BNP sees European election success

By Luke Baker

LONDON (Reuters) - The British National Party, a far-right group opposed to immigration and the European Union, has seen support grow since the parliamentary expenses scandal broke, its leader said on Monday.

Campaigning in the industrial northwest of the country ahead of the European elections on June 4, Nick Griffin said he had been taken aback by the extent of public anger towards members of parliament and said he felt support for his party growing.

"It's looking very good for us on the streets of Carlisle," he said, referring to a manufacturing city in the northwest.

"The public anger out there is so strong and the response we've had is very good, even better than it was three weeks ago, which I put down to the expenses scandal," he told Reuters.

The BNP remains at the very fringe of British politics, with a slate of policies that are staunchly opposed to immigration, especially from Muslim countries, and to the European Union, which it regards as eroding British sovereignty.

But the party is a determined challenger at elections and is hoping a combination of low voter turnout and disaffection over MPs having run up vast expenses on the taxpayers' account will help them gain ground this time around.

At the last European elections in 2004, the BNP gained nearly 7 percent of the vote in some scattered districts but failed to win any seats in the 785-member EU parliament.

This time, Griffin said he had been hoping to win at least one seat, believing the economic crisis and lost jobs would encourage low-income industrial areas to back the BNP.