Will BNP election gains last?
The British National Party has more than doubled its number of council seats in England from 20 to 44.
Nevertheless, there is growing concern among mainstream parties, who accuse the BNP of peddling hate and division, that it is learning to hold on to its gains.
It has steadily improved its performance in general elections, although its share of the vote in the 2005 poll was still minuscule, at 0.7%.
A handful of constituencies bucked this trend, with the BNP gaining 17% of the vote in Barking, beating the Liberal Democrats into fourth place. It gained 9.2% of the vote in Keighley, where chairman Nick Griffin was standing, and 13.1% in Dewsbury.
The party picked up nearly 200,000 votes in the 120 constituencies it contested and retained its deposit in 40 of the seats.
But the BNP’s high water mark, before Thursday, came in 2004 when it was able to capitalise on racial tension in Blackburn and Burnley.
It gained more than 800,000 votes in that year’s European elections – 4.9% of the vote, although it missed out on a seat in the Brussels parliament.
One opinion poll taken before this week’s local elections suggested nearly one in four UK electors have seriously considered backing the BNP.