Wrexham Anti-Racist Network

The BNP launched their Welsh Assembly election campaign in Wrexham yesterday morning, with five of their candidates, a security team, a handful of their supporters in the rump Wrexham BNP branch, a few members of the press, and zero members of the public.

The BNP clearly intended to get a few photo opportunities and leave quickly to avoid meeting any opposition, and were gone within half an hour. As the above pictures illustrate, this was a public rally that lacked the vital ingredient of the public.

Two BNP activists, Malcolm and Ennys Hughes of Plas Madoc, remained in the Queens Square area to leaflet the public following the quick exit of the BNP flash-mob, but made off quickly when they noticed the presence of antifascists.

At the same time, North Wales Against Cuts held a street stall and distributed leaflets elsewhere in the town, where they remained until early afternoon. Activists reported that there were no further sightings of the BNP.

The BNP is standing 27 candidates in the forthcoming Welsh Assembly elections. However, the majority of these candidates are standing on regional lists. The BNP is standing seven constituency candidates and fielding lists in all five Welsh regions.

In the North, the only constituency being contested is the Alyn & Deeeside constituency. Labour’s Carl Sergeant currently holds Alyn & Deeside, which is a safe Labour seat.

Alyn and Deeside is being contested by Mike Whitby, a community councillor in Coedpoeth North and the organiser for Liverpool BNP following the collapse of the BNP in Wrexham. Mike Whitby is well known to antifascists in both North Wales and Merseyside. He still lives in the Coedpoeth area.

This seat is usually contested by the Griffin loyalist John Walker, a former BNP treasurer and the current Deputy Press Officer. Walker is a community councillor in Hawarden and lives in the area. Walker previously headed up the ‘Excalibur’ merchandising operation when it was based on Deeside Industrial Estate.

However, Walker instead heads up the regional list for North Wales, presumably because the BNP see the regional list as a more realistic proposition under the PR system.

The BNP picked up 42,197 votes (4.3%) in the North Wales regional vote last time around, coming within a few thousand votes of securing one of four regional AM seats available.

Joining Walker on the regional list for North Wales is none other than Clive Jefferson, another veteran and current BNP National Elections Officer. Jefferson does not live in North Wales, and, at fourth on the list, is no more than a paper candidate.

Standing at number two on the list is Richard Barnes, of South Wales, who was embroiled in controversy last year after another BNP supporter was arrested and cautioned for forging signatures on Barnes’ nomination papers for the Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney seat in the General Election.

Third on the list is Ian Si’Ree, who lives in the Rhyl area but is believed to originally be from the Bradford area. Ian Si’Ree stood as the BNP candidate for the Vale of Clwyd in last year’s General Election.

Whilst we should not be complacent about the threat of the BNP as an electoral force, particularly in the regional lists, the fact that the BNP is only able to contest one constituency in North Wales, from a total of nine constituencies across the region, is indicative of the collapse of the BNP locally. The BNP in Wrexham has lost key figures and the BNP no longer has an active branch here.

The constituency candidates: