redditch the sole BNP councillor was up for re-election - and lost. In Burnley two of the four BNP seats were up for re-election - they lost in both (but still have two councillors on a different electoral cycle). In Epping Forest three of their four councillors faced the electorate. They all lost.

In Pendle they had two councillors, one of whom was up for re-election. Sadly, he held on, so 'no change' there.

I may be an election anorak, but even I draw the line at totting up the total number of seats across 78 authorities, but it's around the 1200 mark. Of which the BNP won...one.

Summary

Approximately 3250 seats were up for election last Thursday. The BNP won two of them [is it Old Sailor or Irish Tony who likes percentages? I make it 0.06%!]. They were defending 30 seats - they held two, and lost 28. That's a 7% defence rate - most parties panic if they fall below 60%! They made no gains. By any known electoral standards it was an appalling, disastrous, dreadful performance. They went into the election with representation on 16 councils. On ten of these they also have councillors on different electoral cycles, so could not be wiped out (yet!).

On the six councils where all of their councillors were up for election they were wiped out in all six - Barking & Dagenham, Kirklees, Leeds, Sandwell, Solihull and Redditch. As a poster on the Forum might put it - byebyebnp !

Looking ahead

Local elections held on the same day tend to differ from local elections held on their own. The larger parties tend to perform better as they benefit from their national coverage, and the higher turnout of their 'softer' support. With a lower turnout next year there is no guarantee that the BNP will perform as badly. There is some evidence from Stoke in particular that the BNP is still strong enough to elect councillors if turnout was significantly reduced (and if they could find candidates, which they are finding increasingly difficult). Let's enjoy Thursday's outcome, but there's still work to be done!

Labour candidate assaulted by 'BNP thug'

A Labour candidate has been attacked by a British National Party supporter whilst campaigning in Bermondsey

Cormac Hollingsworth was leafleting an estate on Monday evening when he was
punched three times in the face and kicked. Meanwhile the attacker kept up a stream of insults and shouted pro-BNP slogans. Afterwards the victim's glasses were retrieved nine yards away.

The candidate, who is contesting the South Bermondsey ward in the Southwark Council elections, insisted on completing his leafletting as planned whilst police investigate the incident.

"The community is very much against this," said Cormac Hollingsworth who added that he was active in the area and knew it very well.

He was a Labour candidate in Riverside ward for the 2006 borough election and again in the 2007 by-election. He is fundraising coordinator for anti-fascist campaign group HOPE not hate.

South Bermondsey is the only one of Southwark's 21 wards where there is a BNP candidate in the local elections. The party is also contesting the Bermondsey & Old Southwark parliamentary constituency for the first time since 1997.

London SE1

BNP's three long months (and counting) of by-election misery

There's something of a schizoid feel about the BNP membership's mindset at the moment. Half of them appear to believe that the party's electoral story since the June elections has been one of unremitting glory, while the other half have taken a long cold look at their candidates' dismal post-June local by-election performances and realise that the BNP is in serious trouble.

The leadership has clearly read the runes, and despite repeated claims of on-going progress, has ensured that election reports have largely disappeared from the BNP website. Even Martin Wingfield has been reduced to near silence, while the normally enthusiastic remnants of the party's recently purged blogging army can barely bring themselves to mention the latest embarrassments.

The election of Griffin and Brons, and three county councillors, masked the stark fact that in the middle of what Griffin himself called "the perfect storm" the BNP barely raised its voting percentage. All through the late winter and spring immigration related stories came thick and fast, and to cap it all the expenses scandal broke as the nation geared up to go to the Euro polls.

Conditions in which a fascist and racist party should expect to take mighty electoral strides forward had never been better. What more could the BNP ask for - public concerns about immigration almost continually to the fore and a near universal disillusionment with elected politicians, both intersecting in a notoriously low-turnout election never taken entirely seriously by British voters, and in which electors are prone to give the more esoteric parties the benefit of the doubt.

Yet the BNP did not take mighty electoral strides. Even in the midst of "the perfect storm" it put on less than 2% over its previous performance. By any yardstick that was a dreadful showing, but the unusual circumstances in which the elections were fought masked something even more fundamental, and that is that in anything approaching normal conditions the BNP vote percentage would have gone negative.

Unhappily we are saddled with Griffin and Brons, but that in no way alters the fact that, at the very best, the BNP stalled on June 4th.

Of course, those BNP members thrilled with the election of Griffin and Brons saw nothing but spectacular success, and were in no mood to engage in any sober analysis of events. Certainly, the wiser heads in the leadership were never going to encourage them to look at the disturbing picture behind the apparent triumph, and so the gloating refrains of "Nothing can stop us now" and the perennial "Onwards and upwards" tripped merrily from BNP mouths. So high soared their expectations that many seriously believed the election of the BNP's first MP in Norwich North was a real possibility.

In our report on that by-election we told of how the BNP, clearly having made no impact in the constituency and on course for a thumping defeat, abandoned its cod clerical candidate and his helpers to their fate and ceased to offer any support at all. It was too embarrassing even to mention.

Knocked out in Nuneaton

The week before Norwich North went to the polls the first real indication of the BNP's true electoral position came in a local by-election held in the Arbury and Stockingford (Nuneaton) division of Warwickshire County Council on July 16th.

The candidate was Martyn Findlay, already a sitting councillor on Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council. Findlay claims to be an effective local councillor, and certainly doesn't suffer from a shortage of publicity. He had the advantage of having been the BNP's candidate in the Arbury and Stockingford division just six weeks previously, on June 4th, when he scored a respectable 25% share of the vote.

With a 25% launchpad Findlay, buoyed up by the Euro triumph, had every reason to expect an increase in his vote, and the thought must have crossed BNP minds that they were about to celebrate the election of a fourth county councillor.

By now, however, the worst of the expenses storm had abated, and conditions were returning to normal.

Findlay's share crashed from 25% to 14%, two thirds of his vote evaporating.

This was a stunning reverse - surprising if you were a believer in the myth of June's success, not quite so surprising if you weren't.

It was, though, just one by-election out of many to come, and there was still the test of Norwich North on July 23rd.

Scuppered in Stockport

Norwich North sent the wretched reverend packing with a derisory 2.7% vote and a place among the joke candidates, but on the same day that Norwich North went to the polls, so too did the voters of Reddish North in Stockport, and Dormanstown in Redcar and Cleveland,

As in Arbury and Stockingford, in both wards the BNP had a record of standing candidates, and their votes could be directly measured against previous performances, which had been of the middling variety.

Reddish North had been fought in 2008, the BNP coming in third in a field of four, beating the Liberal Democrats into fourth place with 402 votes, or 14.5%.

Faced with a UKIP candidate on July 23rd the BNP was unable to sustain even that modest showing, losing half its vote to come bottom of the poll with 7.9%.

The excuse of a UKIP candidate wasn't available at Dormanstown. This ward had last been contested only three months previously, in April, when in a field of four the BNP came third with 305 votes and a 16% share. On July 23rd they again lost half their vote, their share tumbling to 9.4%.

On the same night a first time BNP candidate in Wellingborough Swanspool struggled to reach 10%.

Bust in Broxtowe

If Martyn Findlay's dreadful performance the week before had given cause for concern, the four results on the 23rd (Norwich North counted on the 24th) confirmed that all was not well with the BNP and the electorate. The bubble seemed to have burst - but never say die, not with Sadie Graham's vacated seat at Broxtowe Brinsley coming up for by-election the following week, on July 30th.

Graham first fought the seat in 2003, where, in a straight battle with Labour she took 43% of the vote. In 2007, in a four horse race (herself, Labour and two independents) she convincingly won the seat with a 43.99% share. What happened next we need not go into, but from early 2008 she sat as an independent, and eventually ceased to sit at all, necessitating her removal.

In fairness, it was always going to be difficult for the BNP to retain Brinsley, which they liked to pretend "isn't really a BNP seat anyway", and the party's electoral sages predicted a close-run contest.

The candidate was the appalling and treacherous Nina Brown, a Brinsley parish councillor who likes to attend German Nazi folk festivals. Whatever her expectations the result showed that the contest had been anything but close-run.

In a field of five Brown came second, but her vote share was 28.3%, a staggering fall of 15.6%, well behind the winning Conservative.

In a mere three weeks then, in four seats previously contested the BNP had suffered four calamities.

August provided no opportunities to compare the BNP's votes, but of note was an unimpressive performance in King's Lynn Gaywood, where the 12.8% BNP share mirrored that gained in the recent county council elections, and the party managed only a lacklustre 9.9% in Blackpool Stanley.

Something else was becoming evident, and that was the BNP's failure to contest some wards previously fought, offering no explanations. On August 13th they failed to contest Scarborough Hertford, and on the 27th failed to appear at Harrogate Starbeck. It was also noticeable that the BNP was failing to stand first time candidates in areas where it claims to be well organised.

Hobbled in Hewarth

As September opened the gloom continued. On the 3rd first time candidates appeared in Medway Luton & Wayfield and Plymouth Ham, respectively obtaining a miserable 6.58% and a joke 2.9%.

September 10th saw the BNP field four candidates, two first timers and two in wards previously fought. The first timers stood in South Tyneside Westoe and Harborough Welland, neither of them impressing with just over 11% of the vote (the absence of a Labour candidate in Welland helped the BNP considerably), but in the two previously contested wards the sorry tale of decline continued.

In York Hewarth the BNP share plunged from 13.2% to just 6.68% as two thirds of their 2007 vote disappeared. In Daventry Drayton matters were even worse, the BNP again losing two thirds of its 2008 vote as its share plunged from 33.11% to 14.35%.

Thus far then, the BNP met with disaster in all six seats it had previously contested.

September 17th should have seen the BNP contest at least three by-elections where it had a record of standing, and arguably two others where it claims to have an organisation - but no BNP candidate stood anywhere on the 17th. The party's beyond-a-joke 2008 showing of 1.5% in Birmingham Sparkbrook was, understandably, something it did not care to repeat, but the failure to stand in Redcar and Cleveland South Bank (15.8% in October 2008) and Amber Valley Ripley (20% in 2008, plus two sitting councillors) is inexplicable.

By now the scales were beginning to fall from even the most optimistic of BNP eyes, and rumours of internal dissatisfaction with a remote and authoritarian leadership, appointments of incompetent cronies to positions of power, lack of organisational support for branches and groups, appeal fatigue, Griffin's craven cowardice in the face of an EHRC inspired court action and the cavalier treatment of individual activists, some of whom appear to have jumped ship, was leading to open dissension, which may have something to do with the BNP's vaporous performance on September 17th.

Five by-elections took place on September 24th, each of them in districts known to have a BNP organisation, but the party fought only two, both of them previously contested.

Broxtowe Toton and Chilwell was never a happy hunting ground for the BNP, the party scraping just over 7% in 2007. It would be difficult to do much worse, but Dave Brown, husband of Nina (see above) somehow contrived to do it, helped on his way to humiliation by the circulation of leaflets depicting his attendance at the same German Nazi folk-fest as his wife.

The idiotic Brown took the BNP down to a 3% share, receiving 58 votes, just a quarter of the 2007 figure.

Three Rivers Hayling held out some prospect for the BNP, inasmuch as the party believed it could hold its 2008 30.3% share and second place (UKIP took 4% in the same election). In the event Labour fought a hard campaign that saw its vote more than double and its percentage rise from 32.3% to 53.4%. With the Conservative and Liberal Democrat votes hardly moving the squeeze was put firmly and painfully on the BNP.

Of all four parties standing it alone lost votes, and derived no benefit from the lack of a UKIP candidate. The BNP dropped to third place, its share crashing to 18.8%. Disbelieving BNP supporters have ever since been demanding to know how Labour "fixed" the election.

Eight attempts to defend its vote to date, eight thumping reverses.

Abandoned in Allestree

Coming right up to date, on October 1st the BNP failed to nominate in Sandwell Wednesbury South, despite claiming to have chosen Terry Lewin as its candidate and allegedly having begun campaigning. In 2008 the BNP took a 15% share in this ward, a very respectable starting point for a party that never tires of telling us that it cannot be stopped.

So why the failure to nominate? Well the BNP isn't saying, but the shambolic condition of the party in the recently "reformed" West Midlands may have something to do with it.

On the same night disappointment fell in the way of a first timer in Kettering Northfield, a grim 8.2% failing to meet with expectations of a minimum 10% in a ward the BNP claims to have worked.

And the misery continued in Derby Allestree, a ward previously contested in 2008 when the party achieved a modest 10.89% and last of four contenders with 563 votes. On October 1st their achievement was even more modest, the BNP share falling to 6.37% and 242 votes.

Allestree was unwinnable for the BNP, to be sure, but in the scheme of things the by-election was significant since it is the ninth consecutive electoral contest in which we can measure current BNP performances against previous outings - and in all nine we have seen the BNP fail not only to make headway, but fail even to maintain their vote share.

The full story:
(* first time fought ** failed to nominate)

July 16th
Derbyshire CC Kirk Hallam 12.0% *
Warks CC Arbury and S'ford 14% (25% -11%)

July 23rd
Wellingborough BC Swanspool 10% *
Stockport MBC Reddish North 7.9% (14.5% -6.6%)
Redcar & Cleveland UA Dorm'stown 9.4 (16% -6.6%)

July 30th
Tameside MBC Denton North 13.6% *
Broxtowe BC Brinsley 28.3% (43.99% -15.6%)

August 13th
K Lynn/W Norfolk DC Gaywood Chase 12.8% *
Scarborough BC Hertford **

August 20th
Blackpool UA Stanley 9.9% *

August 27th
Harrogate BC Starbeck **

September 3rd
Medway UA Luton & Wayfield 6.58% *
Plymouth UA Ham 2.9% *

September 10th
S Tyndeside MBC Westoe 11.74% *
Harborough DC Welland 11.1% *
City of York UA Hewarth 6.68% (13.2% -6.52%)
Daventry BC Drayton 14.35% (33.11% -18.76%)

September 17th
Redcar & Cleveland BC South Bank **
Birmingham MBC Sparkbrook **
Amber Valley DC Ripley & Marhay **

September 24th
Broxtowe BC Toton and Chilwell 3% (7.3% -4.3%)
Three Rivers DC Hayling 18.83 (30.34% -11.5%)

October 1st
Sandwell MBC Wednesbury S **
Kettering BC Northfield 8.2% *
Derby UA Allestree 6.37% (10.89% -4.52%)

County/local election results here

Any info regarding the county or local elections to be relayed via the comments section to this post, thanks. :-)
__________________________________

A long night and day of County Council election results has seen the BNP fail dismally in its quest to ride the wave of public discontent.

