Far-right British party (BNP) licks wounds after poll wipe-out

[pampango]

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=far-right-british-party-licks-wounds-after-poll-wipe-out-2010-05-23

"As the dust settles after Britain's election, the far-right British National Party, or BNP, is reassessing its strategy after its much-hoped for success turned into a spectacular defeat.

On the night, however, leader Nick Griffin did not even come close to unseating incumbent Labour MP Margaret Hodge - and the party lost all 12 of the local councilors that it won here four years ago. "You're not wanted here and your vile politics have no place in British democracy. Pack your bags and go," a defiant Hodge said in her victory speech.

Their poor showing was a surprise and goes against a European trend - the far-right entered parliament for the first time in Hungary this year, holds power in Slovakia and Italy and contested presidential elections in Austria.

One reason for this (not to write the BNP off for good) is that the key concerns that drove the party's support show no signs of going away, in particular immigration, which the BNP has promised to halt and reverse with a voluntary repatriation scheme. National politicians avoid the issue - but Hodge has tried to tackle it ever since the BNP won its 12 council seats in 2006, as well as a perception among many working-class Britons that the Labour party has abandoned them.

This view is reflected on the streets of Barking, where Rashid Aleem, 41, pointed to Griffin's appearance on a prime-time TV debate last year as the moment when it became clear what the party stood for. Although he cites immigration as a concern, he told AFP: "People saw that and realised he's using the influx of eastern European immigrants as a front for his real agenda, which is racist."

Unemployed construction worker Guy Kerr, 47, admits he is the kind of person the BNP courts and backs their policies on more jobs for indigenous British workers and to pull troops out of Afghanistan. "But they're racist," he said, adding: "I honestly thought they would get in here and I'm glad they didn't."

[muriel_volestrangler]

1. Leader says he will step down by 2013

Nick Griffin is to step down as leader of the British National Party by the end of 2013, a party statement says.

According to the BNP website, he said by then he would have been party leader for 15 years which was "long enough".

He wanted to "make way for a younger person" and focus on getting re-elected to the European Parliament in 2014.
...
Mr Griffin said his decision was timed to allow the last "building blocks" of the BNP's administrative and political machine to be put in place.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8700333.stm

Their "administrative and political machine" is pretty chaotic - so many of them are filled with hate that they turn on each other at the drop of a hat (one senior member was questioned by the police about threats to kill Griffin). And I think they still haven't managed to write a constitution for the party that won't be held to be discriminatory - which means they can't accept new members: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8564742.stm

Of course, their fundamental problem is that most of their members want to be discriminatory, so they find it very hard to accept anything that isn't - they're not bright enough, on the whole, to be able to hide their bigotry. Griffin's better than it than most, but with any luck, his fall will mean the party fades into insignificance too.