Crisis hits the BNP after Barking by-election disaster

The fascist British National Party (BNP) branch in Barking, east London, is in crisis.

Richard Barnbrook, the BNP’s member on the London Assembly, has been sacked as the branch organiser.

This follows his failure to get re-elected to the council in a by-election in Goresbrook ward. Labour retained the seat, with 881 votes to the BNP’s 642.

Barnbrook was elected in Goresbrook with 1,434 votes in 2006. The BNP lost all 12 seats it held on the council in May’s local elections.

Barnbrook confirmed on his website that the BNP thought it could win the MP in Barking: “We felt it would be possible for us, just, to take Barking from Margaret Hodge, with a stronger possibility of taking control of the council.”

He complains about the sustained campaigning against the BNP in Barking, and admits “we lost our core vote”.

The defeat in Barking and the loss of council seats across the country has led to splits inside the BNP and a leadership challenge to Nick Griffin.

When it came to the Goresbrook by-election Barnbrook moans, “activists across the nation were split, especially here in London, resulting in a pitiful turnout”.