The BNP has won its first ever county council seat. Sharon Wilkinson won the Padiham and Burnley West district to take a seat on Lancashire County Council, beating Labour’s Marcus Johnstone by 201 votes.

In the result that was declared at lunchtime today (Friday) Ms Wilkinson, who has been a Burnley local councillor for several years, polled 1,155 votes, Mr Johnstone 954, Liberal Democrat Martyn Hurt 927, with Tory Alan Marsden coming fourth with 726.

A spokesperson for the anti-Fascist magazine Searchlight said the result was a blip “as most of the BNP results have been pretty poor so far and they are not doing at all well compared to previous local and county council election results.

“County council results tend to declare quite slowly so it will be some time yet before the picture becomes clear as to how the BNP has done overall,” said the spokesperson.