BNP comes second in Heanor

| Monday, 6 February 2006 Source: Searchlight

The BNP took second place in a council by-election on 2 February, the day Nick Griffin, the party leader, and Mark Collett, a senior activist, were acquitted of half the charges on which they were on trial at Leeds Crown Court. Although the BNP had not stood in the ward when it was last contested in 2004, the result was no great surprise as the area has a bad tradition of racial harassment. It has also been the focal point for nazi white power music groups for more than ten years.

The BNP's website went over the top in its euphoria over the result, describing it as "an amazing achievement" and "an important milestone". The fact remains nevertheless that the BNP has not won a single council election since September 2004, when it took Goresbrook in Barking and Dagenham, east London, only to lose it the following June after its councillor, Daniel "Clueless" Kelley, resigned.

Eddy Butler, the BNP's elections guru, travelled from London to help organise the campaign, but even his expertise could not stop more than two thirds of those who turned out to cast their votes against the BNP.

Result

Heanor and Loscoe ward, Amber Valley Borough Council 2 February 2006

Turnout 33%