LONDON, May 5 (UPI) -- The far right British National Party made significant gains in England's local elections, more than doubling its representation on district councils.
The fringe group, which proposes halting all further immigration, took 11 seats in the east London borough of Barking and Dagenham, becoming the second largest party on the council.
It also took three seats in Stoke-on-Trent, where Labor lost overall control, three in Sandwell in the West Midlands and three in Epping Forest, east London.
The BNP took single seats in four other boroughs, increasing its representation across the country's councils from 20 to 44 seats. It had fielded over 350 candidates across the 4,360 seats up for grabs. There are a total of 22,000 councillors in England.
Labor activists have criticized Employment Minister Margaret Hodge, the member of Parliament for Barking, for saying during the campaign that 80 percent of white voters in the area were considering voting BNP.
The party is understood to be considering disciplinary action over the comments, which critics say legitimized the BNP and lent momentum to its campaign.
BNP Leader Nick Griffin -- currently facing a retrial on race hate charges -- said: "This is a revolt against the entire liberal political elite by the hardworking people of Britain who resent being taxed to have our country transformed."
He denied the BNP was a "Nazi party," saying it took a libertarian position on many issues.
But Hodge disagreed, saying: "We have to challenge the values of the neo-Nazi party."
She said her comments had been intended to raise awareness of race issues, which mainstream political parties had "all failed to address properly."
