Thursday, February 04, 2010
Angry White Men: Membership of the BNP
I don't normally draw for my posts on academic journals as they tend to be a bit too dry and esoteric. But the article by Robert Ford and Mathew Goodwin in the current(Feb 2010) Political Studies examines the social background of BNP members. And it makes interesting reading. What would you think its typical membership was? I'd have said young working class whites, primarily males, living in the south-east and the Midlands.
And I might have been right once but would be wrong now. The days when skinhead soccer supporters provided the shock troops of the far right have gone. Since Griffin became leader in 1999 the party has become the most successful far right party in British history. It has 50 local councillors. a member of the Greater London Authority and two MEPs. The 2009 garnering of a million votes at the Euro-elections was a tenfold increase on the 1999 result.
The two authors discern a distinct constituency for the BGNP: middle-aged whites, mostly poorly educated who feel theatend by immigration- and are 'profoundly dissatisfied with the political status quo'. BNP support is concentrated in constituencies with low educational levels and large Muslim minorities. Precisely, in fact, in those northern Labour strongholds. The far right used to take votes off the Conservatives producing a toughening of Tory positions on immigration policy from time to time but the threat to Labour is just as profound and the authors of the paper believe the:
'social and political trends that underpin the emergence of the BNP- high immigration, the perception of conflict between white and Muslim communities and the erosion of institutions and traditions binding social groups to the Labour party- are liklely to continue.'
Comments:
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Touch and go that at the next election I shall be throwing in with the BNP, so I suspect your right morons who have no education will vote BNP. while the upper class high moral brigade will vote for the Two Conservative parties.
Perhaps one day we might well get a labour party for the poor working class thugs back again.
I went to grammar school, sadly at 11 and 3 month my mother was crippled in a car accident, I ended up a carer for a family of four cooking cleaning as my education went out the window.
But I've learned one thing in my life, you place people into groups, those group will get fed up and want to break out.
I see nothing wrong with people showing anger by voting BNP anymore, a party to rule well nope, but it's a great way of showing your anger.
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Perhaps one day we might well get a labour party for the poor working class thugs back again.
I went to grammar school, sadly at 11 and 3 month my mother was crippled in a car accident, I ended up a carer for a family of four cooking cleaning as my education went out the window.
But I've learned one thing in my life, you place people into groups, those group will get fed up and want to break out.
I see nothing wrong with people showing anger by voting BNP anymore, a party to rule well nope, but it's a great way of showing your anger.
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