As we publish, the BNP has gained only three county council seats nationwide after more than 600 declarations. For the BNP, Nick Griffin's "perfect storm" never happened, and currently the BNP leader is feverishly reining in his members' expectations. Griffin and deputy Simon Darby talked up those expectations, but now fear the consequences should disillusion set in as the scale of the party's failure dawns on the membership.

Expectations for the Euro elections, to be counted on Sunday, have been quickly revised. Whereas previously BNP leaders were happy to encourage the idea that the party could gain seven MEPs the new leadership line is that the election of just one BNP MEP will count as success.

Whichever way the BNP want to look at it, to gain that one MEP will have cost the racist organisation proportionately more in money, time and effort than that expended by any other party. If they fail, then they will be forced to content themselves with the three most expensive county councillors in recorded history (as Nick Griffin might put it).

However, we're not going to count our chickens before they're hatched and Sunday's results might yet yield a nasty surprise or two. - DG

One Flew Over The Pig Farm: the BNP and us in 2008 - May

If the plans we have in place to prevent electoral fraud via the spoiling of ballot boxes works then I expect three BNP officials to be elected in London. If their is fraud then only Richard will get elected.

Around the country I expect 40 new councillors to be elected and us to come second in about 120 other places.

So wrote political genius and legal mastermind Lee John Barnes as polling for the local and GLA elections began on May 1st.

Mocked by many as the BNP's most suitable case for treatment, Barnes's remarks were derided for being hopelessly optimistic and quite in keeping with his usual predictive extravagance, but what shouldn't be forgotten is that - demented though he may be - Barnes is close to the core of the BNP leadership, and would have had a good idea of the party's private expectations.

Keeping their expectations secret was part of the BNP's game in the run up to the elections, but we have a fair idea that Barnes (himself possessing all the political acumen of a brick) was merely passing on what the leadership believed it could achieve in near perfect political and social circumstances for the racist party. The leadership wasn't alone: the BNP's keyboard army continually referred to 2008 as "the year of the BNP" and their hopes at times verged on the stratospheric.

Opinion amongst anti-fascists was divided as to how well (or badly) the BNP would do. As discontent with the Labour government reached new heights, as migration scares broke almost daily in the press, and as the BBC's infamous "White" season climaxed, it did seem to some that May 2008 really could see the BNP make its long-predicted breakthrough. At Lancaster Unity we exercised restraint, keeping in mind the BNP's failure of the previous year (also prematurely hailed as "the year of the BNP"), and having reported on a mostly uninspiring series of BNP local by-election results during the course of 2007 and early 2008. It wasn't that we didn't harbour concerns, but our experience told us not to expect a political earthquake on May 1st.

Following the dud that was the BNP's 2007 local election performance, and coming as another bout of internal feuding rumbled on, Nick Griffin and his inner circle were deeply concerned that another bad BNP performance would see the end of his leadership as the more astute among the membership tired of Griffin's endless "jam tomorrow" promises. Their plan to circumvent dissention and bolster morale was tried, tested, simple - and guaranteed to work on a party membership remarkable for its gullibility and lack of political perception: everything, no matter how trivial, would be claimed as a BNP victory, even if the polar opposite were true.

To that end members were encouraged to stand in the most paltry of parish and town council elections, and especially to stand in obscure parishes where the BNP's candidate could expect to be returned unopposed. This gave the party the opportunity to brag that it had so many councillors "elected" here or there even before a ballot had been cast on May 1st. That these parish councillors had little or no power was never highlighted, and the party was always careful to omit the all-important word "parish" before that of "councillor".

It was simple trickery, mostly designed to fool the BNP membership, and it worked handsomely.

On election day we experimented with "live" blogging, and the Lancaster Unity community rallied round to support us in what proved to be a long and interesting night.

May 1st 2008 represented the culmination of the BNP's biggest push to date, but as the results began to come in it was obvious that all their effort and bluster was bringing in but scant reward. Searchlight later reported:

On election day the BNP predicted it would win 40 new councillors and three seats on the London Assembly. However, when the first results came in, it quickly became clear that this was too optimistic. As the night continued the size of the BNP failure became apparent.

The BNP won three seats in Stoke-on-Trent and two each in Amber Valley, Rotherham and Nuneaton & Bedworth. It also took one seat in Thurrock, Three Rivers, Pendle and Calderdale. It also successfully defended seats in Epping and Burnley. This takes the number of BNP councillors to 55, up from 45 before these elections.

However, it also lost two seats it was defending in Epping and one in Kirklees.

In most areas the BNP share of the vote was well down on last year, which in itself was down on the previous election, particularly in its traditional heartlands.

An increase of ten councillors and a falling vote was hardly a glittering success and certainly not what a nervy Nick Griffin wanted to hear. Barnes quickly backtracked on his "40 new BNP councillors" statement, claiming that he had in fact meant 40 new parish and district councillors, and that was enough to satisfy the majority of BNP troops, who convinced themselves that they had somehow made an historic advance, with one of their better known but more moronic bloggers postulating that in future May 1st might be renamed "BNP Day".

Knowing that the more savvy and rebellious of his members would see straight through the hype, a threatened Griffin desperately hoped to pull a Barnbrook out of the hat in the GLA elections, which were counted on May 2nd.

The BNP could only win seats on the GLA (which, for their purposes, they elevated to something close to the fount of all power) through the party top-up system, and initially believed they were on course to take three GLA seats through these back-door means. As it became increasingly obvious that the party would be lucky to break the 5% barrier necessary to give them a single seat, so the expansive predictions were reined in and an anxious day began for Nick Griffin.

Lancaster Unity again "live blogged" the results with the help of our own loyal community (and as large an audience of BNP lurkers). For much of the night it seemed that the BNP's Richard Barnbrook would not pass the 5% threshold, and while we waited the BNP contented itself with euphoric celebrations on the news that Conservative Boris Johnson had ousted Labour's Ken Livingstone in the mayoral race. Lee Barnes commented incisively:

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

I AM LAUGHING AT YOU

AND I AM GOING TO BE LAUGHING ALL NIGHT YOU PRICK

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

RED KEN GONE

BNP IN THE GLA

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

Barnes was more than premature in believing that the BNP had secured a GLA seat, since it was by no means certain at that hour that they had. Richard Barnbrook's appalling performance in the mayoral contest, where he had picked up a derisory 2.9% (not something Barnes dwelled on), suggested caution.

At one in the morning, however, it became clear that Barnbrook had crept into the London Assembly on 5.4%, and the online element of the BNP erupted with jubilation at their victory, egged on by Griffinites determined to gloss over the uncomfortable fact that in the most ideal circumstances possible the party had stalled in the local election polls and failed by a long way to achieve its GLA targets.

Naturally we weren't delighted with Barnbrook's election, but it wasn't the end of the world, given the pre-poll fears of many that London's PR system might provide the BNP with the electoral breakthrough it craved. We were also happy that the BNP's man on the Assembly was Barnbrook, who immediately demonstrated why in an incoherent slurry-shouty (not to say lonely) speech that set the tone for his GLA tenure.


Barnbrook's election was almost certainly the single most important factor in saving Nick Griffin's leadership bacon. The man had, after all, yet again presided over what were a generally uninspiring set of election results, the only real high point being Barnbrook's GLA seat. In consequence, the hyping of Barnbrook continued apace, but just in case any awkward BNP members of rebellious bent should point out that 5.4% wasn't really very good at all, the party came up with a tale of “massive and organised ballot box tampering”, claiming 400,000 votes went west, a lie quickly nailed by Searchlight.

It was at this moment that the most unlikely (and ill-timed) challenge to Nick Griffin's leadership was announced by disaffected Kirklees BNP councillor Colin Auty. Soon after that, an email of disputed provenance was passed on to Lancaster Unity. Allegedly from the irrepressible Lee Barnes in his capacity as Director of the BNP's Legal Department, the missive certainly hit all the usual Barnsian notes:

I have been instructed to inform you of a bogus and illegal leadership challenge and the disciplinary measures we are now putting in place to squash this diversionary and divisive activity in the bud. This is a deceitful and cynical attempt to divert the party’s attention away from the historical victory last week in London and to derail the activist’s attention away from the all important European Elections next June.

This is a sham nothing and more than a forged challenge devised by the liars, thieves and splitters who tried to wreck the party in December 2007 before their unsuccessful coup was successfully thwarted by quick action from the Party’s own security, legal and intelligence departments. The challenger claims is to be Councilor Colin Autty from Kirkless in Yorkshire, a decent man who is known to many of you but he is being used as a puupet by the gang of malcontents who stole party emails, stole party property, stole thousand of pounds of party monies, spread malicious rumours about the Chairman, myself and other senior party officers on bogus Blogs and through a series of bogus bulletins which they prepared using stolen membership lists which they then passed on to our enemies in MI5, The Special Branch, The Labour Party and the Searchlight organisation. They then tried unsuccessfully to set up a rival political party. It is a cylical attempt by our enemies to try and derail the Party and to stop activities to get BNP members electd to the European Parliament.

The dust had hardly settled after the local elections when three of the BNP's newly elected (unopposed) town councillors in Colwyn Bay resigned from the party for reasons not entirely clear, but protestations on the part of one of them, John Oddy, that "I have never been a racist" indicated a belated opening of eyes to what the BNP is really all about. That, however, proved not to be the case. Oddy had just been fined £100 for using a mobile telephone while driving his car, but later still he told the North Wales Daily Post:

“I feel as I have become more high profile I have clashed with the hierarchy in the party and this has now come to a head and led to my resignation. I am at odds with the opinions of the Welsh branch of the BNP, although I have no quarrel with the party nationally.”

Paul Harley, who resigned with Oddy, said: "I have found out more about the party and I am not happy with what I have found out."

Better late than never, but was that the whole truth? Antifascist wasn't convinced:

All three remain members of the local golf club, a place where the Colwyn Bay glitterati meet, confer and make deals which, in the words of one of our correspondents, is full of BNP sympathisers, covert supporters and party members, and none of the three protagonists have showed any sign of feeling the need to disassociate from the club - which leads one to believe that this evolution from BNP to Independent is nothing but a cosmetic change, designed simply to allay the fears of the locals that the Colwyn Bay trio may be too close to the BNP and thus they might get grubby by association.

The BNP met with a humiliating rebuff in Stoke-on-Trent, where Lord Kamlesh Patel was to discuss violent extremism with local community leaders. Refusing to speak to Alby Walker, BNP group leader on Stoke City Council, Lord Patel said:

"I make no apology for refusing to meet with the BNP during my visit to Stoke. My work is focused on looking at what positive actions local communities can take to prevent extremism. I do not believe that any party with extremist views has anything constructive to contribute to this agenda."

With a leadership challenge pending, Griffinite spin on the BNP's election performance reached new heights (or depths, as you will), with the party's website grandstanding the headline: "Tories, Plaid Cymru and Lib Dems trounced in Swansea". The problem was that the BNP had also been trounced, not winning a single seat. A spokesman for the Welsh Tories told the Swansea Evening Post: "These absurd claims fly in the face of the facts. The BNP's divisive, extremist views were rejected by voters in Swansea and every other part of Wales."

At Stafford Crown Court the trial of Stoke-on-Trent man Habib Khan opened. Khan was charged with the murder of Keith Brown, a BNP activist who had subjected the Khan family to "years of racial taunts, threats and violence", as The Times reported:

Mr Brown and his family, none of whom worked, were said to have been jealous of their industrious Pakistani neighbours and to have inflicted a spiral of abuse on them. Habib Khan is accused of stabbing Mr Brown to death with an eight-inch kitchen knife.

Keith Brown's tragic death the previous June was the culmination of a series of violent incidents between the neighbouring Brown and Khan families, one the BNP spun for all it was worth. Nick Griffin, who appears never to have met Keith Brown, cynically turned up at his funeral, which became little more than a BNP propaganda exercise as its leader gave a tearful interview to the risible "BNPtv News". The party shamelessly ignored sub-judice as it "reported" its version of events, which cast Brown in the light of a martyr to Muslim violence.


This was very far from the truth, as Stafford Crown Court heard. Habib Khan, described as a "mild and calm-mannered family man", had taken a knife to threaten Brown, who had hold of one of his sons. The trial judge said that Khan had acted "in the honest belief that he needed to protect his son" but in doing so had killed Mr Brown.

Khan was cleared of murder but found guilty of manslaughter and wounding, and later received an eight-year prison sentence.

Nick Griffin and Colin Auty

Meanwhile, alleged BNP elections "guru" and erstwhile Griffinite Eddy Butler waded into Colin Auty's leadership challenge in a strange, hectoring email that spoke in one moment of "our Parties [sic] openness and commitment to democracy" then talked of "anyone who has the temerity to wish to stand for leadership". The "temerity to wish"?

Butler gave out strong hints that the BNP's rules might need to be changed to preserve Nick Griffin's position: "There will be pressure, perhaps unstoppable pressure, to change the rules so that leadership challenges can only take place every four years." No prizes for guessing where the "unstoppable pressure" would originate.

As it later turned out, the Griffin-inspired notion of allowing challenges only every four years was a con being worked on the BNP membership, who would be got - through a bogus compromise - to give Griffin what he really wanted.

Butler, possessed of a very Stalinist idea of "democracy", called on members not to sign Colin Auty's nomination forms, referred to the councillor as a "joke candidate" and recommended that the leadership election "should be carried out in the most rapid manner possible with zero publicity allowed" to Auty.

Paranoic Griffinite attrition on Auty was relentless. The BNP's own secret forum banned any pro-Auty discussion, while its dirty tricks department marched around the internet spreading black propaganda. BNP branches were instructed not to invite Auty to speak at their meetings, and branches which had booked troubadour Auty to sing cancelled.

Auty's campaign manager, Roger Robertson, the BNP's former South-East Regional Organiser, was told that he faced disciplinary proceedings, much as Mike Easter (Chris Jackson's manager the previous year) found himself subject to a Griffinite fit-up.

The intention was clearly to dissuade BNP members from signing Auty's nomination papers, the implied threat being that they, too, would face expulsion. It was a telling measure of the febricity infecting the top of the BNP that this vicious overkill was deployed to protect Nick Griffin from a challenge everybody knew he would walk.

