Stoke-on-Trent’s city council chamber is now free of Nazis for the first time in a decade after the last five British National Party councillors were kicked out in the elections.

>> Full election report on results across the country

The victory for antifascists in Stoke – long regarded by the BNP as its “jewel in the crown” – comes after months and years of hard campaigning on the streets and doorsteps by activists from North Staffs Campaign Against Racism and Fascism (Norscarf) and Stoke UAF.

Here’s how it happened…

Back in 2009, the BNP had nine council seats in the city and expected to build. But a Love Music Hate Racism carnival that summer pulled 20,000 mainly young people, making it clear there was huge opposition to racists and fascists in Stoke.

Part-way there in 2010

2010 saw the BNP target Stoke in the parliamentary as well as local council elections. That year the racist English Defence League went on the rampage in the city, with Stoke BNP councillors present at the heart of the EDL’s racist “protest”.

But the joint Norscarf/UAF campaign – supported by trades unionists and others – stopped BNP deputy leader Simon Darby from winning the Stoke Central parliamentary seat and knocked the number of BNP councillors in Stoke down to five.

Local campaigners labelled the BNP as the Nazis they are, mobilised the antiracist vote, and were the critical factor in stopping the BNP in what was their second main target seat.

2011 campaign

This year’s campaign started early – with the Norscarf and UAF leafleting teams out in key wards months before the election, despite some nasty weather. As the campaign progressed, the weather got better and more wards were covered in a series of days of action.

The joint Norscarf/UAF Stop the BNP leaflets clearly exposed the BNP as Nazis and argued against anti-Muslim racism, which both the BNP and the racist street thugs of the English Defence League seek to whip up.

>> Download a souvenir copy of the Stoke leaflet (double-sided A4)

Gary McNally, chair of Norscarf, says:

On the streets talking to voters, many ex-BNP, it was clear the Nazis had lost a lot of the support they once enjoyed in the city. Many who in the past were happy to vote for the BNP were shocked to read the truth about the Nazi party’s true identity.

One voter said: “We thought it was a protest vote, we had no idea about this Nazi shit, they put on a really respectful front on our doorstep.”

The Norscarf and UAF campaigners were out in all weathers for months before the election, determined that the Nazis would be forced to “give way” (see pic, right).

BNP manifesto flop

In April, Norscarf and UAF campaigners disrupted the BNP’s national election manifesto launch in the city.

The BNP’s event was a miserable flop and party leader Nick Griffin failed to even show up. The video shows one antifascist confronting the BNP and exposing their deeply racist and fascist politics.

On the same day, the activists from UAF and Norscarf delivered more than 10,000 Stop the BNP election leaflets to voters.

As election day drew near, the leafleting teams delivered an average of 1,000 leaflets a day, every day, targeting the BNP and their fascist friends in the white supremacist England First Party.

One campaign team spelled out a special message on the streets of Meir North ward, where former BNP council group leader Michael Coleman hoped to hang on to his seat…

On election night, after the polls closed, around 50 Norscarf and UAF activists gathered outside the count to demonstrate against the fascist BNP and EFP candidates.

The video gives a taste of the atmosphere as the tired campaigners chant, and then wait and hope for the best. There are some brief speeches at about 6.00 minutes.

And finally, the wait was over and the result was announced. Every single fascist has been booted off Stoke-on-Trent city council, and the Norscarf and UAF members can celebrate their brilliant victory!