The British National Party's leader Nick Griffin has won a European Parliament seat in the North West of England region.
The game came after the right wing party's Andrew Brons won a seat in the Yorkshire and Humber region, where Labour lost a seat.
The wins come as the party appeared to benefit from disaffected Labour voters switching to minority parties.
Though the BNP's share of the vote in the North West was actually down they won a seat because of the mathematics of the proportional representation system used for Euro Elections.
Liverpool born Health Secretary Andy Burnham, the Leigh MP, said the result was "a sad moment for British politics".
He said: "It is deeply uncomfortable to see the BNP polling in the numbers they have.
"Whatever the country's problems the BNP are never the answer.
"The BNP is the ultimate protest vote, a two fingered vote and largely a comment on Westminster politics."
In his victory speech at Manchester Town Hall, Mr Griffin said: "For the last 50 years, more and more of the people of Britain have watched with concern, growing dismay and sometimes anger as an out-of-touch political elite has transformed our country before our very eyes.
"It is not just a matter of mass immigration, although that is an obvious symptom of it, it is handing us over to be ruled by unelected bureaucrats in Brussels, it's turning the common wealth of this country, our public services, into private properties for giant corporations, in banning St George's Day festivals while encouraging everyone else to celebrate their festivals, usually with taxpayers' money.
"In so many ways the liberal elite have transformed this country."
The BNP benefited from a slump in support for Labour in the North West.
In Liverpool, Labour's vote dived by 15,000, from 38,640 in 2004 to 23,849, and in Manchester from 36,458 to 27,502.
In Bury, Rochdale and Stockport, the Labour vote halved, along with a drop of 13,000 in Sefton, 10,000 in St Helens, 15,000 on the Wirral, 10,000 down in Warrington and a 16,000 drop in Wigan.
The BNP vote increased only marginally in Liverpool and Manchester and its biggest single vote came in Wigan with 7,517.
Sir Richard Leese, Labour leader of Manchester City Council, blamed "flaws" in the voting system for fostering the credibility BNP.
He said: "It is a very sad day for the North West.
"I think it shows the flaws in a system that allows them to get a seat with such a small share of the vote.
"All of us who care about this country, care about our way of life here, care about democracy, will spend the next five years working to make sure the fascists are not returned."
The Tories won three seats for the region while Labour won two, with one each for UkIP, the Lib Dems and the BNP.
The Tories polled 423,174 votes, or 25.62%, up 1.53%, whereas Labour polled 336,831 votes - a share of 20.39%, which was down 6.86%.
UkIP polled 261,740 votes, a share of 15.85%, up 3.69%, while the BNP took 8% of the vote with 132,094, up 1.62%
Moores brothers return home
(Wed 23/05)
Liverpool to set sail with cruise terminal joy
(Tue 22/05)
Post a comment