Cartmel College - Lancaster University - Official Website

You may be surprised to hear it, but the election of two BNP candidates into the European Parliament this month marks the swansong of the party in British politics. For students, and for the larger population, this result was regarded as an absolute disaster. There is no need for me to point out to you the evils of the BNP or to give you another list of their unacceptable policies which make a tooled-up, liberal student like myself cringe to even bear thinking about.

However, anti-fascist campaigners should take heart that this is probably the beginning of the end for the BNP. Although they may have gained some popular support in these elections, their format was highly unusual and they did not take place under normal circumstances. The European elections, with their system of proportional representation currently alien to Westminster, are known to give an advantage to minor parties – in a normal Westminster election not one BNP vote cast would, if these results were to be repeated, have given a seat to the BNP, and they were a long distance from gaining a majority anywhere in the country. Tellingly, they also did spectacularly badly in local council elections. Their surge in popularity can only really be attributed to the ‘bounce’ effect caused by the expenses scandal and the current malaise the population holds for the major parties. Electoral analysts believe that most voters who switched to the BNP were from a group of voters who would normally be identified as ‘working class Tories’, and who had not previously voted BNP. This switch of allegiance is likely to be temporary and, in a General Election, it is predicted that many of these voters would revert to voting Conservative, especially after the effects of the expenses row have worn off.

It seems to me, then, that we have little need to worry that there may be a fascist future for Britain. Although it is only right that we should lament these results and attempt to prevent them from ever occurring again, I do not believe that there is an inexorable move of support amongst the populace from social democracy towards fascism. This election actually provides a great opportunity for protesters, as the increased media spotlight placed on the BNP will only serve to weaken their stance. The old adage that ‘all publicity is good publicity’ does not apply in a situation where almost everything the BNP say can be used against them in some way. These results will allow us to see the BNP for who they really are. When it comes to the ‘difficult second album’ of the Westminster elections, the BNP will have an uphill struggle on their hands, and good riddance to them.

– Robbie Pickles – President