Who votes extreme right in twenty-first-century Britain?

In the European elections of 2009 almost one million citizens cast their vote for the British National Party (BNP), in the process sending the first ever representatives from the extreme right-wing in Britain to the European Parliament. Overall, the BNP polled 6.2 per cent of the vote, an increase of 1.3 per cent on the party’s performance in the previous contest of 2004 and a considerable improvement on the 101,000 votes the party received in 1999. The party’s record result extends the recent rising trend in electoral support for the extreme right in Britain. In terms of national elections, the general election of 2005 was the most successful for the BNP. The 119 BNP candidates averaged 4.3 per cent of the vote in the seats they contested, an increase of 0.4 per cent on the party’s average result in the general election in 2001. When all votes had been counted over 192,000 citizens had voted BNP, over four times the number who supported the party in 2001. While a national breakthrough into Westminster remains elusive, the BNP saved a record 34 deposits, as compared to five in 2001, three in 1997 and zero in 1992. In 31 constituencies BNP candidates surpassed the 5 per cent threshold and in a further three seats they polled over 10 per cent of the vote. To a certain extent the party’s ability to retain more deposits reflected its use of more targeted campaigning. By focusing on areas where the party had obtained a minimum of 8 per cent in the 2004 European elections, or where there were already elected BNP councillors, party strategists aimed to maximize the average share of the vote and use the general election as a springboard to local election success the following year. The effect of this more professional strategy was particularly apparent in the outer-east London constituency of Barking where BNP candidate Richard Barnbrook polled 16.9 per cent of the vote, the best result for an extreme right parliamentary candidate in British history. The result followed a particularly intensive campaign by BNP activists that highlighted the party’s strengthening grasp of community-based politics. In contrast to the majority of the BNP target seats which prior to election day received two election addresses, residents in the carefully selected wards in Barking received up to seven different leaflets that were distributed by weekend canvassing teams of between 20 and 50 activists. ¹ In the local elections held the following year, the BNP became the main opposition group on Barking and Dagenham Borough Council when 11 of its 13 candidates were elected (more generally the party more than doubled its number of local councillors to 44). One headline that followed the result read as follows; ‘Welcome to Barking – new far right capital of Britain’ (Guardian, 6 May 2006).