BNP wins European Parliament seat in Yorkshire as Labour vote collapses

The British National Party won a European Parliament seat in Yorkshire as Labour's vote collapsed.

Andrew Brons's success in the Yorkshire and the Humber region came as his party attracted significant numbers of voters from Labour, which lost a seat.

The gain in Yorkshire came as the party's leader Nick Griffin picked up a second BNP European seat in the North West.

Mr Griffin, hailing his party's victory in Yorkshire, said: "It is a historic breakthrough. It is a great moment for democracy. Labour has helped to turn this country into a crime-ridden slum with no industry left.

"We are not a racist party. We do say this country is full up. The key thing is to shut the door."

Mr Griffin added: "When you got to somewhere like Bradford, it is not immigration, it is colonisation and it is out of control.

"We should ensure Christian and democratic values should remain the foundation of our country and everybody should understand that."

Shadow foreign secretary William Hague, who is originally from South Yorkshire, said the party took votes from Labour.

The BNP won one of six seats in the region after receiving 120,139, while Labour lost one of the two seats it held at the last election.

The BNP achieved 16% of the vote in Barnsley, nearly 12% in Doncaster and 15% in Rotherham - all Labour strongholds.

Former Bradford Council leader and Conservative Party chairman Eric Pickles said the BNP made a breakthrough because of gains at the expense of Labour.

"What has essentially happened is that there has been a retreat, particularly by Labour, but we haven't been able to fill that particular vacuum," he said.

"What seems to have happened is that Labour voters have been squeezed beyond what we thought was possible - and the BNP has been the beneficiary of that.

"I'm not pleased about that."

Mr Brons was clapped and cheered by his party faithful as he gave his winning address.

When asked if it was merely a protest vote or if people had really voted for BNP policies, he said: "I think they (the electorate) know much more about our policies than they know about anybody else's. If there is anything to our detriment, they know more about that than they do about any other parties.

"We are put under the spotlight more than anybody else.

"I would say that the correlation between people who agree with our policies and those who vote for them is a fairly high one."

Shahid Malik, Labour MP for Dewsbury, said: "It's a profoundly sad day for British politics and for our great democracy.

"In this region in particular, Yorkshire is renowned for fair play and decency. I hope many Yorkshire voters will examine their consciences when they wake up in the morning."

Mainstream parties now need to redouble their efforts to engage with their constituents and push for "no tolerance on racism and discrimination".

Mr Malik added: "It's also significant that there has been a sharp decline in the turn-out and many people didn't bother to come out and vote."

Despite the victories in the North West and Yorkshire, the BNP had a lower share of the national vote than the Greens, with 6.6% to their 8.8%.

The Tories gained 299,802 Yorkshire votes, Labour 230,009, Ukip 213,750, the Liberal Democrats 161,552 and the BNP 120,139. Turnout was 32.3%.

Also elected were Conservatives Edward McMillan-Scott and Timothy Kirkhope, Linda McAvan for Labour, Liberal Democrat Diana Wallis and Ukip's Godfrey Bloom.