September 02, 2007

Loughton result confirms BNP's downward trend

Ever since the May local elections, when eight out of nine of its sitting councillors lost their seats, the BNP has looked in vain for electoral cheer in a series of summer by-elections. They thought they'd find it in Nuneaton and Bedworth's Slough ward, and shamelessly hyped their chances of winning the seat, only to find themselves broken against the in-built strength of the Labour vote in a former mining town with deep Labour (not New Labour) and trade union traditions.

The BNP were further disappointed when one of its sitting councillors resigned his seat on Loughton Council, Essex, necessitating a by-election in the town's Alderton Ward.

The racist party needed this by-election like it needed a hole in the head. It needed to retain the seat to save face and to bolster the sagging morale of its supporters, and was perhaps heartened by the fact that the history of municipal by-elections shows that it is more difficult to lose a seat than it is to win one.

The BNP duly fought the Alderton ward by-election last Thursday, and won. Since then the party has been crowing to the high heavens with news of its 'victory', its members gleefully posting the result wherever they can on the Internet.

But this wasn't a 'victory'. The BNP did not increase its vote - if it had, some serious questions would need to be asked. As it was the result passed off without a great deal of comment for the simple reason that nobody seriously expected the party to lose its own seat.

What is worthy of comment is the fact that even though they retained the seat the BNP vote fell by 5% - a pretty steep drop in anybody's book and one that would have most political parties seriously worried.

To the BNP, retaining the seat on a reduced vote represents an apparent success. Well, all political parties spin bad election results, and nobody has more reason to spin than the BNP, especially in the case of its Alderton ward result, since here we (and they) have ample confirmation of what we saw in May - that the BNP has stalled and that its vote is falling.

No amount of spin can disguise the party's continuing downward electoral trend, though you'd never know there was such a trend if you were to read its own report of the by-election at its style-challenged website. Here we read that the result is an 'unprecendeted win' made against overwhelming odds - according to the whinge-prone BNP just about every other party ('who invariably choreograph their campaigns') fighting the by-election attacked it, and there is an attempt to link the party's only serious challengers in Alderton ward, the Independent Residents Association, with the anti-racist organisation Redbridge and Epping Forest Together.

Add in a few swipes at the rump UKIP, the busted flush against which the BNP likes to measure its supposed success, don't mention the massive resources the BNP poured into its campaign, and you have a long piece of nonsense designed to bolster internal morale by creating the illusion of a great victory gained in the teeth of the massed ranks of the party's opposition.

It's so much whistling in the dark. If there had been the slightest evidence of any increase in BNP support we would have seen it in Alderton ward. We did not. We saw a 5% slump in their vote, and nothing at all to justify the BNP's hyperbole.

There's still a long way to go and there may be some nasty surprises to come, but the BNP's May results, its summer by-election results, and latterly the Alderton ward result all irrevocably point to the slow but steady evaporation of the BNP's vote.

But the business of spin extends beyong simple vote-juggling. The need to bolster the seriously-flagging morale of the average BNP branch is forcing the party to madly applaud anything that can be manipulated into some show of success, no matter how ephemeral. A couple of days ago, its Regional Voices page had one example of the puffery that has become necessary to blow any little event up into something that the leadership hopes will dispel the gloom.

'Hot on the heels of the Epping Forest victory comes new [sic] of yet another recruit to add to [the] Eastern Region’s tally of local councillors. Sitting Parish councillor Simon Deacon has formerly joined the BNP and notified his parish clerk of the change...'

Simon Deacon is the only councillor in the 40-year history of his former party, the National Front. He took his position of Parish councillor completely unopposed, not a single vote being cast to let him take the seat because nobody else could be bothered to stand given the political inconsequence of the average Parish councillor.

Such is the reality of the BNP's much-vaunted recent 'successes' - a seat kept but with a 5% drop in the vote and the gain of an unelected Parish councillor from one of the most virulently racist parties in the UK. The Emperor has no clothes and these are certainly no great successes, no matter how hard they are spun.

(Article by Denise G and Antifascist)

33 comments:

Anonymous said...

I remember Deacon becoming a parish councillor and the overwhelming praise he received from all parts of the far-right (including the BNP) for his "victory" but I don't see how it can be a victory to be elected when not a single person cast a vote. The NF AND the BNP are a national disgrace.

