BNP stripped of candidates right after failing to register with watchdog

The far-right British National Party has been stripped of the right to put up candidates in elections after failing to register its existence with a watchdog.

The Electoral Commission said the BNP had been removed from the register of political parties in Great Britain because it had not submitted the required annual notification and £25 fee which was due yesterday.

It means the party's name, descriptions or emblems cannot be used on ballot papers unless the extremist outfit submits a fresh application to be considered a recognised party.

The BNP - which in 2009 had more than 50 council seats and two MEPs - has been in steep decline for several years and fielded only eight candidates at the general election, down from 338 in 2010.

Its best known figure, Nick Griffin, was replaced as leader by Adam Walker months after losing the party's last remaining European Parliament seat in an electoral meltdown in 2014.

Mr Griffin, who accepted at the time that the BNP could be considered "racist", was later expelled for allegedly "trying to cause disunity" in a bid to destabilise the organisation.