HOPE not hate

The BNP threat in the North West

The BNP pose a serious risk of gaining an MEP in the North West. In an election being contested under Proportional Representation, the BNP would be guaranteed a seat in the European Parliament with 9% of the vote, though depending on how the votes are distributed amongst the other parties it might need as little as 7.5%.

And this is well within its reach.

In the last European Elections the BNP just missed out on a seat after polling 6.4%. However, some events are now more favourable to the racist party. In 2004 UKIP, the anti-EU party, polled 12.2% but it has subsequently split and will not get anywhere near as many votes this year. The turnout in the last elections was 41%, due largely to the fact that all-out local elections, contested by postal votes, doubled the number of voters out than in the previous European Elections. This time there are only County Council elections being held on the same day which will only affect Lancashire and Cumbria, just a third of the total North West electorate. Finally, the deteriorating economy will reduce turnout and may lead some voters to become more receptive to the scapegoating message peddled by the BNP.

With wider political events assisting the BNP it is clear we must redouble our efforts. The BNP and Nick Griffin will be stopped if we can turnout record numbers of voters opposed to the politics of hate. For every ten voters we can get to the polls the BNP will need an extra one. And this is doable. Based on 2004 figures, it has been estimated that we only need to find an additional 35 anti-BNP voters voters in each ward to make it highly unlikely that the BNP can get elected. With an average ward consisting of over 6,000 people this is certainly achievable.

The North West is a huge region, stretching from Chester in the south up to Carlisle in the north. However, the main battleground will be fought out in the middle of the region, particularly Greater Manchester and Merseyside. With these two areas containing 56% of the electorate, turning out the anti-BNP vote in these two conurbations will be crucial.

There are also some wider factors which will also go against the BNP. As a result of the enlargement of the European Union into Eastern Europe, the number of MEPs being elected from the North West drops from nine to eight, meaning that the BNP will need a higher vote to get someone elected than before. Additionally, while the BNP has indeed become more active in some areas than it had been in 2004 there are several local authority districts where their activity has dropped off. Oldham was once a BNP stronghold but now there is very little activity or even party organisation. Even in Burnley, where the BNP has four councillors, there is far less activity than four years ago.

Finally, and probably most importantly, just as Nick Griffin's profile will undoubtedly help bring out BNP voters, so his reputation and extremist politics are likely to encourage those people vehemently opposed to racism and fascism to the polls. As a result we will be making sure that all anti-BNP voters know of Griffin's politics and what is at state in this election. There will be no better incentive to turn out anti-BNP voters than the threat of having Nick Griffin elected as an MEP.

Griffin will only be stopped if we get organised. The vast majority of voters in the North West would be appalled at the thought of racist and Holocaust Denier Nick Griffin representing them in the European Parliament, but this means nothing if we don't get them to vote. That is why the HOPE not hate campaign exists. That is why over the next couple of months we will be launching local anti-BNP groups in every local authority area in the region. And that is why, from April onwards, we will be running the biggest, most innovative anti-BNP campaign to date.

We cannot defeat Griffin alone. We need your support. We need you to get involved. Together we can keep Nick Griffin out of the European Parliament.

Click here to sign up to the HOPE not hate campaign in the North West

The d’Hondt system explained
The European elections will be contested using the d’Hondt system, named after a Belgian lawyer who devised it in the 1870s. In contrast to other forms of proportional representation the d’Hondt system allocates seats individually rather than as a simple proportion of the overall vote. click here to read more...

Click here to join the campaign

Have you registered to vote? click here if not