A successful Saturday in Maryport East

THERE was still a spring in our step when Steve Harris, the BNP's Maryport election agent, and I had finished a two hour leafleting session covering The Beeches and surrounding estates at the north end of the Maryport East ward.

"Well I've never received a response like that before on The Beeches," Steve tells me, still apparently shaking his head in disbelief.

And he was right. I leafleted the area three times in 2007 and although people were always polite - this is very much the well-to-do part of Maryport - there was little or no hint of support.

Yesterday was different. Steve must have spoken to nearly two dozen people of all ages out in their gardens and more than half gave a definite 'yes' to voting BNP. Even the others said they were considering it. It was such an unexpected response that Steve was still talking about it half an hour later in our favourite 'watering hole' up on the Ellenborough hill.

That leafleting session has to colour my prediction of Thursday's County Council result for Maryport East. I had pencilled Tina in for a 20% vote share, but now I think this might be a little higher.

There was also this in Friday's local newspaper, The Times & Star:

Maryport East Labour councillor Keith Little said public reaction to the political system was the worst in the 16 years that he had canvassed for the party.
He said: “What’s happening nationally is having an adverse effect.
“I hope people don’t go out and spoil ballot papers. These are very important elections, both for the county council and Europe, and I hope people treat them as such.”

Now Keith is a popular councillor, probably the most respected in Maryport according to Steve Harris, and if voters are 'luke warm' about supporting him then things are very bad for Labour in the town.

So my prediction is:

Cumbria County Council
Maryport East
Thursday 4th June 2009
Keith Little (Labour) 55%
Tina Wingfield (British National Party) 28%
John Stanyer (Conservative) 17%

This would be another very good result for the British National Party because it will presumably ensure a strong showing here in the European Election as well.

Notice how The Observer surprisingly leaves me out of its "BNP's ugly leadership" report.

You would have thought they would have jumped at the opportunity of smearing me over my time in prison. Maybe the newspaper is worried that its readers may feel some regard for someone who feels so strongly over a political issue that they are prepared to be incarcerated for three months to make a stand on it. After all, buried away in every Guardianista there is a little bit of an establishment rebel.

Back to the pavements today even though it's a Sunday. The last 'day of rest' before polling day is always the exception to my 'No campaigning on Sunday' rule.

This morning I'm in Maryport West with our candidate Carl Edgar, while Steve Harris is continuing our campaign with others in Maryport East.

This afternoon, I'm mowing the lawn if my back is up to it and then downing a few Bucks Fizzes while sitting in the garden to celebrate another opinion poll putting us on 5%. This one is of special interest as it's the ICM poll which seven days earlier had us on just 1%. A 4% improvement on the week might mean the BNP is coming good just at the right time.

Big week for the BNP

I shall be standing by the telephone this morning waiting for that call from Nick Griffin. If the BNP chairman takes a leaf out of David Cameron's book and appoints an ex-con as an adviser for the prison service, then I might just be in line for a new job!

Joking apart, it's a strange decision by the Conservative leader. Jonathan Aitken epitomised the sleaze that befell John Major's Government, appearing to the public before, during and after his trial as the clearest possible example of a Tory snout-in-the-trough liar. Some uncharitable people may think that this, rather than any input he can give the Party from his time spent in chokey, is why Cameron is so keen to get him back on board .

It's a big seven days for the British National Party, which started yesterday with the attendance of many BNP units at Remembrance Day services up and down the country. On Friday it's off to Blackpool for three days and our Annual Conference. Surprisingly the Labour Party opposition has chosen Saturday to picket the Conference hotel which in reality is just a training day for potential delegates to the AGM, rather than the Sunday which is the day of the Conference proper. I think demonstrations like this actually help us now because however the opposition tries to spin it to the media, it comes across as an attempt to deny people the right to meet and discuss ideas. With political freedom very much on the agenda at the moment because of events in Pakistan and Burma, a threatening mob in Blackpool trying to stop people attending a political meeting just because they don't agree with that political party will smack of intolerance and I don't think the British people will appreciate it.

I see this as Labour making another mistake as it tries to stem the heamorrhaging of its traditional vote to the BNP. And let's just take this opportunity to make it very clear that although the groups opposing us come under a wealth of different names, it is the Labour Party behind them - Labour Party activists and Labour Party money. There was a typical Labour Party mistake in the Times & Star newspaper here in West Cumbria on Friday which I hope to score some points off in its next issue. In the letters' page there was a contribution from a Labour councillor concerning the political developments in Maryport. (see Clive Jefferson's excellent blog for the full story on this: http://www.cumbrianpatriotbnp.blogspot.com/ ).

In his letter, Karl Holding claimed that "the BNP have come last in every election they have contested in Allerdale." This is incorrect and gives me a chance not only to set the record straight but also remind readers of the BNP's excellent results in Maryport - something the Labour councillor is trying to belittle with his 'come last' comment. My letter to the newspaper reads as follows:

Dear Sir,

Allerdale councillor Karl Holding, may be new and relatively inexperienced as a Labour Party councillor, but he's certainly proving an old hand at Labour Party spin.
By his assertion (Times & Star 9th Nov) that the BNP "have come last in every vote" contested in Allerdale he is trying to imply that the BNP has no support in the borough. This certainly isn't the case.

In the council elections in May the BNP became the first party for 12 years to take on Labour in the Maryport wards of Ellenborough and Ewanrigg. When the votes were counted, the average vote for the two Labour candidates in Ellenborough ward was 607 while the single BNP candidate attracted 342 votes and in Ewanrigg ward the average vote for the two Labour candidates was 591 while the single BNP candidate polled 276 votes. That's over 600 BNP votes across the two wards and one-in-three voters supporting the British National Party rather than Labour.

Mr Holding's attempted 'no support for the BNP' spin is also factually incorrect. In Wigton ward for Allerdale Council in May 2003, the BNP candidate Paul Stafford polled 261 votes while Bill Walton, one of the Labour candidates, polled 246 votes and came last.

Martin Wingfield
BNP candidate May 2007,
Ellenborough Ward.

Letters to the press are important for the BNP because they keep our name publicised.

Just one by-election this week for Lincolnshire County Council. Here are the candidates:

Heighington & Washingbororough Ward
Michael Clayton (BNP)
Roy Harris (Lib-Dem)
Darren Hopewell (Lab)
Clive Oxby (Con)
Stephen Pearson (UKIP)
Victor Sahunta (Ind)

As with another recent by-election, an Independent candidate has withdrawn from the contest although her name will still be on the ballot paper. The seat is a Conservative one but with Labour snapping at their heels. It is also a target seat for UKIP which polled a very creditable 11.3% of the vote. The votes last time around were Conservative 1750, Labour 1534, UK Independence Party 419.

Workington Reds covered themselves with FA Cup glory on Saturday (well for 80 minutes at least) and made a few bob in the process. The Wembley dream came to an end at Gigg Lane as we went down 4-1, but that scoreline was an injustice. On 75 minutes we got a well-deserved equaliser and for five wonderful minutes it looked as though a major shock could be on the cards, before Bury scored three goals in the last 10 minutes. Well, now we can concentrate on getting into the Conference North play-offs without any distractions.