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) 

This week there is a parish council by election in Upper Beeding.  One independent candidate is Donna Bailey, who will be remembered as a failed BNP candidate in the Holbrook West by election of last year.

Some comment about Mrs Bailey can be found here on the Lancaster UAF website, and there is an article about her in the Daily Mail here.

She is quoted as saying:

I didn't offer myself up as a member of the BNP, so it shouldn't be an issue at all. Actually, I think they are discriminating against me by making it an issue.

But the BNP are promoting her candidacy on their website, and should she win they will certainly be referring to her as a 'BNP councillor', so despite those protestations it is an issue. At the next district council elections she will almost certainly be a candidate for the BNP again, and you can bet that Parish Councillor will feature prominently on her CV, along with her involvement in the local youth club, children's football team and other things she has been involved with as 'just an ordinary person'.

As the Mail says:

If Donna wins on Thursday, Upper Beeding might well get its new toddler swing. But will the price be worth paying?

The results in Thursday's by-election were:

(A Lib Dem gain from Conservative)

There is a report on the election at the Lancaster UAF website. 

Wealden UAF are disappointed whenever the BNP get any votes, let alone more than 10%, but there is a feeling that it could have been a lot worse.  The BNP traditionally get a high vote the first time they stand in an area, and the low turnouts in most district council by-elections. 

Combine those factors with the fact that there has been no organised anti-fascist activity in the area previously while the BNP have been working in Horsham for a year or two and the fact that their candidate lived in the area and was presentable and they will have been hoping for and expecting a better result.

Without our efforts to encourage a higher turnout there might have been fewer votes for the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, giving the BNP a higher proportion of the vote.

This morning a group of activists from the Wealden UAF delivered leaflets in the Holbrook West area of Horsham where there is a by-election this week.

Obviously there is not much personal contact when delivering leaflets, but the few people we spoke to were very supportive.  Some even asked for extra leaflets which they could use to encourage their own local organisations to affiliate with the UAF. 

While out, members encountered a small group of BNP supporters canvassing door-to-door.  They are taking this election seriously, trying to take advantage of the traditional low turnouts in by-elections in order to inflate their own position, demonstrating the importance of everyone else taking the election just as seriously.

This is why the Wealden UAF message to voters is simply

"Vote.  Do not stay at home, but use your vote against the BNP and for any other party which is not a front for a fascist organisation."

Following the previous week's sighting of two BNP members trying to drum up support in Horsham, last weekend the Wealden Unite Against Fascism campaign were out in rather larger numbers.

The UAF members spoke to many people in the Carfax and the reception was very positive for the first event organised by the new Wealden UAF.  The BNP thrive when there is no organised opposition and they know it too, if the reaction so far is anything to go by.

Next week there is a by-election in the Holbrook West ward of Horsham and the UAF is asking everybody there to not stay at home, but to get out and use their vote to support any party which supports the UAF's aims to oppose Fascism in all its forms.