BNP vote in Wales nears 10%

Illustrated rainbow pride flag on a white background.

The British National Party has polled nearly 10% in parts of Wales.

The latest results show the party on 9.4% in Wrexham and 7.1% in both Alyn and Deeside and in Clwyd South.

It is not thought they will win a seat in the Welsh Assembly.

It was a mixed night for the openly homophobic party.

In Maidenhead and Windsor they beat Labour candidates to third place, and they failed to win any more seats on Sandwell council in the West Midlands, where they currently have four councillors.

The BNP won two council seats in Leicestershire but lost one in Broxbourne.

Deputy leader Simon Smith told the BBC: “It’s disappointing, but we’ll be back next year.”

Regarded as no more than a extreme minority group a decade ago, the BNP took their first three seats on Burnley council in 2002.

They went on to play on working class resentments about immigration and lack of social housing to win 52 seats on 13 councils in 2006.

In Barking and Dagenham, east London, the party is the official opposition with 12 councillors.

They fielded 750 candidates in the 2007 elections.

They recently tried to align themselves with Christians who object to new laws protecting gay people from discrimination.

The BNP fought previous general elections on a pledge to outlaw homosexuality and has described AIDS as “nature taking revenge” on gay men.

Comments (0)

MyPinkNews members are invited to comment on articles to discuss the content we publish, or debate issues more generally. Please familiarise yourself with our community guidelines to ensure that our community remains a safe and inclusive space for all.

Loading Comments