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The Rise of the BNP in Yorkshire "After months of campaigning, election fever has finally cooled down and the time has come to reflect. As a politically active person living in Yorkshire I have watched with trepidation the increasing popularity of the far right British Nationalist Party. Although, many people are aware of the extreme nature of its right wing race based policies the Party has reinvented itself to gain a new mask of respectability. Gone are the skin heads and army boots of the 1980’s and in are the suited business men claiming to be the voice of a “forgotten majority”. The BNP with the new suits but same old prejudices are now making Yorkshire their home. Since the general election in 2001 Yorkshire has become the BNP’s main target area to increase its share of the vote. Four years ago the BNP fielded only 2 candidates in Yorkshire and Humberside; on the 5th May 2005 this had increased to 35, the most BNP candidates in the country. No other region saw such a dramatic rise. It was no secret before the election that the BNP hoped Yorkshire would be the region to elect the Party’s first Member of Parliament into Westminster, as there are already 8 BNP councillors in the area. The Party’s main hope, Leader, Nick Griffin, stood in the Labour constituency of Keighley and failed to secure a seat. He did, however, win 4,240 votes close behind third place Liberal Democrats. The presence of the BNP in Yorkshire was given national attention after the BBC documentary “Secret Agent”. This has led to the arrest and subsequent charges of inciting racial hatred of three of the BNP’s most public figures; Leader Nick Griffin, Founder John Tyndall and Yorkshire member Mark Collett. However, as the BNP become more organised so does the resistance against its policies. Community groups, trade unions, political parties and faith organisations have joined together to campaign against its extreme far right agenda, with positive results. These have culminated in several TUC days of action against the BNP. Although, the BNP won nearly 200,000 votes nationally, none of these were translated into seats. The BNP has seen an increase of its National share of the vote, however in Yorkshire this was by a mere 0.1%. Only in a hand full of constituencies did they reach the top four places, however, they are now the 6th most popular party. It will now be in the Local Elections in 2006 that the BNP will aim to make the biggest impact and it will be vital to ensure that the fight against them continues. Vote hope not hate!" - Lucinda Yeadon, GMB, Vice Chair TUC Young Members Forum
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