Local Elections 2018: suspended Tory ‘racist’ gains seat

Votes were counted in councils across most of England overnight and today. (click here for full updated list of nationalist results)

So far the best nationalist result was achieved by Dr Jim Lewthwaite of the British Democrats: a very creditable vote in difficult circumstances in Wyke ward, Bradford, defeating both UKIP and the ex-UKIP party Democrats & Veterans.  Jim finished third of seven candidates with 161 votes (5.5%), a substantial advance on the 2.8% he polled in 2014.

Another excellent result (but in this case benefiting from UKIP’s absence) was achieved by former BNP organiser Steven Smith who polled 171 votes (14.8%) to finish third in Brunshaw ward, Burnley.

Joe Owens, a former NF and BNP activist who for several years was Nick Griffin’s bodyguard, was another independent candidate polling well.  Mr Owens stood as an Independent for Kensington & Fairfield ward, Liverpool, finishing third of six candidates with 4.9% of the vote (ahead of the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats).

But another ex-BNP independent, millionaire businessman Paul Cromie, was badly beaten in Queensbury ward, Bradford, where he finished third in a seat which he had held since 2006.

All of the BNP votes so far have been down from the 2014 equivalents, even where candidates were lucky enough to have no UKIP opponent.  In the party’s last remaining London stronghold of SE London, Bexley BNP organiser Michael Jones polled 9.5% (down from 10.2%) with no UKIP opponent in East Wickham ward, and his colleague Pamela Mackie similarly benefited from UKIP’s disappearance, polling 6.5% (down from 8.0%) in Erith ward.

Almost all BNP candidates finished bottom of the poll in their respective areas, but significant exceptions were the brothers John and Dave Clarke, who polled 7.1% and 4.8% in the two New Addington wards of Croydon (where boundary changes make direct comparisons impossible).

Carl Mason, sole council candidate for British Resistance, the party founded by ex-UKIP candidate Jack Sen, polled 17 votes (0.8%) in Nunnery ward, Worcester, up from 0.4% last time. A commendable effort, but it would be unwise for his party to make too much of this doubling in support since 2014!

In the Outer East London borough of Havering, where there were some exceptionally crowded ballot papers due to a profusion of independent and post-UKIP parties, Denise Underwood of the BNP finished 12th of 13 candidates with 123 votes (2.5%) in St Andrew’s, while Kevin Layzell of the National Front had the worst luck of any nationalist this year, up against a full UKIP slate in addition to many other parties and independents: he finished 18th of 18 with 50 votes (1.3%). Meanwhile the NF’s former deputy chairman Graham Williamson, once a leading figure in Patrick Harrington’s Third Way faction, who has now reinvented himself as a multiracialist, was easily re-elected in South Hornchurch as an independent residents councillor.  His former Third Way colleague Dave Durant was similarly re-elected as an independent residents councillor for Rainham & Wennington. Their group has six councillors, but apart from Williamson and Durant has no connection to any nationalist movement (in fact one of their group is an Afro-Caribbean).

NF veteran Richard Edmonds was (like his Havering colleague Kevin Layzell) up against a full UKIP slate, so it was no great surprise when he polled 1.7%, but the two NF votes in North West England were more disappointing, as they had no UKIP opponents. H&D understands that partly for business reasons, party chairman Kevin Bryan was unable to leaflet his ward, and he paid the price, polling only 4.6% in Irwell ward, Rossendale, where he had managed 10.2% in 2016 and 16% in 2012.

Perhaps the most sensational early result was in the former Labour bastion of Sunderland.

Antony Mullen had been suspended as Conservative candidate for Barnes ward, Sunderland, after allegations of ‘racist’ and ‘sexist’ social media posts.  He remained on the ballot paper as official Conservative candidate despite being disowned by the party, as it was too late legally to remove him.

H&D are delighted to confirm that Mr Mullen gained the Barnes ward seat from Labour tonight, in one of the first results to be declared.  Clearly Sunderland’s voters do not share politically correct obsessions.

