Poll suggests that BNP success was due to Labour failure

It gets worse for Gordon Brown.  A YouGov poll for Channel 4 has just come up with the following findings:

“The BNP won its first seats in the European parliament not because its supporters are all racist, but because many voters feel insecure and let down by the main parties. Our exclusive poll reveals wider causes of disenchantment.

Forty-six percent (46%) of all voters agree that “there is no real difference these days between Britain‘s three main parties”. Among Green, UKIP and BNP voters, the proportion who fail to see a “real difference” climbs to 60% or more (69% of BNP voters).

One of the most startling findings came when we tested anecdotal reports that many BNP voters were old Labour sympathisers who felt that the party no longer speaks up for them. As many as 59% of BNP voters think that Labour “used to care about the concerns of people like me but doesn’t nowadays”.

What is worrying for Labour is that this sentiment is shared by a large percentage of voters way beyond the ranks of BNP voters. Overall, 63% of the British public think Labour used to care about their concerns – and only 19% think it does today.

In contrast, just 29% think the Conservatives used to care about their concerns; this figure has climbed to 37% who think they care in the Cameron era.”

None of the main parties should be complacent about this situation.  The numbers above suggest that they all have work to do to reconnect with ordinary voters, lest those voters turn increasingly towards less palatable alternatives. 

But the clear implication is that the BNP victories owe much to a specific public disillusionment with the Labour party; that Brown may have helped create the Nick Griffin monster, to use Tim Montgomerie’s memorable phrase.  With the Dear Leader’s PLP meeting looming, that’s exactly the kind of message which could encourage more Labour MPs to act against him.