The Quiet Revolution continues in Benfleet and Shepshed

In the last round of local elections before the Christmas holidays, the British National Party's Quiet Revolution continued apace in Essex and Leicestershire.

The Results:

Castle Point Council
St Mary's Ward
Thursday 20th December 2007
(2 seats)
Alf Partridge (Con) 509
Brian Wilson (Lab) 480
Mark Howard (Con) 461
Tony Wright (Lab) 456
Peter Barber (BNP) 253
John Morgan (BNP) 234
BNP Party Percentage: 20.4%

Shepshed Town Council
East Ward
Thursday 20th December 2007
(2 seats)
Stephen Londsborough (Lab) 275
Richard Tabberer (Lab) 259
Sarah Fall (Lib-Dem) 193
Colin Chapman (Con) 187
Julia Green (BNP) 183
Martin Foster (BNP) 173
James Nasmyth (Lib-Dem) 155
BNP Party Percentage: 22.1%

In St Mary's Ward last May it was just a straight fight between the Tories and Labour, with the winning Conservative candidate polling 1129 to her opponent's 524. This time the Tory vote collapsed, the Labour vote held firm and the BNP came from nowhere to take 20% of the votes cast.

In East Ward, Labour gained two seats from the Tories and the BNP pushed the Lib-Dems into 4th place on Party percentages.

These are two excellent results to finish off a very good year for the British National Party.

Less than a week before Christmas and with a desperately low voter turnout, the BNP has managed to complete with the campaigns of the three main parties and secured a share of the vote which shows we have significant support in these two areas.

And voters in Benfleet and Shepshed didn't just get leaflets from the candidates contesting the election, they also received another leaflet from a 'Third Party' funded by the Labour Party and TUC which specifically told them not to vote for the British National Party.

For the past month, voters in Benfleet and Shepshed have seen Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat politicians on their television screens, they have constantly read about the three main parties in the national and local newspapers.

There has been no mention of the BNP, apart from negative publicity. That's because the National Union of Journalists has issued guidelines to its members instructing them not to report on the British National Party unless it shows the Party in an unfavourable light.

Yet despite all this, on a freezing Thursday just before Christmas, one-in-five voters went to polls and registered their support for a political party that never receives favourable media coverage and which they had been told not to vote for.

It is quite incredible and it's what we call "The BNP's Quiet Revolution".

Lost in the Christmas rush

Jon Cruddas and Gerry Gable are two unhappy bunnies this morning.

And it's not because their anti-BNP campaign, which was making all the headlines before lunch yesterday, was suddenly trumped in the media's BNP stakes by the announcement from our London Mayor candidate Richard Barnbrook, and English National Ballet principal dancer Simone Clarke, that they were to wed.

The 'celebrity' news concerning the two high profile BNP members certainly spiked the attempt from Cruddas and Gable to try to portray the British National Party as something more akin to Marlon Brando's family in The Godfather, than a political party scrupulously vetted by the Electoral Commission.

But it's not only Richard and Simone's announcement that has caused the upset.

Jon Cruddas' abuse of Parliamentary procedure, which was guaranteed to attract the media's attention, and Gerry Gable's latest 'shock and horror' dossier on the BNP were meant to grab the headlines next year, at the end of February, in order to stop the BNP's GLA and local election campaign in its tracks. But unfortunately for Jon and Gerry, the Gang-of-Four's takeover bid for the British National Party was rumbled two months before it was due to go public, so their hand was forced. And it couldn't have been a worse time of year - all those prime anti-BNP headlines intended to put hundreds of thousands of voters off supporting the BNP, just lost in the Christmas rush.

Richard and Simone have certainly captured the media's attention this morning with the London Evening Standard carrying one of the best reports albeit under a rather unkind headline. Almost every newspaper reports the engagement but my favourite comes from today's Diary in The Guardian. Its view, with a tiny bit of editing to make it acceptable for this blog, is . . .

"Congratulations to Simone Clarke, principal dancer of the English National Ballet, and Richard Barnbrook, the BNP's London organiser, who are to marry. They say The Guardian, which outed her as a BNP-ite, brought them together. That's marvellous. The ENB was supportive of Simone when her views came to light. Will it celebrate with a recital? Of course, Barnbrook has his own background in the arts, having directed the film in HMS Discovery. A life in glossy magazines awaits. Move over, Posh and Becks."

Best of luck to our four candidates in by-elections in Benfleet and Shepshed today.

Four candidates in two council by-elections

There's no let up in the British National Party's election push as the year draws to a close. With just a week to go till Christmas, teams of activists are out in Benfleet in Essex and Shepshed in Leicestershire campaigning hard to recruit more voters to the BNP's Quiet Revolution.

The borough of Castle Point, situated on the coastline of south-east Essex on the northern side of the Thames estuary, has an area of 17.3 square miles and a population of approximately 86,000 people. The main population centres are Benfleet, Canvey Island and Hadleigh.

St Mary's Ward is in Benfleet and it is a Tory stronghold. In May it was just a straight fight between the Tories and Labour with the winning candidate polling 1129 to her opponent's 524. The two vacancies have come up after the winning candidate in May and her husband, also a sitting Conservative councillor, faced accusations of benefit fraud.