Elsewhere in Sunderland (where UKIP has now completely disappeared) the first result for ex-UKIP leadership candidate Anne Marie Waters’s new party For Britain was very disappointing.  Despite facing no competition from UKIP or any eurosceptic / civic nationalist party, Andrew Cox of For Britain polled only 6.5% in the Washington North ward, finishing fourth of five candidates.  This is a ward where UKIP polled 31% at the equivalent election four years ago.

The results so far have been a disaster for Ms Waters and a demonstration that the future of post-UKIP politics does not lie with the Islam-obsessed wing of civic nationalism. So far it appears that Democrats & Veterans (DVP) might have a better claim than For Britain to take over what remains of the UKIP vote. In Cross Gates & Whinmoor ward, Leeds, For Britain had disowned their candidate following yet another social media ‘scandal’, and they finished well behind not only UKIP but also DVP. In another Leeds ward, Armley, For Britain finished ahead of DVP but both were near the bottom of the poll; while in Bramley & Stanningley (where they had no rivals for the post-UKIP vote) For Britain expected to make an impact but came last with 9.3%.

Another Leeds ward where For Britain had no competition from UKIP or DVP was Farnley & Wortley, but here they polled only 3.0%; in Garforth & Swillington the result was worse still: bottom of the poll with 2.0%; and a miserable night for Anne Marie Waters’ supposedly strongest branch was completed in Otley & Yeadon with 2.8%.

In Sandwell – the Black Country council which For Britain’s main target area – their candidate finished a distant third in Great Barr with Yew Tree ward polling 8.8% despite having no UKIP opponent.  (UKIP had polled 33.6% here in 2014.)  Similarly in Newton ward, again with no UKIP opponent, For Britain were bottom of the poll with 10.2%, compared to UKIP’s 2014 vote of 30.1%. The only crumb of comfort for Ms Waters was in Charlemont with Grove Vale ward, where For Britain with 5.2% finished slightly ahead of the dying UKIP on 4.4%. Yet even the two parties combined support today is less than a third of the old UKIP vote in this ward (33.6%).

In Castle ward, Hastings, another area where UKIP has disappeared, the two rival post-UKIP parties each contested Castle ward: DVP finished with 3.2% to For Britain’s 2.6%.

In Brookfield ward, Preston, where the H&D team had a pint or two earlier this evening, UKIP’s vote collapsed from 33% in 2014 to 12.4% today – another indication of what is sure to be a nationwide disaster for UKIP this year.  Similarly in the editor’s home ward of Ribbleton, UKIP’s vote collapsed from 32.7% to 9.8%. One of UKIP’s highest profile members, West Midlands MEP Bill Etheridge, lost his council seat in Sedgley ward, Dudley.  UKIP were wiped out across this borough, where they had won the largest share of the vote and seven seats in 2014. Mr Etheridge said he would quit politics unless UKIP changed its leader before the next elections. He is currently facing disciplinary action because of his attendance at an alleged pro-Putin forum in the Crimea last month.

So far UKIP has won only three council seats nationwide, compared to 166 in 2014. Only one of these three was a previous UKIP seat: Alvaston ward, Derby, where energetic campaigner Alan Graves won a superbly increased majority, in stark contrast to his party’s woeful performance nationwide. In nearby Boulton ward, UKIP sensationally ousted Ranjit Banwait, the Labour leader of Derby City Council.

The third UKIP winner was Tom Commis, who gained a seat from Labour in the former BNP stronghold of Hapton with Park, Burnley.  Cllr Commis joins his UKIP colleague Alan Hosker, who is both a borough and county councillor for the same area.  Labour’s Joanne Greenwood is her party’s only survivor in Hapton, and will surely be nervous when she comes up for re-election next year, even if Burnley is the only UKIP branch left in the country by then!

Only one of the sixteen Thurrock Independents (ex-UKIP councillors who had quit the party in January, kept his seat – that was MEP Tim Aker, who for the time being still represents UKIP in Brussels but was opposed by UKIP in this week’s council election.

The Labour leadership’s problems with alleged ‘antisemitism’ was reflected in one early result, where Labour lost Kersal ward, Salford, one of the most Jewish wards in England.  The rest of Salford has far fewer Jews, so the Kersal result will have no effect on Labour’s control of the city. A more significant Jewish landslide against Labour was in the London Borough of Barnet, where loss of Jewish support is likely to prevent Labour gaining control.

