Make My Vote Count

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MVC response to election of BNP MEPs

Systems don't elect candidates; it is the actions of parties and voters which do. What we have seen in the North West and Yorkshire and the Humber is a failure of the Labour party and the political class as a whole to engage with and mobilise people – at these elections, and more widely.

Mainstream parties should have had a very effective message to pass on: ‘voting in the European elections is not just important; it can easily affect the whole result, no matter where in the region you live’. Unfortunately, people do not seem to have either listened to or acted upon that message: they stayed away rather than voted, or they remained supporting the BNP. Both are indicators of the scale of protest against the current political system and the political elites who run it. Real change in the way we do politics is now needed to win back voter trust and participation. New faces or a few new policies are simply not enough.

“Proportional systems reflect the strength of voter feeling: if enough people vote for a particular party, their voice will be heard and that party gains some representation. This applies to small parties with democratic values and something to contribute, such as the Greens or UKIP, but also to extremist parties like the BNP if they get sufficient support. The hard truth in this election is that in Yorkshire and the Humber and the North West 9.8% and 8% respectively of voters region-wide have chosen the BNP.

For too long voters in some areas have felt that mainstream political parties weren't listening to them or putting policies in place that would benefit them. This has created the political space for the BNP to come in and exploit the disaffection. Mainstream parties need more incentive year-in-year-out to campaign and speak to all parts of society, not just the few marginal constituencies and groups of swing voters they are targeting most of the time. “ 

Additional Note:

It is not just under PR systems that the BNP wins seats. The BNP won 3 county council election seats in Thursday’s elections, under a First-Past-the-Post system.
• BNP gained a seat in Lancashire (Padiham and Burnley West), on 30.7 per cent of the vote.
• BNP gained a seat in Hertfordshire (South Oxhey) on 29.2 per cent of the vote.
• BNP secured a seat in Leicestershire (Coalville) on 27.7 per cent of the vote.

Posted: 08/06/09

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