The details for this elections are:

Castle Point Council
St Mary's Ward
Thursday 20th December 2007
(2 seats)
Peter Barber (BNP)
Mark Howard (Con)
John Morgan (BNP)
Alf Partridge (Con)
Brian Wilson (Lab)
Tony Wright (Lab)

Julia Green is one of our two candidates in the contest for East Ward seat on Shepshed Town Council. Julia, you will remember, made the front page of the November issue of Freedom when she polled 20% of the vote in a county council election in Shepshed just before Gordon Brown called off his early General Election. Labour advisers at the count in Shepshed phoned the Prime Minister as soon as the result was declared and 24 hours later he pulled the plug on his intended November 8th polling day.

Lets just remind ourselves of that stunning BNP result:

Julia GREEN - British National Party 807 20.02%
Kevin PARKER - Labour Party 1,217 30.19%
John POPLEY - Liberal Democrat 933 23.15%
Christine RADFORD - Conservative Party 1,074 26.64%

Postings on the BNP Members Forum suggest this campaign is going well with very good canvass returns so it's hoped that Julia and Martin can improve on that 20% BNP vote share.

The full details are:

Shepshed Town Council
East Ward
Thursday 20th December 2007
(2 seats)
Colin Chapman (Con)
Sarah Fall (Lib-Dem)
Martin Foster (BNP)
Julia Green (BNP)
Stephen Londsborough (Lab)
James Nasmyth (Lib-Dem)
Richard Tabberer (Lab)

There is a very good local election website called Votewise at www.votewise.co.uk. If your BNP unit is contesting an election please make sure this website gets your candidate's photograph, biographical details and policy statement. The website is a popular news source for the media and has a growing visitor hit rate as local elections are attracting more and more public interest. All the details on how to post the information are on this website.

Opponents ready to dance on our grave

It's been a difficult week for the British National Party. Internal problems are always the most demoralising because it turns colleague against colleague and divides those who should be working toward our goal of reclaiming our country for the British people.

Such division leads to political inactivity as other agendas take centre stage and our overall goal of saving Britain gets pushed aside in the fevered frenzy to win your own people over to your particular internal viewpoint. There is no better way of summing up this state of affairs than a posting on the BNP members' forum last week:

"We have a very important election on that we should win, but this has killed the campaign. It was the chance to finish Labour off here, but at present we are struggling to put anything like an average campaign in, yet only 2 months ago we mounted a fantastic campaign in South Derbyshire."

In September, London Mayor Ken Livingstone, said that he could only hope for a major reversal in the fortunes of the British National Party in order for the Party not to take at least one or possibly two seats at the London Assembly elections in May. Yesterday's edition of The Independent seems to think that 'Red Ken' might have got his wish.

Under the headline "Internal splits threaten BNP's chances in London Assembly poll," it reported:
"The British National Party is gripped by civil war amid bitter personality clashes and claims of dirty tricks by rival factions.
Nick Griffin, the leader of the far-right party, is facing vehement criticism of his stewardship. The Party has high hopes of winning seats in the GLA elections next year."

Our present difficulties have provided our opponents and their friends in the media with the biggest Christmas present they can ever have hoped for. For the last five years since our election breakthrough in Burnley in 2002, our Party has been under attack. But we have survived because the attacks have come from outside - from those who we know are our enemies - and this has instilled in people a greater capacity to resist and carry on, knowing that if we stay united in the face of this enemy we can still win.

When Ken Livingstone talked about a 'major reversal in the fortunes of the BNP' he wasn't unveiling any new strategy to tackle the progress of the British National Party, it was as if he was hoping that something might just happen . . . and hey presto, within a couple of months of that speech something has just happened which might just provide the London Mayor with what he was hoping for.

In The Independent it is also reported that:
"The exiles have called for a grassroots revolution to take control of the party. They say that, despite record numbers of councillors, BNP morale has hit an all-time low. They are calling on sympathisers to stay in the BNP, but to resign from party positions and not to renew their membership for the moment. Councillors are urged to quit the party whip and describe themselves as "independent Nationalists".

If just a small percentage of BNP members withhold their membership subscriptions, the Party will suffer severe financial problems. We do not have any significant financial backers and rely solely on the money that comes in from memberships and donations. This year we have had our best year ever with record numbers of new members signing up and existing members renewing, yet we still experienced financial difficulties. BNP Treasurer John Walker, has had to perform minor miracles to keep the Party functioning in a professional manner.

I am not directly involved in these current difficulties. My name has not been mentioned in any of the factional bulletins that have been put out and the Freedom newspaper has not come in for any criticism. I worked with two of the three 'exiles' as The Independent calls them and that working relationship was very good. My wife Tina, worked closely with two of them and describes that working relationship as "excellent."

My concern is that their gripes over what are essentially, personality clashes and work performance issues could potentially bring the British National Party to its knees. It could do this because every malcontent within the Party and those agent provocateurs planted within our Party - and there are many, just remember Jason Gwynne, Andy Sykes, and Iain Cobain of recent years and Ray Hill of the 1980's - is using the opportunity to destroy everything we have worked for.

And that is what this posting is all about. Please beware of those shouting the loudest for 'with-holding memberships,' 'resigning and becoming Independent Nationalists', and 'setting up an organisation callled the Real BNP' because they might not be the committed British nationalists they would like you to believe they are. Just remember that anyone who holds the best interests of British Nationalism above all other concerns - personal or political - would never engage in activity which might damage the only vehicle capable of delivering salvation to the British people.