Meanwhile in the Lancashire borough of Pendle, outgoing BNP councillor Brian Parker had endorsed the Labour candidate in his old Marsden ward, but it was won by the Tory – and this was enough to give the Tories control of Pendle council after they  readmitted a councillor who had been suspended last year for a ‘racist’ Facebook post.

 

Nationalist candidates at 2018 local elections

Regular H&D readers will not be surprised to see only a small number of nationalist candidates at this year’s local elections, even though the London borough councils were up for election, which usually means a big increase in candidates from a normal year. We are in a transitional period, with UKIP in terminal decline, but its remnants still blocking the way for the re-emergence of a large scale nationalist effort.

The big story was the retirement of long serving BNP councillor Brian Parker, who stood down in Marsden ward, Pendle. There was no new BNP candidate to replace Mr Parker, so the party gave up its last borough council seat. All bar one of the remaining BNP candidates this year were in London, and almost all finished bottom of the poll, the main exceptions being brothers John and Dave Clarke who achieved credible results in Croydon, and Tess Culnane in Downham ward, Lewisham, who defeated a full slate from the ex-UKIP party Democrats & Veterans.

The highest BNP vote was for Michael Jones in East Wickham ward, Bexley, who had no UKIP or similar opponent, and the best nationalist vote overall was for ex-BNP organiser Steven Smith in Brunshaw ward, Burnley, who similarly had no UKIP or post-UKIP opposition.  Arguably the best performance however was by Dr Jim Lewthwaite in Wyke ward, Bradford, who doubled his vote and finished ahead of both UKIP and the breakaway ex-UKIP party Democrats & Veterans.

The list below shows the result for every nationalist candidate that we know of, and will be updated if further information arrives.

see also report and analysis here

BNP: 16 candidates

London Borough of Barking & Dagenham
Eastbrook – Tony McKay – 158 votes (5,2%, -1.2) – 8th of 8
Goresbrook – Bede Smith – 246 votes (10.8%, -3.1) – 7th of 7

London Borough of Bexley
East Wickham – Michael Jones – 398 votes (9.5%, -0.7) – 7th of 7
Erith – Pamela Mackie – 154 votes (6.5%, -2.5) – 5th of 5
Falconwood & Welling – Jaymie McCoy – 101 votes (1.9%, -7.0) – 12th of 12
Northumberland Heath – Robert Howard – 160 votes (5.1%, -7.0) – 6th of 6
Sidcup – John Brooks – 130 votes (2.6%, -1.5), 12th of 13

London Borough of Croydon
New Addington N – John Clarke – 142 votes (7.1%) – 5th of 8
New Addington S – Dave Clarke – 131 votes (4.8%) – 6th of 8
Selsdon & Addington Village – Michael Collard – 42 votes (1.1%) – 9th of 9

London Borough of Ealing
Northolt West End – David Furness – 180 votes (4.5%, -3.7) – 10th of 13

Royal Borough of Greenwich
Coldharbour & New Eltham – Cliff Adams – 123 votes (2.8%, -5.3) – 12th of 12

London Borough of Havering
Saint Andrew’s – Denise Underwood – 123 votes (2.5%) – 12th of 13

London Borough of Hillingdon
West Drayton – Vincent Evans – 143 votes (3.6%) – 7th of 9

London Borough of Lewisham
Downham – Tess Culnane – 98 votes (2.9%) – 12th of 15

Exeter City Council
St Thomas – Chris Stone – 34 votes (1.2%, -0.2) – 5th of 5

 

National Front: 5 candidates

London Borough of Havering
Gooshays – Kevin Layzell – 50 votes (1.4%) – 18th of 18

London Borough of Sutton
St Helier – Richard Edmonds – 49 votes (1.7%) – 13th of 13

Calderdale Metropolitan Borough
Todmorden – Chris Jackson – 98 votes (2.7%) – 5th of 5

Rossendale Borough Council
Irwell – Kevin Bryan – 56 votes (4.6%) – 3rd of 3

Amber Valley Borough Council
Langley Mill & Aldercar – Tim Knowles – 30 votes (2.7%) – 4th of 4

