The rise and rise of the far right in London?

Today I received an email from the Ken Livingstone campaign warning of the dangers posed by the BNP at the forthcoming elections to the London Assembly. Here we look at support for the far right in the capital.

According to Livingstone’s campaign:

“In the 2004 elections, the BNP received a vote of 4.9% - dangerously close to the 5% needed to win a seat on the London Assembly. Not only would having a member in the Assembly further legitimise the BNP’s hateful platform, but it would provide the party with a podium to preach their hate from.”

Research by Helen Margetts and others on the far right in London points to the growth of the far right in recent elections, with the BNP almost doubling their vote in the 2004 assembly elections compared to four years earlier. Survey evidence reveals that positive feelings for the BNP are higher in London than the rest of the UK, with just under a quarter of Londoners expressing the fact that they might vote for the BNP in the future (against only 20% for England and 17% for Britain as a whole).

The rise in support seems to be driven by the immigration issue, with nearly 80% of BNP supporters citing it as the most important. This is allied with a feeling that the main parties have failed to effectively tackle this issue and therefore that it is worth giving smaller parties (so including UKIP in this also) a try. Support is most likely to come from older voters and those with the least education.

In their defence the BNP would argue that they are not a racist party and that they are more than a single issue party, pointing to a raft of ideas across the policy range

According to the BBC website, the BNP proposals for London:

Congestion Charge will be scrapped.
Major trunk roads in London to be widened to allow easier access.
Free 24-hour transport for the elderly.
2012 Games to go forward, but London shouldn’t pay for it.
Crime: “It looks like the handcuffs are on the police and not on the villains.”
Education: “We need to bring back traditional education. None of this airey-fairey, PC, air-guitar nonsense, that it is going on.”