There are a number of fascist candidates standing in this week’s Euro Parliament and local council elections :
European parliament
BNP : Cathy Duffy, Robert West, Bob Brindley, Geoffrey Dickens, Paul Hillard.
English Democrats : Kevin Sills, Dave Wickham, John Dowle, Oliver Healey, Terry Spencer.
Cathy Duffy…she’s not going to be an MEP
Cathy Duffy from Charnwood is the obvious choice for head of the BNP list, being a rare animal – one of the party’s two local councillors in the whole country. The inclusion of Paul ‘Aloe Vera’ Hilliard as the last candidate on the list shows how his stock has fallen in the party, with outright fruitcake and twitter twat Bob Brindley selected above him.
Kevin Sills – nor is he…
The English Democrats are the usual mix of ex-members of other far-right parties, and people who find UKIP a bit liberal. Veteran party-swopper Kevin Sills is their lead candidate.
Councils
Amber Valley : Alan Edward (Codnor & Waingroves), Ken Cooper (Ripley).
Derby : Paul Hilliard (Chaddesden), Carol Tucker (Derwent).
The most interesting feature of the local candidate list is how sparse it is, with only four candidates from the BNP standing in our region, all in Derbyshire. This reflects the general decline of the party, who are fielding 114 candidates nationwide, compared to 739 in the equivalent elections in 2010. The party seems extremely unlikely to add to its pitiful national tally of two councillors.
Although these elections promise very lean pickings for the BNP and their ilk, it’s likely – and alarming – that UKIP will do well (taking votes from all parties, including the BNP). They are standing numerous candidates in both Euro and council elections, have a huge campaign budget, and have a high national profile. Although their politics are vague and vacuous, they are undoubtedly pushing the political discourse to the right and need to be opposed. The results of Thursday’s elections will make interesting reading.