In the meantime Richard Barnbrook made an utter fool of himself when he threatened to stampede into London mayor Boris Johnson's office with "100 young people". The brown-suited one had been to Sidcup, hoping to exploit the murder of Robert Knox. In a since deleted blog post he wrote:

I have invited all of the young people there to come down to City Hall this Tuesday for 9:30 in the morning. This knife crime has to be stopped. If I have to bring a 100 young people into Boris's office then that is what I will do.

Barnbrook and his aides stood waiting outside City Hall at the appointed time, ready to greet the throngs of incensed young militants rallying to his call. He waited, and waited, and waited, vainly scanning the horizon for signs of massed greasy hair and acne on the march, but saw only the familiar face of self-inflicted humiliation grinning directly back at him.

To be continued...

Local elections 2008 - a statement by Searchlight

The BNP has failed to make its expected breakthrough in the 2008 local elections, ending up with a net gain of just ten council seats. More significantly, its vote in many of its heartlands has gone down, in some cases quite considerably.

On election day the BNP predicted it would win 40 new councillors and three seats on the London Assembly. However, when the first results came in, it quickly became clear that this was too optimistic. As the night continued the size of the BNP failure became apparent.

The BNP won three seats in Stoke-on-Trent and two each in Amber Valley, Rotherham and Nuneaton & Bedworth. It also took one seat in Thurrock, Three Rivers, Pendle and Calderdale. It also successfully defended seats in Epping and Burnley. This takes the number of BNP councillors to 55, up from 45 before these elections.

However, it also lost two seats it was defending in Epping and one in Kirklees.

In most areas the BNP share of the vote was well down on last year, which in itself was down on the previous election, particularly in its traditional heartlands.

Local authority	2006	2007	2008
Sandwell	33.0%	24.6%	17.4%
Dudley	26.5%	18.7%	14.7%
Kirklees	18.4%	16.5%	14.4%
Burnley	30.0%	25.1%	22.8%
Thurrock	26.7%	24.5%	21.4%
Broxbourne	N/A	20.0%	15.4%
Epping	N/A	18.5%	15.0%

The fall in the BNP vote was especially surprising given Labour’s difficulties. Just under 80% of the BNP’s target wards were held by Labour but it seems that the BNP did not benefit from this. Instead, early analysis seems to show that many BNP supporters either stayed at home or switched to the Conservative Party. Suddenly, for those who wanted to register an anti-Labour vote, there was an alternative.

The BNP’s decline did not happen by chance. Searchlight and the HOPE not hate campaign had been working tirelessly in the key wards for many months. We organised telephone and doorstep canvassing, direct mail shots and localised leaflets. We worked with all the political parties best placed to beat the BNP and co-ordinated work with the trade unions, and faith and community groups.

Nationally, we joined forces with the Daily Mirror to run another HOPE not hate tour of Britain. In addition to our colourful old London bus, daily articles in the newspaper and a daily video on YouTube, we sent out over 150,000 “Get Out and Vote” emails on the day before polling. It was the largest ever email campaign in domestic British political history. Our finest hour came with U-Day two days before the election, when 700 volunteers braved inclement weather to deliver 200,000 campaign leaflets at 200 tube and railway stations in the Greater London area.

The BNP did not achieve its hoped-for breakthrough but there is no room for complacency. With the BNP on course to win one seat on the London Assembly and the European elections, contested under PR, only a year away, the BNP is still a major threat. We should be encouraged that the BNP can be defeated in its heartlands by a strategy that takes the party on rather than ignores it, but there is still a lot of work to do.

Searchlight

Election coverage: second-stage results

Counting is due to start shortly on the second-stage results in the 2008 council elections. We'll update as we get results but you'll find the fastest updating going on in the comments, so check them out for the latest news.

Lancaster Unity "live" election coverage

Lancaster Unity is updating live from 10.00, with virtually instant comment moderation. Keep refreshing this post for the latest updates and comments.

Anybody attending a count can send us results by email from mobile or regular email to elections@unitywebring.com. Even if you aren't attending a count, but know somebody you can trust who is and who can transmit results to you, that's fine.

Television and radio

Local television and radio coverage will continue for much of the night in most regions and will give more detailed coverage of BNP results than the national programmes. We'd like you to keep an eye on what the media are saying in your locality and get the news - no matter how trivial - to us.

Internet

Some local council websites and forums devoted to politics will be updating throughout the night. As we at Lancaster Unity are going to be very busy, we need supporters to keep an eye on them - including BNP websites and Stormfront.

Websites to watch

We can't watch them all, so we're calling on you to help us keep an eye on these:

http://conservativehome.blogs.com/torydiary/2008/05/local-elections.html

http://www.southportvisiter.co.uk

http://www.birminghamelections.org.uk/

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/election/results

http://icseftonandwestlancs.icnetwork.co.uk/formbytimes

http://icseftonandwestlancs.icnetwork.co.uk/crosbyherald

http://icseftonandwestlancs.icnetwork.co.uk/bootletimes/

http://www.vote-2007.co.uk/index.php?board=41.0

http://www.vote-2007.co.uk/index.php?board=40.0

http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-elections/local-election-blog/

http://www.getwokingham.co.uk/

http://www.stourbridgenews.co.uk/news/election/news/

http://www.northumberlandcouncil.gov.uk/new/elections.asp#results (Friday -
1 BNP)

http://www.salfordadvertiser.co.uk/

http://www.hastingsobserver.co.uk/

http://www.thisisthurrock.co.uk/election/

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/05/local_election_results_live.html

There will be more - please check your local council and/or newspaper website, and send all news and results to elections@unitywebring.com

Let's all pull together to make this a successful collective effort for the Lancaster Unity community!

____________________

Latest:

YouGov's latest poll puts the BNP's Barnbrook on 2%, equal with the Greens' Sian Berry in the Mayoral race. We're also hearing that in the GLA race early exit polls are showing the BNP on 3% (unconfirmed - bear in mind also that the polls are open for several hours to come, and that not all BNP voters will admit to voting for the party. Good news is that turnout appears to be high).

Birmingham Sheldon:
Liberal Democrats 3224 60.51%
British National Party 789 14.81%
The Conservative Party 586 11.00%

BBC's political correspondent reports "huge" London turnout
..................

Redhill Ward, Sunderland
Tory 279
Lib Dem 185
Lab 1315
Ind Leadbitter (former bnp organiser)359 13.5%
John Martin bnp (Searchlight mole and last year a NS9 candidate)517 19.4%

31% turnout (2655 votes)
......................

Worcester Gorse Hill (unconfirmed)
Lab 515 47.33%
Con 243 22.33%
BNP 232 21.32%
Green 98 9.01%
......................

B'ham King's Norton
Con 2345 47.34%
Lab 1492 30.12%
BNP 534 10.78%
.....................

B'ham Longbridge
Con 1997 39.36%%
Lab 1720 33.90%
BNP 716 14.11%

(BNP expectations better than this here)
......................

B'ham Northfield
Con 2804 47.13%%
Lab 1496 25.14%
BNP 1003 16.86%
......................

Nuneaton and Bedworth Abbey
Lab 1016 45.79%
Con 608 27.40%
BNP 391 17.62%
Green 204 9.19%

How the mighty are fallen! As LU predicted :-)

And the rough with the smooth - Nick Lowles reports: "The BNP has gained Camp Hill ward with 675 votes. Labour came second with 562."
..................

