BNP to stand in Keighley

The leader of the British National Party is to stand in one of the most racially sensitive constituencies at the next general election, party officials confirmed yesterday.

Nick Griffin, 45, is to stand for Keighley in West Yorkshire, an area which featured in an undercover BBC TV documentary which showed party activists apparently confessing to race-hate crimes.

The move will pitch him against the Labour MP, Ann Cryer, who won the seat from the Conservatives in 2001 with a majority of 4,005. A BNP spokesman said last night: "There has been a request from local people for the BNP to stand in the Keighley ward.

He added: "We already have a number of councillors in the area and we are just responding to the public request."

Mrs Cryer said that the BNP was "a malign influence on British politics and on racial relations in Keighley". "The good people of Keighley and Ilkley will demonstrate to them that their policies are completely unacceptable," she said.