Bad night for the BNP

From HOPE not hate:

BNP lose another councillor

Labour took a council seat off the BNP in Nuneaton today in a by-election in Camp Hill ward. In a hard-fought campaign Labour took the seat with 670 votes. The BNP came second with 478 votes and the Tories third with 275.

This is a complete reversal from the last time the seat was contested, when the BNP romped home with 675 votes, 6% ahead of Labour.

The HOPE not hate campaign distributed two leaflets during the campaign and I would like to thank everyone who got in involved and helped out, especially Alan who led the campaign and activists from Wolverhampton and Leicester who came over to help.

This was the BNP's 8th safest ward in the country. The result was proof that the fascists can be beaten anywhere.


BNP loses another Loughton seat

The BNP failed to hold a seat on Loughton Town Council in its strongest Loughton ward today. The Loughton Residents’ Association (LRA), which had not previously contested the ward, took the Loughton Broadway seat by 23 votes in a by-election caused by the resignation of a BNP councillor.

In a four-way fight, Katie Nicholson for the LRA won 257 votes against the BNP's 234 and Labour’s 204. The Conservative candidate took 75 votes.

The victory is important because Broadway is the BNP’s strongest ward in Loughton, where the party once had six district councillors. In 2008 the BNP lost seats in Loughton Fairmead and Loughton Alderton. In May 2010 the BNP’s second district council seats in those two wards are up for election, together with one of its two Loughton Broadway seats. The town council defeat today gives hope that we can defeat the BNP in all three wards in May and reduce the BNP representation on Epping Forest District Council to one.

Redbridge and Epping Forest Together (REFT), the local community anti-fascist campaign, produced a leaflet for the campaign, which was distributed by local activists to every home in the ward on Sunday 6 December. It highlighted how the BNP has been promoting division and race hate in the area and has achieved nothing for the community.

The BNP bussed gangs of activists into the area in an attempt to retain the seat and desperately attacked the REFT leaflet on the day it appeared. The gangs were back on polling day, bringing out supporters to vote. It was to no avail.

And yet more good news....

The BNP have had an awful night at the polls today. In addition to losing a seat in Nuneaton they also lost one on Loughton Town Council, in southwest Essex, and were humiliated in another in Cumbria, with Labour taking 85% of the vote in a two horse race against the BNP.

More figures, analysis and elation at Norfolk Unity, also celebrating Racists routed in BNP by-elections nightmare.