Local elections 2022: Far-right parties and conspiracy theorists ‘roundly rejected’ at polls

Far-right and conspiracy theorist political parties have so far won zero seats in the local elections.

Extremist groups attempted to win places on councils across Britain as voters went to the polls in 200 local authorities on Thursday.

But with almost all the results declared on Friday evening, none of their candidates had been elected and few had received more than a handful of votes.

Counter-extremist group Hope Not Hate called the results “disastrous”, adding: “The UK’s electoral far right have been roundly rejected at the polls.”

The anti-Islam For Britain party, headed by former Ukip leadership candidate Anne Marie Waters, had targeted 14 seats from Exeter to the Wirrall.

Its national manifesto proposes policies including banning the burqa, scrapping hate crime legislation and stopping “anti-white discrimination”.

Ms Waters received the highest number of votes out of For Britain’s candidates - 203 - but still came third with only 14 per cent of the vote in Hartlepool.

Some representatives received as few as 11 votes and the party has not yet made any statement on the results.

Britain First, which was allowed to re-register as a political party last year despite leader Paul Golding having convictions for a terror offence and hate crimes, fielded three candidates.

It won no seats but celebrated the 508 votes for its party chair Ashlea Simon, after she finished second in a Salford ward.

On its social media channels, the group said Ms Simon “trounced” the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Green Party, although the winning Labour candidate won more than twice as many votes.

Britain First said it was “onwards and upwards” for its political ambitions, adding: “Rome wasn't built in a day, so the saying goes, and the same is true for Britain First as a political party.”

Its official policies include deporting asylum seekers, banning abortion, castrating rapists and jailing journalists for “false reports”.

The British Democrats, who purport to “defend and preserve the distinctive identity of the British nation” and claim the “very existence of the indigenous population is under unprecedented threat”, lost in the four seats they contested.

The party’s candidates came bottom of the list in Bexley and Basildon, and third in Bradford and Maidstone, having received between 100 and 253 votes each.

The fascist National Front also failed to win any seats, finishing with just a handful of votes in Derbyshire and West Yorkshire.

Several new conspiracy theorist groups also fielded candidates, following an explosion in activity during the coronavirus activity.

The anti-lockdown Let London Live group, fronted by prominent activist Piers Corbyn, saw poor results in Southwark, Hillingdon and Camden.

Mr Corbyn, the brother of former Labour leader Jeremy, came 9th of 12 candidates in the seat he contested, with 200 votes.

The Freedom Alliance, which purports to “provide real opposition to the state's Covid narrative”, fielded a significant number of candidates across England but received under 1 per cent of votes in all council areas so far declared.

Save Us Now, which focuses on 5G conspiracy theories, won a total of 63 votes in two wards in Gateshead.