Not so much a political earthquake.....

Tomorrow Barking and Dagenham Council publish the list of candidates standing in the local elections in the borough on May 6th.

Only a few days ago the BNP were confident they would field candidates in nearly all the wards in the borough.

Tomorrow the names of 34 BNP candidates will be published - hardly the army of BNP candidates Nick Griffin's party boasted they would put up.

And as the Sunday Telegraph points out - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/bnp/7576113/Confusion-over-BNPs-election-campaign.html - there is a big question mark against some of those council candidates.

at least three appear to have registered at "front addresses" to get around the requirement that local authority candidates must live in the area.

The Telegraph reports that :

"According to the electoral register, Eddy Butler, until recently the BNP national election organiser, lives in Loughton, Essex, 10 miles from Barking. However, he has submitted nomination papers giving an address in Ellerton Gardens, Dagenham. Mr Butler also recently registered himself on the roll at this address but neighbours shown pictures of him did not recognise him.

Gavin Cardy, gives an address in Sylvan Avenue, Chadwell Heath. The electoral register indicates that his permanent address is actually in Fulham in west London.

A third candidate Chris Roberts, lives in Benfleet, near Southend, around 20 miles from Barking. However, in his nomination form, Mr Roberts gives an address in Arden Crescent, Dagenham — which is the home of the BNP’s London Assembly member Richard Barnbrook. Again, Mr Roberts recently registered on the electoral roll at this house."

Now given that if the three are not genuinely living at addresses where they have registered - they could be guilty of electoral fraud and could be disqualified if elected.

BNP council group leader Bob Bailey doesn't seem to think there's a problem with registering candidates who actually live outside the borough and claiming they live in the borough. Meanwhile Richard Barnbrook's answer probably says more than he intended:

"Chris Roberts spends enough time at my house to fulfil what the law says, and that’s good enough."

Not a local then... Mr Barnbrook?

The Telegraph also reports that the BNP has struggled to find enough genuinely local candidates with 'party sources admitted that other candidates had been rejected by council officials for not giving local addresses on their nomination papers.'

On this evidence the good people of Barking and Dagenham hardly seem to have been rushing into the embrace of the BNP.

So maybe the 'political earthquake in Barking and Dagenham' prediction by Nick Griffin in recent days - is like everything else the man says - to be taken with a large mountain of salt.

And without wanting to tempt fate - perhaps another BNP prediction is about to fall flat.

If the BNP have struggled to muster 34 candidates - maybe their chances of taking controlling the council have gone the same way.