After looking through the local election results at the BNP site, I did a few sums and got the following facts:  In wards contested in 2004 and 2006, the BNP vote was 139912 in 2006, down by 4572. 13 candidates came in first.  In wards contested for the first time in 2006, the BNP vote was 95582 and 12 candidates came first.  From which I conclude that the BNP did better in the new wards and that their vote declined where they were already established. Would that be a fair reading of the results?   You need to look at the turnout as well.