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.

Dr Jim Lewthwaite of the British Democrats achieved the best nationalist result this year

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.

Suspended Tory Antony Mullen was elected in Barnes ward, Sunderland

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%.

Tom Commis (second left) with fellow Burnley UKIP councillor Alan Hosker, was a rare UKIP winner today

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.

 

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