Wirral voters help put convicted racist in position of power as BNP wins Euro seat

Jun 10 2009 Birkenhead News

MORE than 4,500 voters in Wirral helped elect a convicted racist, guaranteeing an additional £250,000 funding for the extremist British National Party.

Sunday night’s European election results saw recriminations in the Labour camp, as the party suffered its worst ever results.

BNP leader Nick Griffin – convicted in 1998 of incitement to racial hatred – took the last of the eight seats available in the North West, leaving the Conservatives with three, Labour with two, and the Liberal Democrats and UKIP with one each.

The far-right BNP also won a seat in Yorkshire.

In Wirral, the Conservatives came out on top with 20,861 votes, more than 5,000 ahead of Labour, who polled 15,526 among the peninsula’s electorate.

UKIP snatched third spot with 12,988 votes, their highest total across Merseyside.

The Lib Dems were a long way behind in fourth, with 8,990 votes, while the Green Party trailed with 6,747 votes – just 2,000 more than the BNP.

Under the proportional representation system used in European elections seats are allocated regionally, according to the share of votes each party receives.

In the North West, the Conservatives took 25.4% of the poll, followed by Labour with 20.39% – a drop from 27.25% in 2004.

UKIP took third place with 15.75% of the vote, the Lib Dems were fourth with 14.1%, and the BNP fifth with 7.95%.

The Green Party narrowly failed to take the final seat, recording 7.65%.

The BNP’s success was immediately condemned by all mainstream parties during the furious count at Manchester Town Hall, early Monday morning.

Sir Robert Atkins, who was re-elected and leads the Conservative North West contingent in Europe, said: “I am saddened.

“We have today an aberration which many right thinking people in this country and in this region will be appalled by.”

Labour’s North West MEP, Arlene McCarthy added she was also “saddened” by the BNP’s result.

Overall turnout across the North West was 31.9%.