How the mighty are fallen - and will keep on falling
Published on Saturday, 05 May 2012 10:24 Written by Ketlan Ossowski
Just two or three years ago we were up against a BNP that had achieved unheard-of success. Two MEPs, a London Assembly member and fifty-seven councillors showed that whatever the far-right party was doing, it was doing it correctly.
To achieve such success against constant and formidable opposition was an enormous boost to the confidence of the far-right as a whole and was expected to result in more success as the BNP inevitably grew and became a familiar part of the political landscape.
However, it wasn't long before the cracks started to show. Once regarded as the BNP's flagship local authority, Burnley BNP councillors started to drop out, either through non-attendance or lack of votes, with Barking and Dagenham's BNP contingent voted out en masse after a display of incompetence and idiocy that startled its opponents.
This was followed by chaos in the party as dissent reared its head in the form of a number of leadership challenges, inevitably followed by purges of dissident members who disapproved of Nick Griffin's dictatorial leadership style. This also led to the loss of the BNP's only London Assembly member, Richard Barnbrook, who could have reversed the party's ailing political fortunes by simply keeping his head down and doing the job for which he was being so richly rewarded. Sadly for them, Barnbrook was a incompetent buffoon who loved the limelight and who thus became a threat to Griffin's position of authority, with the inevitable result that he was forced out of the party.
As I've mentioned elsewhere, the greatest threat the BNP poses for us at the moment is that the North-West could be lumbered with Nick Griffin and Andrew Brons as MEPs for another session if they manage to win again in 2014. This election, along with any other local authority elections or by-elections which involve the BNP that pop up along the way, is our major target.
It's unlikely, from what I've heard, that Andrew Brons will stand again, but Griffin almost certainly will - anything that keeps the money rolling in will attract and hold his attention. The people of the North-West deserve a MEP who is there to represent THEIR interests, not his own, and I've yet to see any evidence that suggests that Griffin does anything for them that isn't in some way self-serving.
Still, Nick Griffin always has an answer when tough questions are asked - and those answers are sometimes worth listening to, if only for their novelty value. Following the BNP's appalling results, he came up with this little gem on Twitter;
'Our problem is that our millions of admirers don't vote for us.'
Delusional, insane or just completely idiotic? It doesn't matter - with political insights like that, he doesn't stand a chance.