Poll boost for British far-right party after Griffin’s TV appearance
Posted by admin978 on October 24, 2009 · Leave a Comment
ChannelNewsAsia.com, 24Oct09: Nearly a quarter of adults would consider voting for the far-right British National Party, a poll out on Saturday said, after its leader made a controversial appearance on a BBC show.
The YouGov survey for The Daily Telegraph newspaper, conducted after BNP chairman Nick Griffin made his debut on Thursday on “Question Time”, BBC television’s top political panel show, found that 22 per cent of voters would “seriously consider” voting BNP.
The debate over whether Griffin should have been allowed on the programme – plus the fall-out from the show – has triggered heated debate in Britain and dominated newspaper headlines.
Many critics of Griffin’s appearance feared that giving him such a platform would hand a boost to the far right.
The poll found four per cent said they would “definitely” consider voting for the BNP, a further three per cent who would “probably” consider it, plus 15 per cent who said they were “possible” BNP voters.
More than half of those surveyed agreed with the BNP or thought the party “had a point” in wishing to “speak up for the interests of the indigenous, white British people… which successive governments have done far too little to protect”.
This included 43 per cent who agreed that they had “no sympathy for the party itself”, though they shared some of its concerns.
