1993 Millwall by-election

The 1993 Millwall by-election was a local government by-election in the Millwall ward of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets on 16 September 1993. The result became widely publicised due to the first ever electoral success for the far-right British National Party by Derek Beackon.

Prelude

Millwall is located on the Isle of Dogs in London, England. Historically, it had been an area of working class residents mainly employed in the many docks on the Isle of Dogs but the closure of the docks in the 1960s had led to high unemployment and deprivation in the area.

In the previous full council elections in 1990, Millwall elected three Labour councillors in a marginal contest between Labour and the Liberal Democrats. The Liberal Democrats retained control of the overall council, having gained control in 1986 as the Liberal-SDP Alliance.

No BNP candidate stood for election in Millwall in 1990, although the party contested some other wards in the borough including Beackon who stood in Redcoat ward where he attracted just 3.6% of the vote.

Millwall election, 1990

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	D.J. Chapman	1,755	45.1	+5.3
	Labour	Y. Amor	1,689
	Labour	I.F. Walker	1,551
	Liberal Democrats	R.J. Bensley	1,507	39.9	+12.7
	Liberal Democrats	J.P. Matthews	1,471
	Liberal Democrats	G.G. Pye	1,449
	Conservative	D.C. Hughes	294	7.5	–0.0
	Conservative	P.W.E. Ingham	284
	Green	S.G. James	279	7.5	N/A
	Conservative	D.C. Hoile	249
Majority			44	1.2
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
Turnout				41.3	+7.5

An earlier by-election took place in Millwall on 1 October 1992, due to the resignation of Cllr Walker, in which a British National Party candidate stood for the first time. They received their highest ever vote share at the time, taking 20% of the vote.

Millwall by-election, 1992

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	E.T. Johns	1,275	38.7	–6.3
	Liberal Democrats	J.P. Matthews	1,178	35.8	–4.1
	BNP	B.J. Osborne	657	20.0	N/A
	Conservative	J.P. Fage	182	5.5	–1.9
Majority			97	2.9
	Labour hold		Swing

Campaign

The next year Cllr Chapman resigned, leading to another by-election in the same ward. The British National Party's campaign emphasised 'Rights for Whites' through canvassing and leafleting, while the Labour Party campaign focussed on preventing the election of the first BNP councillor.

After a recount, Beackon was declared the winner with a majority of just 7 votes.

Election result

Millwall by-election, 1993

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	BNP	Derek Beackon	1,480	33.8	N/A
	Labour	J.J. Hunt	1,473	33.7	–11.4
	Liberal Democrats	J.E. Mills	1,284	29.4	–10.6
	Conservative	T.R. Dickenson	134	3.1	–4.4
Majority			7	0.1
	BNP gain from Labour		Swing

Aftermath

Beackon lost his seat in the next election after a large increase in turnout increased the actual BNP vote, but increased the Labour vote further to retake the seat. The British National Party would not hold any elected seats again until they won three in Burnley in 2002. Beackon did not re-stand for election until 2008 when he took 17.8% of the vote in Orsett ward on Thurrock council.

Millwall election, 1994

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Julia Mainwaring	3,547
	Labour	Martin Young	3,447
	Labour	Stephen Molyneaux	3,446
	BNP	Derek Beackon	2,041
	BNP	Gordon Callow	1,775
	BNP	A. Smith	1,713
	Liberal Democrats	J.P. Mathews	874
	Liberal Democrats	J.E. Mills	861
	Liberal Democrats	G.G. Pye	754
	Island Independent	J.J. Hunt	386
	Conservative	T.R. Dickenson	322
	Conservative	J.P. Fage	217
	Conservative	Crispin Hayhoe	210
	Independent	O.C. Osmond	124
Turnout			10,532	66.4
	Labour gain from BNP		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing