The following letter was published in the Daily Mail and is of special interest as it was written by someone who spent time on the campaign trail recently.

“I’m not racist, but…” that’s what I heard on the streets of Glasgow North East, time and time again. As the dust settles, activists in the main parties should consider the wider implications.
The BNP came within a few dozen votes of pushing the Tories into forth place and became the new home for angry and disillusioned voters rather than Solidarity, the Scottish Socialist Party and the Liberal Democrats’
Many voters were disillusioned with mainstream politicians. “Politicians? There all the same,” they all told me.
I found an increasing number of traditional non-voters were going to vote BNP. ” Someone needs to grab this country by the scruff of the neck,” was a common feeling.
If the main parties continue to be seen as indifferent or ineffective, then the BNP will continue making inroads in Scotland.
When voters ask why their children can’t get a council or housing association tenancy, the answer “they aren’t priority status” is remembered.
When gangs roam the streets and drug dealers ply their trade with little, if any, interference from the police, voters know who really calls the shots. People have had enough.
Alex Salmond has made much of Westminster dancing to a Scottish tune after next’s years General Election.
If I were him, I would be more concerned about the BNP holding the balance of power in Holyrood after the next Scottish Parliamentary elections in 2011.

MEV BROWN, Independent candidate in the Glasgow North east by-election, Currie, Midlothian.

All I will say is I promise that I will work night and day to make this a reality! We will deliver a BNP MSP in 2011 and nothing will stand in our way.

Gary Raikes