Sunderland Barnes Ward
Con 1712 51.60%
Lab 809 24.38%
LibDem 489 14.74%
BNP 308 9.28%
...................


Sunderland Castle Ward
Lab 1376 54.71%
BNP 350 13.92%
Con 343 13.64%
Ind 264 10.50%
LibDem 182 7.24%
Left 90 3.58%
..................

Sunderland Fulwell
Con 2092 53.16%
Lab 1032 26.23%
LibDem 459 11.66%
BNP 352 8.95%
....................

Sefton Crosby Ford ward
Owen Francis Brady - Labour - 1,330
Michael McDermott - British National Party - 301
Jessamine Hounslea - Conservative - 287
Philip James Wordley - UK Independence Party - 265
..................

Merseyside Whitefield
BNP 72
Lab 629
14K(?) 613
Lib Dem 150
..................

Sour grapes from BNP Thurrock loser:

LABOUR regained the Tilbury St Chads ward in the evening's first declared result.

The ward had been previously held by Val Liddiard, who left the Labour group to stand as an Independent Socialist.

BNP candidate Angela Daly came second, 61 votes behind the winner, Lynne Worrall.

Lynne said: "I want to say a big, big thank you to all the people who have helped me with my campaign. I would also like to thank my family. we are going to keep Tilbury Labour."

Beaten Conservative Kay Mangion said: "I'm pleased for Lynn, she has worked extremely hard and I always say the best people win."

Angela Daly said: "I will stand again. This year we are going to see what Labour have done to us and I'll be prepared for next time. The postal vote should be banned because I think they are all rigged."
.....................

Hastings Tressel
Peter Chowney - Labour, 372
Evelyn Modlinger - Liberal Democrat, 208
Nick Prince - BNP, 147
Kate Walsgrove - Conservative, 279
.....................

2 BNP gains in Rotherham, 1 in Thurrock
..........................

Thurrock Belhus
Sue Gray (Lab) 786
Georgette Polly (Con) 549
Lauren Kay (BNP) 387
John Biddell (Lib Dem) 115
......................

Dudley failure. Nick Lowles says: "The BNP failed to pick up any seats in Dudley, with its vote down on last year. This appears to mirror the decline in the BNP across the Black Country, particularly in Sandwell."
.......................

Stourbridge Brockmoor and Pensnett
Conservatives 846
Labour 777
British National Party 508
Independent 313
Liberal Democrats 204

Stourbridge Norton
Conservatives 2,445
Labour 603
Liberal Democrats 530
British National Party 285
UK Independence Party 210

Stourbridge Quarry Bank and Dudley Wood
Labour 1,376
Conservatives 1,119
British National Party 437
UK Independence Party 192
Liberal Democrats 136
...................

Carlisle results. Much crowed about gains failed to materialise.
.....................

Full Thurrock results. Beacon last in his ward.
.......................

Basildon full results:

Billericay East
Con 1932 66%
LibDem 428 15%
BNP 220 7%
Lab 206 7%
UKIP 152 5%

Billericay West
Con 2145 71%
LibDem 332 11%
Lab 239 8%
BNP 200 7%
UKIP 99 3%

Burstead
Con 1967 65%
BNP 407 13%
LibDem 384 13%
Lab 275 9%

Crouch
Con 1311 68%
BNP 251 13%
Lab 218 11%
LibDem135 7%

Fryerns
Lab 1013 40%
Con 636 25%
BNP 628 25%
LibDem 250 10%

Laindon Park
Con 1020 45%
Lab 661 29%
BNP 387 17%
LibDem 193 9%

Langdon Hills
Con 1176 58%
Lab 283 14%
BNP 197 10%
UKIP 152 7%
LibDem 130 6%
Green 104 5%

Lee Chapel North
Lab 972 44%
Con 604 27%
BNP 358 16%
LibDem 160 7%
Green 126 6%

Nethermayne
LibDem 1247 43%
Con 697 24%
Lab 495 17%
BNP 459 16%

Pitsea North West
Con 945 41%
Lab 739 32%
BNP 370 16%
UKIP 266 11%

Pitsea South East
Con 1255 52%
Lab 604 25%
BNP 383 16%
LibDem 171 7%

St. Martin's
Lab 539 38%
Con 408 29%
BNP 305 22%
LibDem 163 12%

Vange
Con 590 36%
Lab 508 31%
BNP 289 18%
LibDem 104 6%
Ind 72 4%
Ind 47 3%
Green 36 2%
....................

Coventry Westwood
LibDem 277
Lab 1389
Con 1713
BNP 425
Green 165
....................

BNP now have 2 seats in Amber Valley, miss a third by one vote.
...................

Southport Norwood
Con 744
LibDem 1709
BNP 184
Lab 290
UKIP 243
..................

Full Coventry results
..................

That wraps it up for tonight - thanks for your support.

Before signing off, let's just reflect that 8 BNP gains isn't the end of the world and hardly represents a great leap forward for them. So far as we have been able to make out, the average BNP vote has fallen when a comparison with 2004 can be made, but - as last year - the results are pretty mixed.

As our friend Irish Tony puts it: "3588 councillors elected so far. The BNP have 8."

The "quiet revolution"?

They don't come much quieter.

We've still got the Friday counts to go, and the GLA and London Mayoral results to come - see you later!

Usdaw launches new national anti BNP leaflet in Blackpool

Retail union Usdaw who are holding their annual conference in Blackpool have launched a new national anti-BNP leaflet to be distributed in council elections across the UK where the far-right party are standing candidates.

The leaflet highlights the complete failure of BNP councillors to represent local electors after they win seats and that despite the respectable façade the BNP is still a fascist party dedicated to racist ideas.

The leaflet will be offered to Labour candidates who are taking on the bogus idea that the BNP is the party of law and order.

“The BNP like to present themselves as the party of law and order despite the fact that many of their leaders and members have criminal convictions for serious offences including assault, inciting racial hatred and even bomb-making,” says Usdaw General Secretary John Hannett. “Usdaw has been coming to Blackpool since the war and our members from a range of different backgrounds have always been given a warm welcome here as the resort is an open-minded place which is the exact opposite of what fascists like the BNP stand for.

“Our leaflet reminds voters that in the few places where the BNP have been elected, they have been shown to be totally incapable of effectively representing voters. They’re incapable of taking any intelligent part in the democratic process and voters quickly see through their thinly disguised messages of hate, turning back to strong Labour candidates who can effectively represent every voter regardless of their background.

“This new leaflet reminds Labour voters that the BNP are hopelessly out of their depth when they are elected and that the only place to really hurt them is in the ballot box by voting Labour.
“Labour councils are the best way to ensure decent local services but a vote for the BNP isn’t the answer to often legitimate local concerns as time after time they fail to offer to contribute to any coherent ideas once they actually have to make tough decisions.”

Download the USDAW leaflet here.

USDAW

Gay Activists Focus On Stopping The BNP

OutRage!, the gay rights action group, has urged LGBT people and their friends to vote in the elections on 3rd May to defeat the BNP. Elections will be held for the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Assembly and for various councils across England.

The BNP is openly homophobic, racist and Islamophobic, but claim they merely represent the views of British working-class white people.

