Matthew Goodwin’s new book, New British Fascism: Rise of the British National Party, expands on one of his previous works on political extremism to look in-depth at just the BNP.
New British Fascism: Rise of the British National Party has at its heart an extensive set of interviews with BNP members. His conclusion is a nuanced one – that the BNP has carved out a strong base in a narrow niche, meaning both that it is not likely to disappear any time soon nor is it likely to break through to major levels of support.
That base is made up of “supporters who are socially distinct and deeply concerned about a specific set of issues”, primarily “angry white men: middle-aged and elderly working-class men who typically have few educational qualifications and are deeply pessimistic about their economic prospects”. Unlike predecessor parties in the 1970s, it is anti-Muslim rather than anti-black sentiment which features most strongly and concerns about the cultural direction of the country are prominent.
As Goodwin points out, the success of a political party is dependent on both the “demand side” (the wider political context in which it operates) and the “supply side” (its own organisation and ability to make its own political weather). The BNP’s rise has seen it attract voters on the basis of both hostility towards immigration and political dissatisfaction – the combination being “the most important predictors of whether somebody will vote BNP”.
The post-general election troubles of the BNP suggest that not only is their level of support limited, but that due to their failings on the “supply side” they may indeed fall back into that irrelevance which was their home for many years.
For that to happen, other parties will need to learn the lesson of the BNP’s rise, with its effective tactics that Goodwin documents of getting stuck into local community issues which other parties take up in many areas but were neglecting where the BNP got stuck in. In that they will be helped by the age factor Goodman points out: “the BNP’s attempt to widen its appeal among young people has met little success”. Added to that is the widespread opposition to the BNP due to abhorrence of its views to most people on race and toleration.
Goodwin’s book is both a good example of how detailed investigation of a minor party can reveal much new about the sources of its support and motivations of its members, and also an extremely useful background guide for anyone wanting to fight elections successfully against the BNP.
You can buy New British Fascism: Rise of the British National Party from Amazon here.
3 Comments
I can’t help reading ‘Godwin’ every time I see the author’s name…
I don’t think far right extremist parties are something that should worry us in general. If you look at some countries on the continent, what should worry us, however, is that some of these parties’ views may be adopted by more mainstream parties. See France, where the FN have little actual power, but still manages to set a right-wing agenda (which led, among other things, to the ban on burqas). See Denmark and The Netherlands where minority governments rely on support from right wing populist, anti-immigrant parties. (In both cases, the parties are a lot less ‘stupid’ than the BNP and know how to behave. Their view, and most of their tactics, are still abhorrent.)
The BNP were successful because they spoke out what people were afraid to discuss, fear of being labelled “racist”, “Islamaphobe” or whatever other ridiculous term, which can be quite powerful to those who are not afraid to speak.
We’re suppose to be living within a free democratic Country, but all I see, is a cover of hypocrisy and deceit. They say; Never judge a book by it’s cover. Well, that’s the United Kingdom. a Shadow of it’s former self.
Britain needs change, and it can start in Westminster! I’d like to see the whole parliament reformed, and the parties that have been around for generations are no longer representing the peoples of this Country. I can assume, based upon what they’ve done, they represent the minorities.
Besides, when did becoming a member of parliament become a full time job? When change comes, it’ll start right there.
Not sure when it became a full-time job, but I think it was after a lobby from the majority of the peoples: those who would not have the resources to fund themselves being a part-time MP.