Ten weeks on and still no result from Burnley

Will it be today - the decision that we are all waiting for?

A judge at the Royal Courts of Justice has now been deliberating for TEN WEEKS over the recount by court officials of the disputed Rosegrove with Lowerhouse Ward election result for Burnley Council last May. You may remember that our excellent candidate John Rowe, won the contest by two votes before two previously rejected ballots were added to the Labour vote to make it a tie. Labour then won the seat on the drawing of straws.

John and his fellow councillors in Burnley were outraged by the decision and took their case to the High Court where they won a landmark decision that another count should take place and the rejected ballot papers be re-scrutinised. Since then silence.

I fielded nearly fifty telephone calls in a three hour stint in the Membership Office yesterday and I am delighted to report that Gold Membership is much in demand this year so I hope the Party has ordered enough gold badges. It was good to talk to so many enthusiastic nationalists as they renewed their membership and there is a real sense among people that 2008 is going to be our year. Everyone is talking about the London Assembly Elections and the opportunity it provides the British National Party.

There was one especially poignant call I took yesterday from Peggy Wolton from Devon. Now Peggy used to live in Brighton back in the early 1970s and her husband Ralph was the Brighton organiser. In fact, Ralph was the first ever nationalist I actually spoke to. I had filled in the coupon at the bottom of a Stop Immigration leaflet I had found on a train coming home from work one day and in the information pack that was sent to me were the details of my nearest contact, who happened to be Ralph Wolton. He was a former Battle of Britain pilot with 152 squadron and was the finest ambassador possible for the nationalist cause. Sadly Ralph passed away many years ago, but Peggy is still in good health as she approaches her 90th birthday. We had a nice chat and it's good to know that she is still in touch from many of those from the 'old days'.

Anyone waiting up last night for the council by-election result from Harrow . . . are still waiting! That's because I'm told that the count is being held this morning. London organiser Nick Ericksen is hoping for 3% of the total vote in Canon's ward which must be one of our most difficult areas in the capital. We need to contest elections like this one to squeeze out every last vote we can in preparation for the GLA elections next May. While we will hopefully be polling 30% plus in Barking, Dagenham and some other areas of East London, we will still need that 3% in less favourable areas so we can reach that magic figure of 9% to get our two BNP representatives elected.

Back home from Uni . . .

I did my exercise routine for the first time for a month this morning and although it was hard going, mentally I feel so much better for getting it done.

When you're 57, there is for most of us, the constant battles against rising weight and to keep moderately fit. When I don't exercise, I have this terrible feeling of guilt.

There's a real sense of excitement here now as our two daughters are home from university over the next few days. Haesel, who is doing a year abroad, has sent a huge list of the traditional British foods that she hasn't been able eat since September, for Tina to get in ready for her return. Emily is back tomorrow, and that 's something our son John doesn't seem too happy about. He's been ruling the roost on television programme selection since she has been away and I'm not so certain he is ready to relinquish this newly bestowed power.

It's a manic time for Tina who works, as many of you know, as the Party's membership secretary. To help pay the bills, she also has a job as a home carer which means she's up at six o'clock to help elderly and housebound folk get up, dressed, washed and breakfasted before she's back to open the office at nine. Then, in the evening, she's off again to put them all to bed. It is a hard slog, at weekends as well, and this means that all the preparation for our girls' return home has to be done after her evening carer shift finishes.

When the people presently attacking those of us still working loyally for the BNP as having 'jobs for the boys', it shows just how ignorant and deceitful they are. There's no financial reward in nationalist politics. Just the satisfaction of knowing that what you are doing is something that can bring about a change for the better for the British people.

For me, it's a big week on Freedom as I'm trying to try to clear the decks for some family time over Christmas. January's newspaper will be the last at the current size. Our printer is upgrading his equipment which means that from the February issue it will be the same size as The Independent, albeit just 16 pages. I was hoping to get the paper printed over Christmas for the earliest possible delivery in January, but the factory will be closed for the holiday so it now won't be out until the 9th January.

The best BNP publicity material ever produced

This is 'The Londoner' leaflet that is currently being distributed across the capital. It is receiving an excellent response with enquiries and new members from London at the highest level in the history of the British National Party.

I spoke at length with London BNP organiser Nick Eriksen, last night and he is very bullish about the BNP's chances of gaining two seats on the GLA in May. Nick's view was supported by the Conservative's London Mayor candidate Boris Johnson, who was warning of the funding and influence that two BNP GLA representatives would have. Nick does the excellent London BNP website which helps get our message over specifically to Londoners. It is well worth a visit and can be found from a link on the BNP's new website.

The Londoner leaflet is another example of the professional election material coming from the BNP's Publicity Department headed by Mark Collett. The leaflets now being produced by the Party are the best ever produced by a British nationalist party and are proving hugely successful - as our record membership proves. All this is down to the work of one man - Mark Collett. Now he might not win a popularity contest amongst his colleagues but that doesn't bother me one iota. Mark is in the team to produce the Party's propaganda and he is doing a superb job.

