BNP supporter gains seat on council

| Tuesday, 31 October 2006 Source: Horncastle Today

THE British National Party is claiming a major victory with the appointment of its first parish councillor in Lincolnshire - at Roughton.

The BNP said it hoped the co-option of self-employed businessman Jeffrey Drew was only the beginning.

It wanted councillors to influence decisions on all the authorities in the county, which it described as a 'fast-growing area' for BNP support.

Mr Drew, who runs a garage business in Woodhall Spa, was unavailable for comment but Richard Foster, the BNP's Lincolnshire organiser, said he had encouraged him to apply for a seat on the council.

"Jeff is very interested in preserving our Britishness and our heritage," he said.

Sir Peter Tapsell, Conservative MP for Louth and Horncastle, lives in Roughton and believes parish councillors could not have known about Mr Drew's BNP membership when they co-opted him to fill a vacancy.

"Of course, I am very much opposed to the BNP," Sir Peter said.

"If he was appointed by parish councillors my guess would be they would have no knowledge he was a member.

"They have always been a collection of kind and respectable people and I think they would be surprised to learn the new member was in the BNP."

Coun Andrew Smith, chairman of Roughton Parish Council, said in a statement the council did not get involved in party politics and people were placed on parish councils with one objective - to serve the local community.

His statement went on: "There are adequate procedures in place including the power of the vote and referrals to bodies such as the Standard Board if members do not behave properly.

"As chair of the parish council I would like to personally add that I am not a supporter of the BNP."

Mr Drew's appointment makes him the second BNP councillor in Lincolnshire.

The Rev Robert West, a member of South Holland District Council, was elected as a Conservative member but crossed the floor to become a BNP representative.

Application forms for any parish council membership do not ask the applicant's political preference.