‘Hold your noses and vote UKIP’ says BNP

| Friday, 30 June 2006 Source: Searchlight

The British National Party told Bromley voters to "hold your nose and vote UKIP" a day before the parliamentary by-election in Bromley and Chislehurst. Despite its consistent criticism of the anti-EU UK Independence Party, the BNP backed Nigel Farage, leader of the UKIP's group of MEPs in the European Parliament, over its far-right rival, the National Front.

Explaining that the BNP was not standing in this election because it was concentrating its "energy time and money" on "growing the local roots we need to win more seats in next May's wave of council elections", and that the Tory vote was likely to be split between "Euro-realism and the party's liberal Europhile leadership", the party said it was more important to "give the Europhiles a bloody nose" than to split the "anti-EU vote".

As the European issue has for some time taken very much a back seat to the BNP's campaigns against Islam and immigration, this argument seems more a lame excuse to persuade supporters not to vote for the NF, which is far closer to the BNP in its policies and outlook.

In a poll in which the Conservatives were nearly pipped at the post by the Liberal Democrats, the NF candidate was one of six who attracted less than 2% of the vote, while the UKIP increased its vote by 872 compared to the general election and beat Labour into fourth place.

Meanwhile the BNP did indeed stand in four more local election campaigns though whether it grew many "local roots" is doubtful. Although in all four polls the party came third, the best it could achieve was only just over 20% in one of them.

Anti-fascists are campaigning strongly against the BNP in two further by-elections on 13 July. Danny Warville is the BNP candidate in Bridge ward, Redbridge. Warville kept a very low profile in the BNP until a couple of years ago when he was appointed as the party's counter-intelligence officer in London. He was among the group of BNP activists who were rushed north to Leeds during the trial of Nick Griffin, the BNP leader, and Mark Collett at the beginning of the year after the regular heavy mob had gone on strike.

The BNP has one councillor in Redbridge, Julian Leppert, elected in May for Hainault. When Leppert attended a Redbridge council meeting recently, Warville turned up to look after him together with the football hooligan Jason Douglas, Rod Law, a BNP Epping Forest councillor, and a handful of other BNP members.

Michael John Clark is the BNP candidate in an Ashfield council by-election in Hucknall West ward. This area has been a hotspot for BNP violence and threats to its political opponents in the past.

Results

Tameside, Denton South 29 June 2006

Turnout 20.5%

Tameside, Stalybridge North 29 June 2006

Turnout 18%

City of Lincoln, Moorland 29 June 2006

Turnout 28%

Bromley and Chislehurst 29 June 2006

East Staffordshire, Shobnall (Burton-on-Trent) 29 June 2006