The media just loves the BNP ballerina Simone Clarke. Yesterday another report appeared on her, this time in the The Times. Reporter Helen Rose informs her readers that . . .

"Simone Clarke was born in Leeds, the daughter of a maths teacher and a secretary. Educated first at the local Catholic school, at the age of 10 she beat 4,500 others to win one of 23 places at the Royal Ballet School in London. In 1988, after a stint at Birmingham Royal Ballet, she joined English National Ballet, and rose seamlessly through the ranks to become senior soloist in 2000 and principal dancer in 2004. Her stellar CV is every little girl’s dream: Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella and the Sugar Plum Fairy. Her career high-light, she has said, was a guest appearance in China as Odette/Odile in Swan Lake.

"When a newspaper “outed” her as a BNP member in 2005 there were calls from some quarters for her to be sacked, and vocal protests at one of her performances. But then, as one observer pointed out, the BNP might be distasteful, but it is a legal organisation.

“Last year a newspaper ‘exposed’ my BNP membership,” Clarke is reported as saying on the Solidarity website. “Some politically motivated malcontents tried to have me sacked, hence my interest in a British workers’ union.”

"Now 37 and expected to retire soon, Simone Clarke will dance this week in the Snow Queen at the London Coliseum. “I will be known as the BNP ballerina,” she has said. “I think that will stick with me for life. But I don’t regret anything. I will stay a member.”

What a great asset Simone is for the Party and what a help she will be for our GLA campaign next year. I hope she takes the highest profile because Simone is a real vote winner.

Allerdale BNP organiser Paul Stafford, was on the telephone again yesterday enthusing over Sunday's Colin Auty concert in Maryport. Paul says it was the biggest ever BNP gathering in Cumbria and what delighted him most was that it was openly advertised in Maryport as a BNP function and there's wasn't a sniff of opposition or any problems for the whole afternoon. Needless to say the landlord and his good lady were delighted and donated the superb buffet provided for the event. Paul would like to have Colin up again soon, this time for a concert in Workington where the venue can accommodate double Sunday's audience.

There's an important North West regional meeting tonight and I know our officials from Cumbria will be travelling down. It seems hard to believe that Christmas is just two weeks away with so much political activity going on. With the Members' Bulletin now being delivered, the phones didn't stop ringing yesterday. I'm also delighted to report that the December issue of Freedom has been very well received. I must admit that initially I didn't want to do one as I always believe people have other things on their mind in December, but now I'm glad I did and it's especially rewarding to get such a positive feedback. Hopefully the online version of the newspaper will be linked on the website today.

Make sure you listen to the Colin Auty and Joey Smith Christmas record - you can download it from the BNP website - it's a corker and a must have for any Christmas party.

Humble Pie never tasted so good

Now one former Conservative Party member who is taking great delight in making me eat my words of last week about ex-Tories who join the BNP is hard-working Mark Logan from Havering.

Mark left the Tories after using the Freedom of Information Act to expose Havering Council's disgraceful sell-off of 13 much needed local council houses to a private developer for just £8,000 each. In June of this year he stood for the BNP in the St Andrews Ward by-election and polled 580 votes, coming just three votes behind the second placed Conservative candidate. Now Mark, together with BNP Havering councillor Alan Bailey, has exposed the corrupt council yet again. This time, with the help of the 'Tory Clones' of the Havering Residents' Association, it has allowed vast tracts of the borough's green belt land to be sold off to developers.

Thankfully BNP activists in Havering have drawn attention to the scandal by erecting BNP banners on the 'condemned' land to alert the public. Tory councillors were livid and ordered council workers to remove the signs, only for Mark and his team to be out again putting up new ones. The campaign is attracting a lot of publicity and will help the British National Party in the vital London Assembly elections in May.

Well done Mark - I'm delighted to report your efforts on behalf of the BNP and am happy to admit that Humble Pie has never tasted so good.

Just up the road in Redbridge another London BNP councillor Julian Leppert, has hit the local headlines by using his vote to secure the future of an area of allotments in the borough. A campaign by the local newspaper to play down Julian's involvement in the issue, backfired when local allotment holders wrote in to express their thanks for his support. The whole episode has provided yet even more help to our London Assembly campaign.

And there's also been assistance from The Guardian and London Evening Standard newspapers as well. Both have reported that the ballerina Simone Clarke, who is appearing in a production of the Snow Queen at the London Coliseum this week, has taken a leading role in the Solidarity Trade Union which helps support British National Party members who are being victimised by the TUC. It is very welcome that the profile of the brave Simone is being raised in this manner as I understand she will be playing a key role in supporting BNP London Mayor candidate and leading London Assembly List member Richard Barnbrook, in the coming months.

This week, as reported yesterday, the BNP is also contesting a by-election in Harrow. The London Borough could hardly be considered fertile ground for the British National Party yet any support that our courageous candidate can attract will be very welcome. In May, across the capital, every single BNP vote will be vital as it will add to the total percentage we gain, which will effect our allocation of representatives.

On top of all this welcome publicity, Mark Collett's BNP Publicity Department has produced a brilliant warm-up leaflet which is now being distributed by our activists across the capital. The leaflet is a real vote winner and inspires confidence in our Party which will help lay firm foundations for the all important vote in May.

