The dust has almost settled. My assessment of how the BNP performed.

[daftpunk]

Ok, they didn't make the political breakthrough I'd hoped for, but if you look at the results they are actually very encouraging.

The BNP got 563,743 votes (dispite only fighting half of all the available 650 seats)

They got 10% of the vote. That is pretty amazing for a small party, and under proportional representation those votes would result in seats.

NC will merge with someone (eventually?) and as one of his main aims is to push through PR it's all good for the BNP.

What do these results mean for the BNP ?

The tripling of the BNP vote on May 6th has some important implications.

Firstly, where they went head to head with UKIP and the Greens they thrashed them, they overtook UKIP in 178 seats, and UKIP have far more money than the BNP, and of course UKIP and the Greens are favoured by the media.

Secondly, while all minority parties were pushed to the edge by the bigger parties, the BNP's vote not only help up, but proportionally increased when compared to their June 2009 Euro election results.

The BNP are here to stay, and although the election was a disappointment in some respests, it was a clear sign that 1000's of people up and down the country support the policies of the BNP.

And let's not forget, political pundits had all but written off the Labour party after they lost the 92'election....

They went on to win 3 elections.

@ ohmegee

complimentary.

Why do people vote BNP and not UKIP..?

very good question.

Personally, I would like to see some sort of union but I doubt it will ever happen

I think the BNP speak for alot of people in this country, British born people want to be put first, they want to sort out the immigration mess Labour have created...and they want to have a political party that will get tough on asylum seekers and illegal immigrants....people see UKIP as not really having the balls..

The problem the BNP have is their past. if you took that away god knows how many votes they'd get.....alot more than 10% that's for sure

Arf @ the problem with the BNP is their past.

The problem with the BNP is their policies.

And the fact that OTW they're racist scumbags.

BNP didn't overtake BNP here (thank god)

And their wonderful leader actually got fewer votes this time round than he did in 2005....

their local councillors must be shit, to have so few re-elected.

their past - oh you mean one of their party up for election kicking an asian man in the head the day before the election - yes that was a very long time ago wasn't it.....

not sure how much more "tougher" you can be on aslyum seekers other than give them lower benefits, lock them up in detention centres and not let them work while they wait potentially years for a decision...............(as currently happens).

The BNP was smashed to bits

This was a Very Good Thing

The Green Party got a Real Proper MP

This was a Good Thing

The End.

I know total - while they did manage to cling on to 19 council seats they lost 27

"British born people want to be put first"

Do we? I thought the British were renowned for our sense of fair play rather than demanding special treatment. That aside 'British born' doesn't actually get you very far with the BNP. If I remember rightly, Griffiths on Question Time said he only regards someone as British if they can trace their family back to the Ice Age.

The BNP were not smashed to bits.

They got 563,743 votes, the biggest they have ever polled.

If their overall vote was down on the 2005 election I would be the first to admit they were smashed.

The fiqures speak for themselves, you can try and twist the statistics however you like, or make some big deal out of me saying 10%, but the facts are there..

The BNP vote is increasing.

Accept it.

please can you stop saying things like
"british people want....."
you and the BNP do not speak for the vast majority of sensible british people, only a very small minority of bigots.

We do accept it. Their vote has increased from 'nothing' to 'next to nothing'. They have no popular mandate in any one area - not even a small local election ward - just a random scattering of disaffected and under-acheiving individuals who somehow think that they would be better off if 'foreigners' weren't spoiling their life-chances.

lol @ british born people wanting to be put first, unless they're disabled, or women, or non-white...

ooooooooo yea look at them steaming ahead with an average of 15 more votes per seat contested since 2005

I'm British born.......and most certainly don't agree with any of the BNP nonsense they spout.

My DS's are also British born...........however I believe the BNP doesn't count them as British and would give them each 50k to repatrtiate themselves back to their country of origin >>>

I was going to read this Serious Thread completely, but got to larrysgal's horrified comment and am now lol.

welcome to MN, larrygal

This is why we must never have PR

The BNP are racist ignorant idiots and only racist ignorant idiots voted for them. Accept that.

DP - I do accept it and I am horrified that as well as the (pathetic) BNP vote there was also a UKIP turnout(though small). I suspect that UKIP is the Botoxed face of the BNP, and I am sorry to see our country with even this minority of narrow minded ignorant xenophobia.

And although the BNP lost lots of council seats partly because they have such a poor record of actually attending any council meetings (many have never attended any meetings at all), I suspect that the busybody element of UKIP will be far less lax.

Daftpunk, I salute your indefatigability.

In the face of all the evidence.

Erm, as per my name....OHEMGEE! DP replied personally to my comment! I feel so dirty

I have never been so pleased for someone to not get one of my jokes. Sense of humour not shared by racists (disablists, misogynists etc etc).....check.

Yes you are right that the BNP is increasing from 47,000 to 500,000, as you know UKIP would have not truck with the BNP. I'm still puzzled by why you yourself have not thought of voting for a party that put Britains interests first, instead of a party that narrows itself to race.

I do actually agree with Blu. Although was obviously heartened to see Evil Griffin routed on the night. What with the fact that like many people born in this country I am not exactly of echt Anglo Saxon descent.

Riverofsleep. Most people are not racist, you cannot say that over 500,000 people are racist, some maybe, but the majority of them are not. The people who voted for them obviously have greivances that the manin parties have continually not addressed, if the votes for the BNP has gone up from 47,000 in 2000, to over 500,000 in 2010.