The recent leaking of the British National Party membership list has brought up some surprising facts about the average member. Far from perpetuating the stereotype of being the party of tattooed white skinheads, the list has shown members include amongst others teachers, academics and even ministers of religion. So why are so many different people becoming attracted to the far-right politics of the BNP?

Last week the Secretary of State for Communities, Hazel Blears, spoke out, claiming that white working class voters turn to the BNP because they feel ignored by mainstream political parties.

Hazel Blears suggested that for many people politics is often a “closed world” far removed from their everyday existence, and that politicians need to be addressing the “bread and butter” issues which really matter to typical voters. She recognises that where the BNP wins votes it is often a result of local political failure in places where estates are often ignored for decades and votes are taken for granted, leading people to look elsewhere for answers.

In the current political climate, with the ongoing problems of the economy, the health service, the fight against terror and attitudes towards immigration, increased dissatisfaction with the government and political parties in general is clear. Many people feel that there is simply nobody in the mainstream parties representing their interests. This as a result has been clearly illustrated by increasing voter apathy. The feeling that the mainstream parties are failing the population is reflected in the presence of former Liberal Democrat, Labour and Conservative party members on the leaked list. Whilst the mainstream parties are doing little to address the growing grievances of ordinary voters, the British National Party is taking the opportunity to exploit genuine concerns in order to gain increased popular support.

Under Nick Griffin’s leadership the BNP have made an effort to distance itself from its overtly racist past in an attempt to make the party more acceptable to a wider range of people, including those who would not consider themselves as racist. By focusing campaigning on areas with racial tensions the BNP has been able to develop support in a small number of specific areas such as Leicester and East London, and now has 56 local councillors across Britain. Numerous journalistic investigations have revealed extensive racism of members of the BNP, but this is something which is kept firmly behind closed doors. Outwardly the party tries to present itself as the alternative to the three ‘old-gang’ parties, providing answers when the other parties do not. The BNP has seized upon the lack of clarity of the main opposition parties’ position on the Lisbon Treaty, styling itself as the only party which cares about British sovereignty. On its website the BNP claims to be the only party willing to address concerns over multiculturalism, immigration, the EU and crime and punishment. The party has even begun to target schoolchildren with their ‘Racism cuts both ways campaign’, citing the importance of targeting young people due to their lack of “loyalties to the old parties.”

What is abundantly clear is that the BNP are manipulating often legitimate concerns of voters in order to gain popular support. The BNP plays on people’s fears and convinces people that only they can guarantee the security of British citizens through, in the words of Hazel Blears, “peddling pernicious but plausible lies.” What has to be constantly brought to attention is that even seemingly reasonable aims of the BNP have racist undertones. Politicians of all parties should take notice of Blears’ comments, as all parties need to win back the trust and confidence of disaffected voters and to prove that mainstream politics has the answers they seek.