We’re saying No to the BNP, and Yes on 5th May.

Nick Griffin and the BNP are campaigning for a No vote in the coming referendum because they know the Alternative Vote will hurt them. Billy Bragg and Simon Woolley, head of Operation Black Vote, joined campaigners to launch a national ad campaign with one simple message – Say No to the BNP – Say Yes on May 5th.

The BNP have won dozens of seats in local elections across the country under First Past the Post, but only because the old system allows candidates to sneak in on a tiny minority of the vote. AV penalises extremist parties by forcing candidates to reach out to the majority of voters.

The news comes as leading experts have comprehensively debunked desperate smears from the No campaign that the BNP might somehow benefit from AV. As election expert Professor Dennis Leech argued this week extremists will be “locked out” of national politics in the event of a Yes vote. Yesterday, the IPPR think tank has published research which backed up these claims.

As Billy Bragg, a long serving Anti Fascism campaigner, said:

“What really stinks is that the Nos just won’t run an honest campaign. We’ve heard a lot of nonsense from them on the BNP, so we’re setting the record straight. AV would hurt the BNP, and that’s why they’re fighting for a No vote.”

Simon Woolley from Operation Black Vote added: "This should kill the myths and half-truths peddled about the Alternative Vote and the BNP. A fairer democracy demands we say Yes to AV”.

Today you can be an MP today with less than 3 in 10 voters on your side. It’s that arithmetic that has opened the doors to the BNP in town halls across Britain.

The BNP have no interest in the mainstream majority, and no interest in a voting system that forces candidates to reach out to the wider community.

We’re saying No to the BNP, and Yes on 5th May.