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	This is the documentary web-site for a politically-sensitive artist's research commission. It is based in both Tipton & Stoke-on-Trent, England. The 12-week project was led by a professional artist commissioned by Public Art - West Midlands. to research the appeals of the BNP. The project began on 5th August 2002 and concluded on 31st October 2002. Its aim was to try to understand the appeals of the BNP to voters and sympathisers, under the broad theme of "people, identity, and place." The artist's 16,000-word diary is a week-by-week account of the research, with photographs. Please allow a minute or two for the 850KB Diary web-page to fully load.  © 2006. All rights reserved.

PLACE:

Tipton is an ex-industrial town in the Black Country, west of Birmingham. Formerly in South Staffordshire, the town has traditionally been a Labour stronghold. Tipton suffers high levels of deprivation: average life expectancy is 7 years less than the UK as a whole; around 50% of households do not own a car; around 40% have incomes of less than £100 a week; 20% are functionally illiterate.

Stoke-on-Trent is an ex-industrial city of 250,000 in North Staffordshire. Famous for art ceramics, the area is commonly known as 'the Potteries'. Levels of poverty in Stoke are lower than most major inner-cities, but pockets of acute poverty do exist. In the May 2002 local elections a BNP candidate stood in Stoke and came within 72 votes of winning a seat. The BNP then stood for Mayor in October 2002, and in a close-run result gained 19% of the vote (3rd place, behind the winner with 21%).

PEOPLE & IDENTITY:

The BNP is the far-right British National Party. During the 1990s the BNP used Tipton to pioneer grassroots political campaigning, abandoning street marches. This new approach gained the BNP more than 20% of votes in Tipton and Dudley elections -- and inspired the recent re-modelling of the party. The BNP claims membership has doubled during the last year, and that it has widespread sympathy from those who can't join it or vote for it - the latter are the people this project mainly aims to understand. The BNP is opposed by a variety of anti-fascist groups.

	"WHY DO PEOPLE SUPPORT  & VOTE FOR THE  BRITISH NATIONAL PARTY?"  An artist's investigation into  people, identity, and place. Project commissioned and supported by: PUBLIC ART - WEST MIDLANDS, and THE PUBLIC.

	"WHAT HAPPENED NEXT?"  Post-project updates: Nov 2002: The artist's generative artwork, Sketching the Celts, is to be shown as part of the Canadian expo 'Digitalis 2 - the Spiritual in Digital Art', in April 2003. details Dec 2002: This site's Diary page has had its font-size increased, and the text is now black - for easier reading from the screen. details 2005: the project gets two pages in the book Action Research 2001-2005, published by Longhouse.