Anonymous said...

It seems that some nationalists agree with you.

"Phew !

What a bad few years for the Griffin BNP. This was not a gain it was an hold of a seat which has to be fought yet again in 8 months.

The interesting thing is the bonehead Griffin supporters/hatemongers on the web who are running around like little children exclaiming what a major breakthrough for Griffins policies this all is.

They haven't a brain cell between them.

The rot has still set in and its permanent.

Lap it up you idiots !"

Anonymous said...

Good article Ketlan. Puts the BNPs bragging about this into perspective.

Anonymous said...

OMG,WHAT PRATS USE ARE!

Anonymous said...

"...when eight out of nine of its sitting councillors lost their seats,"

How do you arrive at this?

Further, you claim the BNP poured massive resources into their election campaign.

Massive compared to what?
The tiny, impoverished Tory, Liberal and Labour parties?

Just what are you saying here?

Anonymous said...

"How do you arrive at this?"

The BNP lost eight of its nine council seats up for re-election - three in Burnley, and one in Calderdale, Stoke on Trent, Bradford, South Holland and Broxbourne...

Read more here:
http://lancasteruaf.blogspot.com/2007/05/bnp-electoral-rise-halted-by-head-on.html

Anonymous said...

"OMG,WHAT PRATS USE ARE!"

OMG, WHAT A MORON YOU ARE!

Anonymous said...

Nice article Denise and Antifascist. Interesting reading and gets right through the BNP hype.

Anonymous said...

"ample confirmation of what we saw in May - that the BNP has stalled and that its vote is falling."
The evidence is everywhere from Mays dismal results to this 5% drop to Nick Griffins announcement that all hes really interested in is the Euro elections for the skim money, oh and raising £200,000 for an election the BNP cannot win and the party could get away with spending only £10k on. The Euros are all about money and Nick Griffin knows that if the morons of the BNP raise the £200k for the mayor election, he can skim off loads for himself. The party is a complate fucking disaster and the membership is getting wiser to whats going on hence the increasingly strident demands for money. I reckon the partys a year away from complte bankruptcy. Him and his bullyboys run around like they own the place lecturing the branches on raising money and it all ends up on building him a fucking sauna and buying his wife a brand new motor. I'm sick to death of the lot of them. And what the fuck is he doing taking an ex NF guy? Thats going to win us votes is it? The BNP is supposedly not racist. You lot ought to come along to a few meetings, the NF would fit right in.

Anonymous said...

I forgot to say, your right, morale is at rock bottom. Even though everyones cheering at this win no-ones really convinced. Nicks going to have to pull some tricks out of the bag if he wants to get the party bag on track but no-one seriously beleives he's got any tricks left. People go away from meetings and just never come backbecause they can see they' re being conned. No fucking joke. I cant tell you where I am but its not too far from Lancaster and if you could see the state of our branch youd piss yourselves laughing. Not that I go any more. I've had enough and this rubbish about an extra £200k was pretty much the last straw.

You've no idea how much better i feel. i've been wanting to say all that for ages.

Anonymous said...

that last bloke was spot on i am getting texts and emails daily off people saying they are fed up with it all,i used to be a member and evertime the fucking phone went it wasy money,money money. my mrs even copped one twat who had organised a venue and there was a supposed charge for it. after the whip round the dosh went into his sky rocket(we later found out the venue was free)id say to anyone looking to join the bnp put your money into an american pyramid system at least you might see some of it come back your way, griffin knows people are on to him and his skam and clock is starting to tick fast.

Anonymous said...

Until I read this article I thought the BNP had pulled one off so cheers to Ketlan for seeing through the crap. Nobody else seems to realise this wasn't a good result for the BNP because it fits in with the long term downward trend.

Good ammunition to shut them up with.

Make Ketlan chair of the UAF NOW!

Anonymous said...

That's terrific news: we're defending a seat in a by-election in Nuneaton soon... and they think they've got a chance (same BNP candidate as in the Slough by-election).

If there's anyone who can lend a hand in the fight, feel free to email us at mail@nuneatonlibdems.org.uk.

Thanks!