Regarded as no more than a extreme minority group a decade ago, the BNP took their first three seats on Burnley council in 2002. They went on to play on working class resentments about immigration and lack of social housing to win 52 seats on 13 councils in 2006. In Barking and Dagenham, east London, the party is the official opposition with 12 councillors. They are fielding 665 candidates in the 2007 elections.

“Recent election results indicate the BNP could make an electoral breakthrough,” said Brett Lock of OutRage!

“Under the proportional representation voting system for the Scottish and Welsh elections minor parties like the BNP can win seats.

“There is a possibility that the BNP may, for the first time, secure representation in the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly.”

OutRage! says gay voters should be aware that a high turnout will reduce the BNP’s share of the vote and lessen its chances of winning seats.

Nick Griffin, the party leader, is standing for election to the Welsh Assembly. He is credited with turning the fortunes of the BNP round by "softening" the party's image and creating a more media-friendly party organisation.

The BNP has in recent times emphasised the issues that concern voters and played down its extreme racist and homophobia. They recently tried to align themselves with Christians who object to new laws protecting gay people from discrimination.

The BNP fought previous general elections on a pledge to outlaw homosexuality and has described AIDS as “nature taking revenge” on gay men.

Soon after the neo-Nazi bombing of a gay bar in Soho, London, in 1999, which killed three people and maimed dozens more, party leader Nick Griffin attacked lesbian and gay people for “flaunting their perversion” and said this showed why “so many ordinary people find these creatures so repulsive.”

He claims the BNP speaks for “the majority of the population” who, he says, believe “homosexuality is wrong” and that it “needs to be pushed humanely but firmly back into the closet”.

Mr Griffin warns that if gays continue to “press their aims further” there will be an “almighty backlash” which will result in the imprisonment of all homosexuals.

“Lesbians and gay men can help block the election of candidates from the racist, anti-Semitic, anti-Muslim and homophobic British National Party (BNP). Make sure you and your straight friends vote on 3 May,” said Peter Tatchell of OutRage!

Pink News.co.uk

Sandwell man says "The BNP forged my signature"

(With thanks to The Stirrer.)

Nominations for BNP candidates in Birmingham are already being scrutinised by the police following revelations on The Stirrer last week; now we’ve heard from a Sandwell man who says his signature has been forged by the party.

The names of Andrew Smith from Wednesbury and his partner Lynn Marshall both appear on the nomination paper for the party's candidate in the Friar Park ward Scott Dale - but Smith is adamant that he never signed it.

“I never signed for the BNP, and neither did Lynn” he said.

“I’m not a BNP supporter, I’m a staunch Labour man.”

The Stirrer isn’t suggesting for a moment that Scott Dale or his agent have done anything illegal or improper; the truth is that we simply don’t know what has gone on.

It is curious, however, that we have also heard from a woman in Birmingham who claims her name was forged on a nomination paper (see the story here); and from a man in the city who admitted that his father had signed, but says that he didn’t realise what he was doing (see the story here).

Simon Darby, the West Midlands Regional Organiser of the BNP scoffed at the suggestions that his party is cheating, blaming “dirty tricks on an industrial scale” for the stream of allegations.He said: “The idea that we would struggle to get signatures in Friar Park is laughable. People in the area know the Dale family, and they really wouldn’t have done this.”

Darby blamed the stigma attached to supporting the BNP for some of the stories, and he suggested there should be a law banning the questioning of nominees, claiming that this amounts to harassment.

He also pointed to the Welsh Assembly elections where he said candidates can’t stand without needing anyone to nomination; he described the current situation in England as “archaic”.

http://www.thestirrer.co.uk/

Birmingham Lib-Dems question BNP nominations

Martin Mullaney, Liberal Democrat councillor for Birmingham's Moseley and King's Heath ward, has appeared in a video posted to YouTube voicing suspicions over some names appearing on nomination papers for British National Party candidates standing in the area.

Cllr. Mullaney cites the case of an Afro-Caribbean woman whose name appears on the nomination papers for a BNP candidate standing in Lozells and East Handsworth. Cllr Mullaney reports that when questioned the woman denied having nominated the BNP candidate and said that the signature appearing on the nomination form was not hers.

According to Cllr. Mullaney, a number of individuals of apparent "ethnic background" appear to have signed BNP candidates' nomination papers - including five members of a Hindu family, a Sikh and two Muslims - which he and his team view as "suspicious".

Doubtless Cllr. Mullaney will be bringing this matter to the attention of the local Returning Officer, and we shall be watching the outcome with interest.

Vuew Councillor Mullaney's YouTube video here.

BBC info on the 2007 elections

Just in case you hadn't noticed, there are local government elections on May 3rd. The BBC have conveniently provided a guide to what's happening and where.

What elections are there this year?

Seats on the Scottish Parliament and local councils, the Welsh Assembly and most local authorities in England outside London are all up for grabs.

What's happening in Scotland?

This May sees the four-yearly elections for the Scottish Parliament, which runs the devolved Scottish government. Seats on all 32 unitary councils will be up for election as well.

Scottish elections in-depth

What powers does the Scottish Parliament have?

It can pass laws on education, criminal justice, the NHS, business, agriculture, local government, social housing, transport and tourism and some other areas. It also has the power to vary the basic rate of income tax, set by Westminster to cover the whole UK, by up to 3%. Westminster retains control of areas like foreign policy, immigration, defence, social security, employment and national security.

Who controls the Scottish Parliament?

It is controlled by a Labour/Liberal Democrat coalition. Labour has 50 seats, the Scottish Nationalist Party has 25, the Lib Dems and Conservatives both have 17, the Scottish Greens have seven, the Scottish Socialists have 4, Solidarity - the Socialist party set up by Tommy Sheridan - has two, the Scottish Senior Citizens Unity Party has one and there are five independents and one presiding officer. There are also 32 local unitary authorities, which run local government services. From May 2007 they will be elected using the Single Transferable Vote.

How are MSPs elected?

MSPs are elected for four-year terms, by the "top up" system - a type of proportional representation. There are 129 MSPs at Holyrood. 73 are constituency MSPs, 56 are regional "top-up" members. Voters have two votes - one for a candidate in a constituency, and the second for a party - from this vote the "top-up" members are picked.

What is happening in Wales?

This May sees the four-yearly elections for the Welsh Assembly. This runs the devolved government of Wales.

Welsh elections in-depth

What powers does the Welsh Assembly have?

It can pass secondary legislation in some areas - meaning it can modify Acts of Parliament using Assembly Orders - but not make new Acts itself. It can modify the details of Acts in areas including: agriculture, the environment, roads and transport, housing, social services, health, tourism and social services. It does not have tax-raising powers but has some powers over government charges for services - like NHS prescriptions, charges for nursing homes and university tuition.

Isn't it getting more powers after the elections?

Yes. Under the Government of Wales Act 2006 - it will be able to make Assembly Measures - effectively passing laws, but only over those areas where it already has responsibility. These will also be subject to a Westminster veto - the Houses of Commons and Lords will have to vote in favour of allowing the assembly to legislate in those areas. The idea is to bypass the legislative "log jam" at Westminster, where laws prepared by the Welsh Assembly have to compete for time with bills prepared in Whitehall. The Act also allows for the possibility of a referendum, to grant full law-making powers to the Welsh Assembly.

Who controls the Welsh Assembly?

