What to make of the BNP’s success in Northern England last night? Regrettable, even infuriating for sure. A consequence of this government’s failure and, it might as well be said, proportional representation? Absolutely. The beginning of the end of British democracy, now liable to be swamped by a wave of neo-national socialists? Hardly.
I’m with Chris Dillow on this: paying so much attention to the BNP is unfair on the 98% of the electorate who didn’t vote for the BNP. (Or, if you prefer, the 94% of those who did vote and refused to back the BNP). It’s interesting to observe that when the English electorate had the chance to vote in elections that actually matter to the fabled “ordinary, hard-working families” they declined to let the BNP anywhere near power. Nick Griffin’s mob won just 3 of more than 2000 council seats in England last week. That seems something worth bearing in mind to balance the fretting and hand-wringing that has acompanied their success in the European parliamentary elections.
And that success, I suspect, will be a minor blip, unlikely to be repeated.
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