 

British Democratic Party: 1 candidate

Bradford City Council
Wyke – Dr Jim Lewthwaite – 161 votes (5.5%, +2.7) – 3rd of 7

 

British Resistance: 1 candidate

Worcester City Council
Nunnery – Carl Mason – 17 votes (0.8%, +0.4) – 5th of 5

 

Independent nationalist candidates

Burnley Borough Council
Brunshaw – Steven Smith – 171 votes (14.8%) – 3rd of 4

Liverpool City Council
Kensington & Fairfield – Joe Owens – 114 votes (4.9%) – 3rd of 6

Manchester City Council
Crumpsall – John Rowe – 138 votes (3.4%) – 10th of 11

 

English Democrats: 4 candidates
(we include the EDs in this list because in recent years the party absorbed some former BNP members and therefore included some people who would be regarded by H&D readers as part of our movement; we should however make it clear that none of the candidates below are former BNP members)

Sheffield City Region Mayoralty
David Allen – 14,547 votes (5.6%) – 6th of 7

Barnsley Metropolitan Borough
Rockingham – Kevin Riddiough – 235 votes (11.1%, +8.7) – 3rd of 4

Bury Metropolitan Borough
Besses – Steve Morris – 169 votes (7.1%, -9.4) – 3rd of 5

Salford City Council
Swinton South – Craig Holmes – 163 votes (7.4%) – 3rd of 6

 

New “anti-fascist” party stumbles at first fence

Former UKIP leadership candidate Anne-Marie Waters has succeeded in winning lots of publicity for her new party, the For Britain Movement, which she describes as “anti-fascist”.  According to its website, “For Britain is a party for everyone except racists, fascists, Marxists, collectivists and identitarians.”

Unfortunately Ms Waters’ “party for everyone” has failed to recruit many candidates for its first electoral outing. They have six candidates in Leeds, three in Sandwell, and one each in Hartlepool, Sunderland, Hart, Plymouth, Hastings and the London Borough of Bromley.

A far less publicised rival splinter group from UKIP – the ‘Democrats and Veterans Party’ founded by former leadership candidate John Rees-Evans – has succeeded in recruiting far more candidates than Ms Waters, despite only being registered as a party since the end of January.  There are more than forty ‘Democrats and Veterans’ candidates for various English councils, plus mayoral candidates in two London boroughs, while For Britain seems to have only fifteen candidates nationwide.

Even the Thurrock Independents – another UKIP breakaway who, as their name suggests, are only contesting Thurrock Borough Council – have more candidates than Ms Waters. It seems that Islam-obsessed “anti-fascism” has a very limited electoral appeal.

 

BNP gives up its last council seat without a fight

Today the BNP surrendered its last council seat without a fight.  Just a few years ago the party was hitting the headlines with council victories in many areas of England, and even two Members of the European Parliament.  Yet today the press didn’t even notice when the last BNP council seat – Marsden ward, Pendle – was given up.

Nominations closed this afternoon for the local council elections, and it can now be confirmed that long-serving Cllr Brian Parker will not be defending his seat.  No one can blame Cllr Parker for retiring: he has put in a big effort sustained over twelve years, first gaining the seat from Labour in 2006, then winning re-election in 2010 and 2014.  He also contested the Pendle Central division four times at Lancashire County Council elections, most recently last year, and was parliamentary candidate for Pendle at last year’s general election.

The truth is that the BNP has collapsed around Mr Parker and a handful of other nationalist true-believers, and its national leadership is now devoted to hunting financial legacies rather than genuine political activity. The six surviving BNP candidates so far declared (all but one in London) are: David Furness in Northolt West End ward, Ealing; Vincent Evans in West Drayton ward, Hillingdon; Denise Underwood in Saint Andrews ward, Havering; Bede Smith in Goresbrook ward, Barking & Dagenham; Tony McKay in Eastbrook ward, Barking & Dagenham; and Chris Stone in St Thomas ward, Exeter.