It was a big day yesterday in the Membership Office with the phone ringing constantly with callers renewing their memberships, new members signing-up or just people offering messages of support. I had hoped to put the finishing touches to the double page spread on the Blackpool Conference in January's issue of Freedom, but was seconded from the relative quiet of my office to help man a telephone. And as if to underline the London theme of this blog, most of the memberships renewals I took yesterday came from our capital city! With just two weeks to Christmas you would have thought that politics would be the last thing on people's minds but it seems that the BNP's battle to save London has struck a chord with the capital's remaining British residents.

Canons Ward, Colin Auty & Lessons from the Past

I had a good chat with Black Country organiser Ken Griffiths, on Friday evening with regard to Thursday's Prince's End by-election. While naturally disappointed, he said the voting pattern wasn't that depressing with one usually solid BNP supporting estate just staying at home rather than switching votes to another party. The turnout overall was a shocking 18% but on this estate it was just half that, showing residents' general disillusionment with politics. Ken believes that trust in the BNP can be rebuilt and there was a meeting of key activists yesterday to discuss the strategy for the next round of elections in May.

This week the British National Party contests a by-election in the London Borough of Harrow where Howard Studley is our candidate. Now I can't remember the last time we fought an election there and neither can one of Howard's potential voters. Tom emailed me from the ward last week with the following:
"At last a pamphlet from the British National Party in my area announcing that a BNP candidate is standing in Canons Ward. For years I have waited for this happy day, each election leaving me more frustrated than ever. No candidate and therefore nobody for whom I could vote.
"At last a ray of sunshine on a storm-wracked horizon, a glimmer of hope where once was only ashes and dust.
"I congratulate you on the quality of the material delivered through my door. I only wish I had met the gentlemen performing this act and I would have invited them in for a drink! But, on a more sober note, is there really any hope that the British here will snap out of their television induced trance and their love affair with credit cards to see the light?
"I am overjoyed, as you probably have already gathered by the tone of this email! Keep up the good work!"

The details of this by-election are:
Harrow Council
Canons Ward
Thursday 13th December 2007
Hussain Akhtar (Con)
Marcello Borgese (Ind)
Anne Diamond (Lib-Dem)
Richard Harrod (Lab)
Howard Studley (BNP)

I was gutted yesterday to miss Colin Auty's appearance in Maryport. I am feeling better but I was so fearful of a relapse that I decided it was more prudent to stay in doors. We were represented by Tina's mum and dad and they said it was a brilliant afternoon with the pub so packed that they could hardly see Colin. Allerdale BNP organiser Paul Stafford, said it was a great success with a 100% local audience loving Colin's set and pledging their support for the BNP. To console myself I spent the afternoon on the Great White Records website, playing Colin's new Christmas recording over and over again. It's a gem and if it gets enough exposure should be a huge Christmas hit.

As I said, I am feeling a little better now and this has been further helped by just two calls for my resignation in this morning's mail over my ill-thought out remarks in last Wednesday's posting. I'm hoping I might have weathered the storm. One of these gentlemen called me a "left-wing socialist" which made me smile and I was tempted to forward the email to Nick Griffin who I know would have appreciated the irony. Many years ago when Nick and I had a political falling out he accused me of being "just a right-wing Tory". How times change and it might be worthwhile at this time to think back on that episode.

It was in May 1986 when the leading nationalist political party of the time was riven by a split which led to its destruction within a year and exiled British Nationalism to the political wilderness for the next 15 years. It was a bitter and hard lesson that Nick and I both learnt then and one that we will never forget . . . UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL. In our politics we have to work together, with everyone on our side, those who don't are stabbing ALL their colleagues in the back!

My soapbox is back in the cupboard

I am paying the penalty this morning for getting on my soapbox again yesterday.

In yesterday's blog I had intended to put the matter of Conservative Party recruits to the BNP to bed. I had set out to apologise for my rather blunt and insular remarks in Wednesday's posting and to get on with covering yesterday's media confirmation of the lead article in December's Freedom that 'A slump is on the way.' Sadly I didn't. Once I started blogging, my 'high & mighty attitude' (as one correspondent called it yesterday) surfaced again and I ended up making what many see as another unfair attack on former members of the Tory Party who have joined our ranks.

I have taken the liberty of publishing one email I received on the Comment's Section of yesterday's blog because I think it provides a good overall summary of the heavy correspondence I have received on this matter. I hope Dean doesn't mind this.

The two key points he raises which I must acknowledge are:

That I ignored the role of the media during the 1980s & 90s which shaped public opinion of that time.
That someone in my position should keep private views for the pub and not air them on a blog which has as its only claim to fame that it comes from the editor of the BNP's newspaper.

I wholeheartedly accept this and apologise again for any offence caused. We have a huge battle ahead of us to keep hold of our country and everyone joining our Party to stand by our side in this crucial campaign is very welcome.

Sadly, I can claim that I was right about the result of the Prince's End by-election. Our vote did collapse and my thoughts today are with our excellent candidate Karen Parkes and her small and dedicated team who suffered for the non-performance of the previous BNP councillor. The same thing happened in Burnley and Barking where because of the disappointing performance of our councillors, our Party was severely punished in by-elections following their demise.

Last night's result was:
SANDWELL MBC
Prince’s End Ward
Thursday 6th December 2007
Delia Edwards (Lab) 796
Beatrice Owen (Con) 517
Karen Parkes (BNP) 314
Dorothy Brayshaw (Lib-Dem) 29
BNP Percentage 19.0%

In the greater scheme of things, this result does us a big favour. It shows everyone connected to our Party that you can't play fast and loose with the electorate. If our councillors don't do their jobs properly BNP candidates will be rejected - end of story. If we had still won in Prince's End after all that had happened it would have sent out the message that the BNP can win seats regardless of how effective or not our councillors are. That would have been bad for the British National Party and bad for local politics.

Our team in Prince's End have got to keep their heads up and start working for next May's elections. Russell Green, who I understand is a hard-working and effective BNP councillor, will be defending his seat and hopefully the electorate will have forgiven us by then and acknowledge his endeavours.

Off to the doctor on Monday for a blast of antibiotics. I should have gone a week ago but I was hoping that nature would just run its course.

Workington Reds are at Gainsborough Trinity tomorrow, desperate to bring something back from the game and halt a rather worrying slide down the table. I have made the trip to their Northolme Ground many times before with my favourite memory being when Reds won 4-2 in a snow storm and I spent the second half praying that the referee wasn't going to abandon the game.

Taken to task by former Tories

Ouch! A stinging mailbox this morning with half a dozen ex-Tory BNPers taking umbrage at my remarks yesterday on those who have switched their allegiance from the Conservative Party to the British National Party.

I will, of course, reply personally to everyone upset by my stated preference for Old Labour recruits to the BNP rather than those who have come from the Tories. I must stress that this is my personal view and it was only published in my personal weblog. It is not the viewpoint of the British National Party or that of the Freedom newspaper.

"I find it bizarre that you should you regard my conversion to the BNP of less value than that of someone from the Labour Party," one aggrieved ex-Conservative scolded me.

I shall reply to him that I'm only talking about Old Labour. There are no recruits from New Labour because the Blair and Brown agenda is so far from the ideals of nationalism that there could never ever be a meeting of minds.

Back in the General Election of 1979 I met a huge number of Tories and they were all certain that Margaret Thatcher would end immigration and put the 'Great' back into Great Britain. After that election, thousands of British Nationalists deserted our cause to join the Conservatives - all duped by Thatcher's phoney nationalism.

In 1983 I met a great many more Tories but this time our meetings were far from friendly. I was campaigning in support of Britain's miners while they seemed happy to see their Party systematically closing down an energy source that was vital for our country's self-sufficiency.
"If we don't support our miners now, in 20 years time we will be relying on coal imported from Eastern Europe to keep our homes warm and our industry running," I told them. But they didn't listen - they were more worried about 'Reds under the bed' and on getting one over on Arthur Scargill.

Then there was North Sea Oil, our Fishing waters around the UK, the Railways, our airlines, Water, Gas, Electricity and the Post Office. One by one essential services and resources, vital to secure a country's independence, were hawked off at a cut price to the highest bidder. The very foundations that were so vital to any Nationalist economy, dug-up and destroyed for ever by consecutive Tory Governments.

I just find it difficult to understand how anyone claiming to be a nationalist could ever have been a member, supporter or official of a political party that did so much in such a short space of time to destroy our national interest.

Anyway, that is my last observation on this matter. I most certainly don't want to rock the boat when things are going so well. The BNP can accommodate quite a broad church of political views as long as the fundamentals of nationalism remain at its core.

And it's not only former Tories that I have upset this week. I have been reprimanded by some of our Sandwell BNP activists who are working hard in the Prince's End by-election where polling takes place today. They take me to task over Monday's blog which they say was much too downbeat on our chances of retaining the seat. "There's great support on the doorstep with voters seeking out our canvassers to pledge their votes for Karen", one told me while another believes that a 'famous victory' is on the cards.

Fingers-crossed then, and I shall try and stay up for the result which hopefully the excellent BNP Information Line - 0906 553 2245 - will report on around midnight.

Pretty grumpy blog again I'm afraid - put it down to this never-ending flu bug and Workington Reds poor recent form.

What were you thinking while this was going on?

So it's not just Ken Livingstone!

Within minutes of publishing my blog yesterday and accusing Ken Livingstone of being behind moves to limit the funding available to the BNP should it get candidates elected to the London Assembly next May, leading London Tory, Brian Coleman, was writing in the New Statesman saying he agreed with London's Mayor. In fact, Coleman wants to go further and remove the proportional representation part to the election just to make sure that the BNP doesn't get anyone elected.

The electoral system for the Assembly has 14 'first past the post' constituencies and 11 'top up seats' elected under proportional representation and that's the part Coleman wants changed. You can read the story on the BNP website.

http://www.bnp.org.uk/news_detail.php?newsId=1870

Thankfully today, many online newspapers have a facility for posting comments and 'James from London' has got in first on the New Statesman site. He writes:

"I hope the BNP win seats and expose the corrupt, anti-English and anti-democratic traitors that have been gleefully encouraging the demise of London's native white communities and culture for decades.
"Livingstone has embraced advocates of suicide bombings and supported Sinn Fein during the peak of their murderous bombing campaign, as well as refusing to celebrate St Georges Day in a dignified way. Survivors of the blitz must find the state of modern London 'horrifying'. "

And talking about Tory creeps there's another one receiving coverage in today's Daily Express.

