The results for wards in Reigate & Banstead and Crawley where the BNP were standing are as follows:

That is 15% in 5 wards and between 7.2% and 11.5% in the other 5. 

Note: the BNP vote and percentage for Merstham has been corrected. The perils of copy & paste and coding tables by hand in HTML had caused the West Green numbers to be repeated there.

Some reminders for the next couple of weeks:

1.
Its local elections on May 1st.  Its important to vote anyway, but if you are in one of the 10 wards in Reigate & Banstead or Crawley with a BNP candidate it is especially important to go out and vote for any other candidate.  Every voter who stays at home makes the BNP proportion of the vote look higher!

2.
Love Music Hate Racism are holding their free carnival in Victoria Park, London on Sunday, April 27th. Full details at www.lovemusichateracism.com.  It should be a great day out and its only a short train ride from the Wealden area.

3.
If you can't get to the carnival you can still show your support by texting LMHR to 84424 which will donate £3 to help meet the costs of holding the carnival.

4.
Its never a bad time to join us and help to keep fascist parties out of the Wealden area.

In case anyone needs reminding, the full line-up on Sunday is:

• The Good The Bad The Queen
• Jerry Dammers & RAR Allstars
• Drew McConnell (Babyshambles) + friends feat v/special guests
• Hard-Fi
• Akala
• Roll Deep presents… inc Wiley, Tinchy Stryder, Jammer
• Jay Sean
• Get Cape Wear Cape Fly
• Poly Styrene (X-ray Specs)
• Bashy
• Natty
• The View
• Patrick Wolf
• Paddingtons
• The Thirst
• The Tribunes
• Rugrats
• Statik
• Target
• Nihal
• Don Letts
• Ace n Vis
• Dennis Bovell's  London Lovers'
• Rock Crew
• London Community Gospel Choir
• Mistajam + PA's tbc
• Aruba Red (PA)
• Tommy Def v King Bats
• Target & Karnage
• Dubstep slot with Skream & Benga
• Old skool jungle with DJ Hype & Daddy Earl
• DJ Nihal
• Heartless Crew
• Adelaide McKenzie
• Hoodstars
• Ny
• Snakeyman / No.Lay / Lil Rascals / Stylo G
• Mecca 2 Medina
• Nathan 'Flutebox' Lee

Despite most politically-active people having their own election campaigns to worry about and heavy rain and hail, the Wealden UAF were out in force today talking to voters and handing out leaflets at shopping parades in Ifield, Bewbush and West Green and delivering leaflets through doors in Gossops Green and Ifield West.

The message is getting across.  Several new faces were seen, as those who are not normally involved in politics and do not support any specific party turned up to help increase the anti-BNP vote. Our aim is to be able to have a presence in all 10 wards where the BNP are standing in this area simultaneously, and that is looking increasingly feasible.

In the Crawley area, where we were today, there is a chronic problem with low turnouts at election time - a situation that the BNP always thrive on.  They seek out places with a low turnout where their small hardcore vote, plus the few extra votes they get at first as novelty candidates can look like a high proportion.  As we have seen elsewhere in the country, they can succeed where voter apathy lets them and we are asking for nothing more than that the overwhelming majority who reject the BNP actually vote to register that rejection.

Such tactics have worked in the past.  Consistent campaigning has seen the BNP vote fall in Southgate. So much so that this year the BNP are not bothering to contest the election in Southgate despite two of their candidates living there!  They are now relying on attracting votes in areas where they will be seen as a novelty like Pound Hill South and Bewbush or in Tilgate where they stood for the first time last year.  A good effort to increase the turnout in those areas will let them see they are not wanted there either.

There are many thousands of people who are absolutely opposed to the BNP but do not have the voting habit, and our aim is to persuade them to use their vote.

See the links above for how to get involved in one of the fastest-growing campaigns in the area.

Wealden UAF will be active in Crawley and Reigate & Banstead boroughs during the 2008 elections.

If, like us, you are concerned about the increasing activity of the BNP in our area there are many ways you can help out:

• Deliver some leaflets (contact us for more details)
• Come along with us when we go out talking to voters (contact us for more details)
• Join the UAF and use your skills to help us.
• Make a donation and help to cover the cost of our leaflet
• VOTE!  We don't care if you vote for a Liberal Democrat, Conservative, Labour, Independent, Green or Monster Raving Loony candidate but if you disagree with BNP's policies make sure you use your vote and don't stay at home. It is not too late to get a postal vote if you need one - contact your town hall for details.

The nominations are now in for the May 2008 local elections, and in Crawley the BNP will be standing in six wards:

• Tilgate
• West Green
• Pound Hill South
• Ifield
• Gossops Green
• Bewbush

There will be some UAF activity in those wards before the election, delivering leaflets urging electors to use their vote against the BNP.  Anyone who would like to help out can contact us via the contact page.

(Full list of nominations is here) 

There will be a general meeting of the Wealden UAF on October 3rd.  This meeting is open to all members, but non-members are welcome to come along and join on the night. (Membership is a reasonable £5, or £2 for unwaged plus any discretionary donations)

The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the way forward for the organisation in the longer term, and a proposal to do some awareness-raising leafletting in Horsham and Redhil.  Since then the BNP have announced a candidate in October's by-election in Horsham.

There will also be an opportunity to elect a new member to the executive committee as there is a vacancy.

7:30pm Wednesday October 3rd
St John's Church Hall
Town Centre
Crawley

St John's is right next to County Mall, Crawley bus station and Crawley railway station.

The Wealden UAF joined the Crawley Campaign Against Racism to man a stall at the Crawley Mela on July 28th/29th at the Hawth.

The CCAR is an organisation with a long and distinguished history, which has affiliated to the UAF, and which the Wealden UAF actively encourages Crawley-based members to join. Members from both organisations were at the Mela to explain their aims and welcome anyone who wanted to sign up as a new member.

Thank you to the many people who visited our stall at the Crawley Mela. The photographs in the Crawley Observer on August 1st showed how many visitors and participants at the Mela were wearing Unite/UAF badges and stickers.

If anybody has their own photographs of the UAF stall or of people wearing the badges and would be happy for us to use those photographs on this site or in printed material please let us know. We will, of course give full attribution for any photos used if requested.

(Thanks to CCAR for the photo above) 

The BNP stood in 4 wards in Crawley and 2 in Horsham. 4000 leaflets telling voters about what the BNP have done in the past and explaining what their policies are were delivered in the 6 wards. The results were: