THIS year’s General Election marked the first time Halton voters have been able to back candidates who were not from the traditional ‘big three’ parties.

The BNP, UKIP and The Green Party all put candidates forward this time around, in an election which most observers agree has fired the public’s imagination.

Voter turnout in Halton was 60.2% this year compared to 53.1% in 2005.

And the total number of votes received were: Derek Twigg (Labour) 23,843, Ben Jones (Conservative) 8,339, Frank Harasiwka (Liberal Democrat) 5,718, Andrew Taylor (British National Party) 1,563, John Moore (UK Independence Party) 1,228, and Jim Craig (The Green Party) 647.

Fourth place finisher Andrew Taylor of the BNP told the Weekly News: “This has been the first time that the people of Halton have been able to vote British National Party in a general election.

“I felt privileged to stand in the election and pleased that more than 1,500 people chose to vote BNP.

“As Britain and inevitably Halton continues to change I think more and more people will become receptive to our policies and the BNP will become stronger.”

Jim Craig of The Green Party was not discouraged by his last place finish, and said he took heart from the election in Brighton Pavilion of the party’s first ever MP.

He said: “It’s pretty impressive when you consider the voting systems is designed to keep out the smaller parties.

“The larger parties also receive a disproportionate amount of funding and media coverage, as demonstrated by the televised debates.

“It took Labour 50 years to get their first MP, we’ve done it in 30.”