2002 Local Election results - an initial assessment

Headlines:

3 BNP councillors elected in Burnley

7 other BNP candidates miss out by one place

BNP candidate in Stoke misses out by 70 votes

BNP get 28% of the total vote in Burnley and 27.3% in the five wards it contested in Oldham. In Sunderland the BNP averaged 14.8% in the six wards it contested.

Across the country the BNP averaged 12% in the 66 seats it stood in.

In Chadderton South ward, Oldham, the BNP candidate polled 35%, its highest single vote. In Team Farm ward, Sunderland, the BNP polled 28%. In Castle & Priory ward, Dudley, BNP Internet chief came second with 26%, while in the neighbouring borough of Sandwell, local organiser John Salvage polled 24% in Princes End ward.

The combined Freedom Party and BNP result in Tipton Green ward, Sandwell, was 31%.


The results showed an alarming rise in BNP support across the country. However, at present, it remains in a poor organisational state and this is reflected in its inability to challenge more seats. Even in Oldham, where the BNP was likely to make a strong showing in every ward in the town, the local BNP branch was only able to contest five wards.

There is short-term relief that the BNP was restricted to only three seats in Burnley and defeated everywhere else. Prior to polling, it was feared that the BNP could take between 6-8 seats in Burnley, 2-3 in Oldham, 2 in the Black Country and 1 or 2 in London. That they did not was due to an unusually unexpectedly high turnout, the targeted and relentless anti-fascist campaign, the effects of Le Pen’s success in France and the resulting media campaign against the BNP.

There are, however, great concerns for the longer term. The BNP have candidates elected and will undoubtedly attempt to use that as a platform for future success. With the election of three seemingly "respectable" people in Burnley, the BNP will try to lance its demonic image in the media and offer itself as a legitimate alternative to the mainstream parties.

Across the country the BNP tapped into a reservoir of discontent that reaches across the political divide. The initial reading of the results shows the BNP polled less well in traditional Labour areas as compared to the more affluent Conservative and Lib Dem suburbs. Even in Burnley and Oldham the BNP was surprised with the resilience of the Labour vote in its traditional heartlands.

The strong showing for the BNP is reflective of a greater malice in the political system in general and in the political parties in particular. Right-wing xenophobia is sweeping Western Europe while at the same time the political centre is increasingly discredited with the perception of sleaze and corruption and the traditional Left appears, in the eyes of many former supporters, outdated and out of touch. Political institutions are increasingly remote and detached from ordinary individuals as political and economic power shifts from local democracy to Westminster, Brussels and the boardrooms of the large multinationals. There is growing "fear" of crime, immigration and a loss of identity. And all this at a time of "relative" economic success. With the mainstream political parties fighting over the centre of politics, voters are increasingly looking for alternatives.

It is into this unease that the BNP is beginning to flex its political message. The same underlying sentiments have elected a monkey as Mayor of Hartlepool, a discredited former police chief in Middlesboro and three BNP councillors in Burnley. However, the consequences are very different. The BNP is an organised political party with a platform based on racial superiority and conspiracy theories. Unchecked, it poses a far greater risk to society than individual mavericks and animals.

In future elections we cannot rely on such large turnouts, Le Pen or the same intensity of anti-BNP coverage in the local and national media. Anti-fascists and the Labour movement need to develop a strategy to defeat the BNP and undercut its potential base of support by offering a better, inclusive alternative. This will require addressing difficult and often unpalatable issues but it is our current refusal to do so at present which has left a vacuum in which the Right can offer simplistic and racist solutions.

For a more extensive analysis of the 2002 local elections read the June issue of Searchlight. Articles include:

8 pages of results and analysis, including a detailed social breakdown of who voted for the BNP, why and where.
How to reverse BNP gains in Burnley?
Why the BNP did not win in Oldham.
Battlefield reports from across the country.
The demise of the BNP in London.
The June issue of Searchlight will also include special reports from France and the Netherlands and an in-depth analytical article on the rising threat of fascism and right-wing populism across Western Europe.

To obtain a copy of the magazine, send a cheque or postal order for £2.50 to Searchlight, PO Box 1576, Ilford, IG5 0NG.

To save 20% on the cost of the magazine and receive a free book subscribe. See the website  http://www.searchlightmagazine.com for more details or ring Searchlight on 020 7681 8660 or email us at  editors@searchlightmagazine.com