Apparently Tory backbencher Mark Pritchard is worried about attempts to downgrade Christmas and other Christian traditions and symbols in public life. He sees Government, town halls, quangos and other “busybodies” as promoting prejudice against Christians by over-emphasising the sensitivities of Muslims and other minority faiths.
But before you start commending Pritchard on his efforts, the reason he's drawing attention to the issue is not because of worries over the religious and cultural 'starvation' of the native people of these islands, but because he had seen increasing evidence that the British National Party are campaigning against anti-Christian prejudice. “If mainstream political parties do not recognise and protect the Christian tradition of this nation then the BNP will,” he says.

I have to admit I detest the Tories more than anything else. When the BNP gets a new recruit from Old Labour, I'm delighted to have them aboard. When they come from the Tories, I tend to think "I wonder what they are after?" I'm afraid I can find little in common with people who belonged to a Party that sold off this country 'family silver' and essential services to private and in many cases foreign concerns. I feel an inclination to ask them . . . "What were you thinking while all this was going on?"

Even the BBC is now acknowledging that the BNP has been right all along on the grooming of young British girls for a life in prostitution. The Corporation can't quite bring itself to admit the Muslim link and tries to confuse the issue by talking about 'people trafficking' and 'organised crime' but reading between the lines they are confirming what the BNP said in our Election Broadcast 'White Roses' back in 2004.

Today is my 15th day of being 'downed' by cold and flu. Every day you hope to feel better but nothing seems to change. With the wind and rain off the Solway lashing my office window at the moment I can understand why many Brits my age are thinking of a retirement in Spain. And it would have to be Spain because France, which would be our favoured destination, just isn't warm enough. We lived and worked just south of Poitiers for four years back in the 1990s. We had a lovely converted farmhouse and for eight months of the year things were blissful. But the winters there were still very cold with snow and frozen pipes. In fact we had to shut off the main downstairs room because it was impossible to keep warm and the five of us crammed into a little 'snug' with a sofa and TV most evenings just longing for the hot March sun to lift the gloom.

We have a visit planned next year to our old stomping ground there and the thought of that trip brightens a dark and dank morning.

Another political earthquake for London?

Of course the BNP’s Quiet Revolution (see www.bnp.org.uk/freedom) is the most significant overall aspect of progress made by the British National Party during 2007. But if I was asked to pinpoint one particular area of encouragement for the Party over the past 12 months, I would say it’s the rejuvenation of the BNP in London.

I must admit that before the 2004 London Assembly and European Elections, I had just about written our capital city off as a place where the BNP could make an impact, simply because White Britons were rapidly becoming the ethnic minority. But in those elections, traditional Londoners showed that they were still prepared to fight for their city and although it was Barking & Dagenham with 5,266 (14.7%) and Havering with 6.309 (9,5%) that led the way, in many borough’s across London, the BNP was polled a more than respectable 5% of the vote.

For the General Election in 2005 I spent a week in Barking helping Richard Barnbrook with his campaign. It was a strange experience with plenty of BNP support evident yet a highly visible ethnic minority population giving an impression that White people might be in the minority. The General Election results showed that some progress in the borough had been made with the votes for the two Parliamentary constituencies as follows.


BARKING
Margaret Hodge (Lab) 13,826
Keith Prince (Con) 4,943
Richard Barnbrook (BNP) 4,916
Toby Wickenden (Lib-Dem) 3,211
Terence Jones (UKIP) 803
Laurence Cleland (Green) 618
Demetrius Panton (Ind)530 votes (2%)
Michael Saxby (Comm) 59
BNP Percentage: 17%

DAGENHAM
Jonathan Cruddas (Lab) 15,446
Michael White (Con) 7,841 votes
James Kempton (Lib-Dem) 3,106
Lawrence Rustem (BNP) 2,870
Joseph Batten (UKIP) 1,578
BNP Percentage 9%

But it was that political earthquake in the following year’s local council elections in Barking and Dagenham that changed London’s political map for good. The results were so significant that it is worthwhile being reminded of them.

Alibon Ward
Robert Bailey(BNP) 1329
Clare Doncaster(BNP) 1323
John Davis (Lab) 1071
Terence Wade (Lab) 1018
David Miles (Lab) 957
Margaret Whitson (UKIP) 394
Lucy East (Con) 393

Eastbury Ward
Jeffrey Steed (BNP) 1102
James McDermott (Lab) 965
Patricia Northover (Lab) 944
Hardial Rai (Lab) 852
Patrick Manley (UKIP) 546
Dianne Challis (Lib-Dem) 523
Ashley McIlroy (UKIP) 455
Ryan Edwards (Lib-Dem) 451
Darren McIlroy (UKIP) 425
Geoff Sheridan (Green) 260
Claire Stepton (Lib-Dem) 131

Goresbrook Ward
Richard Barnbrook(BNP) 1434
Tracy Lansdown (BNP) 1357
Warren Northover (Lab) 1204
Edna Fergus (Lab) 1162
Jeff Porter (Lab) 1135
George Naylor (Con) 373
Terence Jones (UKIP) 367