Anonymous said...

can i point out one thing about sharon ebanks "she has simply lost the plot"when she was in the bnp not one person had a problem with her ethnicity only sharon did.to lie and deny your family ancestory is foolish and a mistake.what sharon is trying to do on this site is deflecting her own party the NNP,she is loosing the plot fast and its a pity she does not have her own blog site.The sooner she faces up to her creed and colour then she will find herself a better person.Just like lydia and julie ?

Anonymous said...

"You lot ought to come along to a few meetings, the NF would fit right in."

You've clearly never been to a BNP meeting before as you're talking out of your backside.

Anonymous said...

you wish luaf.when a party has a seat and it goes up for election most times it's vote goes down and that is only one by election a big uaf leafleting session went on aswell less people voted and we where miles ahead of the other parties ,it's a safe seat and bnp's vote didn't go down in may if you looked at the election our vote went up a record vote in wales and scotland our percentage went down cause we fought lots of new seats which were not bnp heartlands to test ouur support for the euro elections

dream on luaf

u've had your 30 pieces of silver from the state and one day you'll have face justice when we get into power ,you can fight all you like like you did in 2006 and like you did in this by election but it will fail like always

Antifascist said...

'Until I read this article I thought the BNP had pulled one off so cheers to Ketlan for seeing through the crap.'

In fairness to Denise, I should point out that it was she who wrote the meat of the article - I'm really only responsible for the NF addition on the bottom and posting it cos she's poorly at the moment. It doesn't really matter that much who wrote it though, it's still good to get the truth.

'Nobody else seems to realise this wasn't a good result for the BNP because it fits in with the long term downward trend. Good ammunition to shut them up with.'

Too right. And all ammo is good ammo.

'Make Ketlan chair of the UAF NOW!'

Thanks but no thanks. I've found the place where I fit and I'm staying right here.

Antifascist said...

'You've clearly never been to a BNP meeting before as you're talking out of your backside.'

I've no idea who Anonymous is but he sounds like he knows what he's on about to me.

Anonymous said...

It is getting more difficult for the BNP to win local elections now that the three main parties are paying attention and countering the BNP.But the 2009 Euro elections are the real prize and UKIP have lost a great deal of support.The truth is one ot two BNP MEP's in two years time is highly likely.

Anonymous said...

"In fairness to Denise, I should point out that it was she who wrote the meat of the article - I'm really only responsible for the NF addition on the bottom and posting it cos she's poorly at the moment."
In that case well done to both of you for a thought-provoking article and a Get Well Soon to Denise.

Anonymous said...

Aaw, Denise is poorly is she ?

I do hope its nothing trivial.

Anonymous said...

Thanks to Denise then.

Off the subject for a mo, is there a reason to have two UAF blogs, this and Voice of Reason that are almost identical and have the same contributors anyway?

Why not make one of the blogs better by combining the two?

Just an idea. I'm not complaining!

Anonymous said...

Don't worry, Anonymous, DG will be back very soon. I think it's telling that when she wrote her part of the article she was in quite a bad way but still had the wits to see through the BNP claptrap. So here's hoping that the downward trend is "nothing trivial".

Anonymous said...

Dan the proxy man, just an enquiry, but is it not safe to comment without using proxy?

Can the LUAF see your ip address or worse still, can the nutzis?

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
Aaw, Denise is poorly is she ?

I do hope its nothing trivial.


What a vile POS you are, you BNP knuckledraggers just can't help yourelves can you?

Get well soon Denise:)

Anonymous said...

Interestingly there seems to be a lack of any posting of the real figures.

I have lifted these from the Liberal Councilors Site. A site I find normally correct, but a site which has a habit of ignoring very bad Liberal results.

That being said here are the results for the seat concerned >-

Epping Forest DC, Loughton Alderton

BNP 393 (32.2;-5.4),
Residents 367 (30.1;+1.0),
Con 163 (13.3;-3.1),
Lib Dem 172 (14.1;+10.5),
Lab 98 (8.0;-5.2),
UKIP 28 (2.3;+2.3).
Majority 26.
Turnout 36.7%.
BNP hold.
Last fought 2006.

Hold yer own oppinion, for myself I think that this demonstrates a down side in the Nutzie Vote.

Two points come from this.

What was the platform of the Local Residents ?