Elsewhere veteran nationalist Richard Edmonds will be National Front candidate for St Helier ward, Sutton, unfortunately facing a full slate of three UKIP opponents, as is Kevin Layzell in Gooshays ward, Havering.  NF chairman Kevin Bryan is more lucky, facing no UKIP opposition in Irwell ward, Rossendale where he is in a three-way fight against Lab and Con. Similarly Chris Jackson as NF candidate for Todmorden ward, Calderdale, has no UKIP opponent.

Dr Jim Lewthwaite, chairman of the British Democratic Party, will be British Democrats candidate for Wyke ward, Bradford – the sole nationalist candidate in a city which once had four BNP councillors.

Former BNP, NF and EFP candidate Steven Smith (architect of the BNP’s success in Burnley sixteen years ago) is standing as Independent candidate for Brunshaw ward, Burnley, where he has no UKIP opposition.

Controversial nationalist author Joe Owens is Independent candidate for Kensington & Fairfield ward, Liverpool.

The almost extinct English Democrats have a candidate in Salford, yet another city where a once strong BNP branch has completely disappeared.  Probably the most high profile ED campaign will be for the new Sheffield City Region mayoralty, where David Allen is ED candidate.  This new region includes Doncaster, where the EDs won the old mayoralty in 2009. Another longstanding ED Kevin Riddiough will again be contesting Rockingham ward, Barnsley, and similarly Steve Morris will again contest Besses ward, Bury.

In most of the country the breaking news is of UKIP decline and in many cases disappearance, most notably in their former stronghold of Thurrock, where the entire UKIP group of councillors (including MEP Tim Aker) has left the party.  These councillors will be standing for re-election as ‘Thurrock Independents’, while the official UKIP has mustered only five candidates across the borough.

There are no UKIP candidates in Oldham, where the party is failing to defend the two seats gained in 2014.  Former UKIP councillor Warren Bates is standing for re-election as an Independent in the Failsworth West ward. Another old BNP stronghold where UKIP has now completely disappeared is Barking & Dagenham.  It is rare this year to find a council with a full UKIP slate of candidates for every ward: two examples are Derby and Swindon. In the whole of Birmingham there is only one UKIP candidate, though at least one ex-UKIP parliamentary candidate is standing as an independent.  Former UKIP leadership has candidate John Rees-Evans now runs a ‘Democrats and Veterans’ party which has candidates for several councils this year, including several in Yorkshire: Bradford, Leeds, Barnsley, Harrogate, Wakefield, Kirklees, and Hull.

So far it looks as though Mr Rees-Evans’s party will have substantially more candidates than another newly registered party led by another former UKIP leadership candidate. The ‘For Britain Movement’ created by Anne-Marie Waters on an anti-Islam platform is contesting the Washington North ward in Sunderland, another area where the UKIP branch seems to have collapsed. The strongest For Britain branch appears to be in Leeds, where they are contesting six city council wards. This should give them a chance of some decent results, because following boundary changes the entire Leeds council is being elected this year, with voters in each ward having three votes. Usually this gives a big boost to small parties (as with Burnley BNP in 2002).

There are seven UKIP candidates in Leeds, and only one ward (Crossgates & Whinmoor) has both UKIP and For Britain.  Another of the few areas where For Britain is making progress is the Black Country borough of Sandwell, where there are three For Britain candidates and only one UKIP (the latter has For Britain opposition in Charlemont with Grove Vale ward).

A For Britain candidate is also standing in Yateley East ward, Hart.  On the opposite side of the European debate, another new party seems to be having the same marginal impact as Ms Waters.  The self-styled ‘centrist’ and pro-Remain party Renew, founded by former anti-terrorist officer Chris Coghlan, has twelve candidates so far: eight in its main London base of Wandsworth; two in North Tyneside; and one each in Ealing and Hounslow.

H&D will report further on the 2018 local council elections as nominations are announced.

p.s.: Any nationalists feeling a bit depressed by the state of our movement should spare a thought for the lavishly funded ‘anti-fascists’ of Hope not Hate, whose ‘expert’ election article today predicts that Anne-Marie Waters and For Britain will have Rotherham as one of their target areas in this year’s election.  In fact there are no council elections in Rotherham this year (not until 2020). We do hope none of that Soros money has been spent on special anti-fascist leaflets for Rotherham…