Labour is the ruling party and the First Secretary is Rhodri Morgan. There are 60 members of the Assembly (AMs), based in Cardiff, each elected for four years. Labour has 29 seats, Plaid Cymru has 12, the Conservatives have 12, the Liberal Democrats have 6 seats and the last was won by an independent, John Marek. The assembly is quite unusual as the executive (the government) and the parliamentary (legislative) branches are not legally separate - but integrated as a corporate body. The Government of Wales Act aims to change this.

How are AMs elected?

There are 40 AMs representing individual constituencies through the "first past the post" system, and five more regions elect another 20 from regional lists - a type of proportional representation. Currently AMs delegate their executive powers to the First Minister, who is elected by the whole assembly. He gives responsibility for certain functions to the cabinet - made up of eight ministers.

What elections are there in England?

In England 32.8 million people will be able to vote - with seats being contested in 312 local authorities. In some councils one third of seats will be up for election, in others, the whole council will be elected. There are also mayoral elections in Bedford, Mansfield and Middlesbrough. It is the biggest election in the local cycle in England, with about 10,500 council seats are up for grabs. This is because councils which are electing all their members have coincided with those electing one-third of councillors. This year half of the seats are in just three regions - eastern, south and south-west.

What powers do local councils have?

They vary between the different types of authorities. But powers can include setting council tax and business rates, as well as charges for things like parking tickets, overseeing street-cleaning, maintaining roads and parks, running libraries and schools, refuse collection, housing and social services, trading standards and environmental health - from fly tipping to noise pollution - and they grant planning permission for buildings.

When are the elections?

The elections will be held on Thursday 3 May 2007. Polls open at 7am and close at 10pm.

When will the results be known?

At least half of English local authorities will not start counting the ballots until Friday. In Wales counts are expected to take place overnight. In Scotland the first results are expected at about 12.30am

Guide: England's local elections

What is happening in England?

On 3 May there will be about 10,500 council seats contested across 312 local authorities. Half of those seats are in just three regions - eastern, southern and the south-western.

Who is being elected?

Across all 36 Metropolitan boroughs, one-third of council seats will be contested. In 25 unitary authorities the whole council will go to the polls, while in another 20 only a third of seats are up for election. Of district councils, 153 will elect the entire council, another 78 will elect a third.

Metropolitan boroughs going to the polls

Barnsley, Birmingham, Bolton, Bradford, Bury, Calderdale, Coventry, Doncaster, Dudley, Gateshead, Kirklees, Knowsley, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne, North Tyneside, Oldham, Rochdale, Rotherham, Salford, Sandwell, Sefton, Sheffield, Solihull, South Tyneside, St Helens, Stockport, Sunderland, Tameside, Trafford, Wakefield, Walsall, Wigan, Wirral and Wolverhampton.

Unitary authorities electing all council seats

Bath & N.E. Somerset, Blackpool, Bournemouth, Bracknell Forest, Brighton & Hove, Darlington, East Riding of Yorkshire, Herefordshire, Leicester, Luton, Medway, Middlesbrough, North Lincolnshire, North Somerset, Nottingham, Poole, Redcar & Cleveland, Rutland, South Gloucestershire, Stockton-on-Tees, Telford & Wrekin, Torbay, West Berkshire, Windsor & Maidenhead and York.

Unitary authorities electing a third of seats

Blackburn with Darwen, Bristol, Derby, Halton, Hartlepool, Kingston-upon-Hull, Milton Keynes, North East Lincolnshire, Peterborough, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Reading, Slough, Southampton, Southend-on-Sea, Stoke-on-Trent, Swindon, Thurrock, Warrington and Wokingham.

District councils electing all seats

Allerdale, Alnwick, Arun, Ashfield, Ashford, Aylesbury Vale, Babergh, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Blaby, Blyth Valley, Bolsover, Boston, Braintree, Breckland, Bridgnorth, Broadland, Bromsgrove, Broxtowe, Canterbury, Caradon, Carrick, Castle Morpeth, Charnwood, Chelmsford, Chesterfield, Chester-le-Street, Chichester, Chiltern, Christchurch, Copeland, Corby, Cotswold, Dacorum, Dartford, Derbyshire Dales, Derwentside, Dover, Durham, Easington, Eastbourne, East Cambridgeshire, East Devon, East Dorset, East Hampshire, East Hertfordshire, East Lindsey, East Northamptonshire, East Staffordshire, Eden, Epsom & Ewell, Erewash, Fenland, Forest Heath, Forest of Dean, Fylde, Gedling, Gravesham, Guildford, Hambleton, Harborough, High Peak, Hinckley & Bosworth, Horsham, Kennet, Kerrier, Kettering, King's Lynn & West Norfolk, Lancaster, Lewes, Lichfield, Lincoln, Maldon, Malvern Hills, Mansfield, Melton, Mendip, Mid Bedfordshire, Mid Devon, Mid Suffolk, Mid Sussex, New Forest, Newark & Sherwood, North Cornwall, North Devon, North Dorset, North East Derbyshire, North Hertforshire, North Kesteven, North Norfolk, North Shropshire, North Warwickshire, North West Leicestershire, North Wiltshire, Northampton, Oadby & Wigston, Oswestry, Restormel, Ribble Valley, Richmondshire, Rother, Rushcliffe, Ryedale, Salisbury, Scarborough, Sedgefield, Sedgemoor, Selby, Sevenoaks, Shepway, South Bucks, South Derbyshire, South Hams, South Holland, South Kesteven, South Norfolk, South Northamptonshire, South Oxfordshire, South Ribble, South Shropshire, South Somerset, South Staffordshire, Spelthorne, St Edmundsbury, Stafford, Staffordshire Moorlands, Suffolk Coastal, Surrey Heath, Taunton Deane, Teesdale, Teignbridge, Tendring, Test Valley, Tewkesbury, Thanet, Tonbridge & Malling, Torridge, Tynedale, Uttlesford, Vale of White Horse, Vale Royal, Wansbeck, Warwick, Waverley, Wealden, Wear Valley, Wellingborough, West Devon, West Dorset, West Somerset, West Wiltshire, Wychavon, Wycombe and Wyre.

District councils electing a third of seats

Amber Valley, Barrow-in-Furness, Basildon, Basingstoke & Deane, Bassetlaw, Bedford, Brentwood, Broxbourne, Burnley, Cambridge, Cannock Chase, Carlisle, Castle Point, Cherwell, Chester, Chorley, Colchester, Congleton, Craven, Crawley, Crewe & Nantwich, Daventry, Eastleigh, Ellesmere Port & Neston, Elmbridge, Epping Forest, Exeter, Gloucester, Great Yarmouth, Harlow, Harrogate, Hart, Havant, Hertsmere, Huntingdonshire, Hyndburn, Ipswich, Macclesfield, Maidstone, Mole Valley, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Norwich, Pendle, Penwith, Preston, Purbeck, Redditch, Reigate & Banstead, Rochford, Rossendale, Rugby, Runnymede, Rushmoor, Shrewsbury & Atcham, South Bedfordshire, South Cambs, South Lakeland, St Albans, Stevenage, Stratford-on-Avon, Stroud, Swale, Tamworth, Tandridge, Three Rivers, Tunbridge Wells, Watford, Waveney, Welwyn Hatfield, West Lancashire, West Lindsey, West Oxfordshire, Weymouth & Portland, Winchester, Woking, Worcester, Worthing and Wyre Forest.

BBC