And 2 Why was this Bye - Election not well publisised ?

If it was, and I missed it being publisised - Well that speaks for itself.

NB - I trust local A/F will be looking very hard at the NUTZIES election expenses, and income !

I also suspect that the L/D's handed this seat back to the NUTZIES


Old Sailor

Anonymous said...

There's a great row going on at Stormfront about this.
The Nazi who posts as Ostle is getting attacked for being a "red" because he's spotted the same trend LUAF has and was stupid enough to say so, so all the Griffin bootlickers come out to attack him.
The great thing is he's the only one talking sense but the thick BNP dipshits can't see it.
Inside every BNP moron there's a cretin just itching to get out.

Anonymous said...

Forgot to add, somebody said

Until I read this article I thought the BNP had pulled one off

goes nicely with the title

BNP's downward trend

Use your imagination!

Anonymous said...

"I'm sick to death of the lot of them. And what the fuck is he doing taking an ex NF guy? Thats going to win us votes is it? The BNP is supposedly not racist. You lot ought to come along to a few meetings, the NF would fit right in."

Were you not aware that the NF is the only nationalist party not proscribed by Griffin? The reason for that is because Griffin wants it to wind down completely so that he can sit on the name. The NF's name still carries some clout because of its history and if disgruntled BNP members decided to go back to it, well?

Griffin wants the BNP to be the only name making any money and using poor fools to achieve it.

Where are the BNP accounts?

Anonymous said...

"can i point out one thing about sharon ebanks "she has simply lost the plot"when she was in the bnp not one person had a problem with her ethnicity only sharon did.to lie and deny your family ancestory is foolish and a mistake.what sharon is trying to do on this site is deflecting her own party the NNP,she is loosing the plot fast and its a pity she does not have her own blog site.The sooner she faces up to her creed and colour then she will find herself a better person.Just like lydia and julie ?"

Awww, how dull the wee early hours would be without reading your posts, Mr L J Barnes. Found me another sister I see, is this one from under a gooseberry bush?

SICK TWAT

Zero regards

Anonymous said...

This article seems to have rattled the BNP's supporters very nicely after all their false self-congratulations. Well done LUAF!

Antifascist said...

@ Dan the Anon Proxy Man

As you'll have noticed from the poll, we're looking at the future face of the blog and a bunch of people are in the process of discussing where we can develop and take things from here. If you have any positive ideas, feel free to email us. We'll be happy to consider them.

@ rah

It's shameful - and they wonder why we regard them as filth?

@ a field

Best of luck in Nuneaton. Every single local anti-fascist should be out there, along with every other party, fighting the far-right alongside you.

@ anon who asked about IP addresses being seen

Anyone who has a Blogspot blog will be able to tell you that IP addresses are NOT shown anywhere (as far as I know). Even if they were, so many are spoofed or proxies that they're fairly meaningless anyway. To find out who a commentor is, we would have to take Google to court in the US and that would get us precisely nowhere. Comment in peace. :-)

'The Nazi who posts as Ostle is getting attacked for being a "red" because he's spotted the same trend LUAF has and was stupid enough to say so...'

All opposition is red/a mole/MI5 etc, you know the score. Pathetic isn't it. The far-right has never chosen to look below the surface - which might explain why Nick Griffin is still the leader of the BNP.

'This article seems to have rattled the BNP's supporters very nicely after all their false self-congratulations. Well done LUAF!'

Good. And thank you James. :-)

Anonymous said...

As somebody who has fought loads of elections, including a much-hyped BNP intervention (where they finished 1,000+ adrift), a few comments on this by-election.

BAD NEWS
The BNP is normally DREADFUL at holding its own seats, especially at by-elections caused by their councillors standing down/ being dismissed etc. So the fact that they held this seat is a little disappointing.

MORE BAD NEWS
With a fall of only 5 points their vote held up well.

GOOD NEWS
They only just held on!

GOOD NEWS
It was an unusual seat with a NAP (Non-aligned "party") as the principal rivals, and the three main parties all jostling for position as "credible challengers".

GOOD NEWS
If the "independents" fight on they will surely take the seat next time. Alternatively, if they fade the Lib Dems may emerge as the focus of non-BNP support and take the seat.