Mayesbrook Ward
Robert Buckley (BNP) 1145
Christine Knight (BNP) 1070
Dorothy Hunt (Lab) 845
Vivian Patten (UKIP) 741
Kerry Smith (UKIP) 733
John Bolton (UKIP) 697
Dominic Twomey (Lab) 695
Ahmed Choudhury (Lab) 679
Christopher Newton (Con) 249


Parsloes Ward
Ronald Doncaster (BNP) 1120
Darren Tuffs (BNP) 1052
Herbert Collins (Lab) 1050
Frederick Jones (Lab) 1026
Catherine Osborn (Lab) 948
Peter Compobassi (UKIP) 423

Valence Ward
Sandra Doncaster (BNP) 1219
Lawrence Rustem (BNP) 1203
Donald Hemmett (Lab)1071
Dennis O'Brien (Lab) 1005
Bryan Osborn (Lab) 915
Angela Lambert (UKIP) 372
Maria Sentivani (Green) 360


Village Ward
Philip Waker (Lab) 1276
Lee Waker (Lab) 1269
James Jarvis (BNP) 1227
William Dale (Lab) 1209
James Webb (BNP) 1208
Kenneth Coombs (Con) 370
Frederick Tindling (Lib-Dem) 287
Leslie Parsons (UKIP) 272

It was a stunning performance achieved in the face of a disgraceful Labour/UKIP electoral pact whereby in the wards UKIP put up candidates against the BNP, Labour Party supporters delivered their leaflets.

The results gave hope to ‘White London’ and this year has seen real BNP growth in many London boroughs with people joining the British National Party in record numbers.

At the Annual Conference in Blackpool last month, Richard Barnbrook told a packed hall that London Mayor Ken Livingstone, was in a state of panic because Labour Party activists on the doorstep were reporting such support for the BNP that the Party seemed certain to win one and possibly two seats in the London Assembly. Livingstone was now desperately trying to change the funding rules within the Assembly to limit the finance that would be available to the BNP if it got representatives elected.

Yes, London is fighting back and next May’s London Assembly elections might well provide another political earthquake that will shake the Establishment to its foundations.

Difficult by-election in Prince's End

THERE is just one local council election on Thursday and it will be a very difficult one for the British National Party to gain any satisfaction from.

SANDWELL MBC
Prince’s End Ward
Thursday 6th December 2007
Dorothy Brayshaw (Lib-Dem)
Delia Edwards (Lab)
Beatrice Owen (Con)
Karen Parkes (BNP)

Our excellent candidate Karen Parkes, faces the almost impossible task of trying to defend the Prince’s End seat on Sandwell Borough Council.

Yes, it is a BNP seat and the by-election has come about because of the ‘under-performance’ of sitting BNP councillor James Lloyd, who was elected in May 2004 but hasn’t attended a council meeting for the last six months which means he forfeits his hard-earned place on the council.

It’s a sorry state of affairs for which I know of no mitigating circumstances and as such the electorate will punish the BNP at the polling stations on Thursday. In Burnley and Barking where similar situations occurred three years ago, in the resulting by-elections the BNP vote fell by between 10-15% and it’s difficult not to expect the same sort of shift from voters in Prince’s End.

This is very hard on Karen Parkes who contested the ward for the BNP in May and came within 20 votes of winning Labour’s one remaining seat
May 2007
Raymond Howes (Lab) 898
Karen Parkes (BNP) 878
Beatrice Owen (Con) 498
June Newell (Ind) 241

In May 2006 the BNP won its second seat in the ward with the following result:
Russell Green (BNP) 1128
June Newell (Lab) 1050
Jean Nugent (Con) 415

The full result in May 2004 when James Lloyd won his seat was as follows:
James Lloyd (BNP) 987
Raymond Howes (Lab) 947
June Newell (Lab) 939
John Salvage (BNP) 886
Andrew Millard (Lab) 866
Mark Nelson (Con) 423
Kevin Richard Walker (UKIP) 388

One interesting development this time around has been the withdrawal of the Green Party candidate Vicky Dunn, after the close of nominations and with her name on the ballot paper. She told the Birmingham Evening Mail: “The Greens don’t want to split the vote and let the BNP in, so I have withdrawn.” But within hours of her decision, a lifelong Green Party supporter had contacted the newspaper to say that they were switching their support to the British National Party as it was the only political party talking about the effect of immigration on the environment.

Thankfully because of the BNP’s summer and winter training schools, which focus in particular on the role of councillors within local communities, the calibre of the new slate of BNP councillors and candidates is now much improved.

Good luck to Karen and her small but dedicated team for Thursday and I hope she can buck the trend and save this seat for the BNP. Prince's End is a special ward for British Nationalists with a long history of supporting our cause. I remember travelling up from Worthing in the mid-1980s for a local by-election campaign. We polled around 15% which was a stunning result in those days and made the local headlines because of the exclamations of dismay expressed by the other parties at our vote.

On a personal note, I’m still well below par because of a flu bug that has shown little inclination to leave me. It’s two weeks now and I’m contemplating a visit to the doctor to try to get something to shift it. Next September I am going to invest in a course of flu jabs which will hopefully see me through the winter without being laid low. I failed my fitness test on Saturday morning so was spared Workington Reds 3-1 home defeat by lowly Hucknall Town – “worst Reds performance of the season” my man at Borough Park informs me.