BNP leader Nick Griffin looks on as Margaret Hodge delivers her victory speech. (Getty Images)

London, England – It was the BNP's great hope: to gain just one seat in parliament this election.

They didn't even come close.

The BNP's best shot was the London borough of Barking & Dagenham. BNP leader Nick Griffin made a big show of campaigning in the area - promising to put an immediate halt to immigration and painting a picture of an east London under siege, blaming foreign-born residents for a lack of housing, jobs and faltering social services. Critics called it a "prejudiced and bigoted" campaign.

Clearly, the BNP campaign did not convince voters. Griffin was soundly beaten by incumbent Labour MP Margaret Hodge by a wide margin. In fact, the BNP came in third in Barking after the Conservative Party. And Hodge had some choice words for Griffin in her victory speech:

"The lesson from Barking to the BNP is clear: Get out and stay out, you're not wanted here and your vile politics have no place in British democracy. Pack your bags and go," she said to cheers and applause from both Labour and Conservative supporters.

Griffin responded with a vow to defend "indigenous" Britons: “Within the next five years the indigenous people of London will be in a minority in our own capital city. This is a wake-up call not just for London, but a wake-up call for the whole of Britain.”

But Griffin may not be around for long. He is now under pressure for BNP's disastrous performance, but has not said whether he would resign as leader of the party.

As he left the vote count last night, he was booed by rival party agents and there were a handful of shouting anti-BNP protesters outside.

But nothing spoke louder than the ballot papers: a resounding "no" to the BNP.

Posted by: CNN Correspondent Atika Shubert
Filed under: Immigration

BNP candidate Nick Griffin talks to the press in Barking (CNN)

London, England – The Battle for Barking seems to be coming to an end. And Labour candidate Margaret Hodge is predicting a "thrashing" victory over British National Party candidate Nick Griffin.

The votes are still being counted but Nick Griffin concedes this will likely not be the year the BNP gets a seat in parliament.

Not surprising, perhaps. The BNP has been dealing with infighting inside party ranks - its online manager took the Web site down briefly on the last day of campaigning in an internal dispute - and a downright hostile reaction to its campaign on the streets - including a fist fight between one BNP candidate and local youths.

The BNP was betting that local disappointment with Labour would translate into BNP votes. But that may not be the case when it comes to a parliament seat. How the BNP fares in the local election, however, may be a different matter.

Turnout has been good: 62 percent in Barking and 64 percent in Dagenham. The votes have been verified and the real counting is now under way. We'll soon find out just how much of a "thrashing" the BNP will get.

Posted by: CNN Correspondent Atika Shubert
Filed under: General •Immigration

London, England - "Please vote - don't vote for me if you prefer - but please vote for a political party who can represent you," Colombian Gloria Gomez told hundreds of Latin Americans who gathered in a local gym in Elephant and Castle, south London.

During the campaign, UK-based Latinos have gathered each Sunday to listen to various candidates present the arty manifestos, while becoming actively involved with UK politics for the first time during an election.

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Posted by: CNN's Claudia Rebaza
Filed under: Immigration

Posted by: CNN Correspondent Paula Newton
Filed under: Immigration •View from

Posted by: CNN Correspondent Atika Shubert
Filed under: Election •General •Immigration

Knutsford, England - I know I just said forget the clichés but we headed straight into one on Monday as we went to the Knutsford Fun Fair! Dozens of these fairs take place all over the country and they are a bank holiday tradition. We ventured in despite the rain (another bank holiday cliché we are told).

But as we started to talk to voters, it was time to discuss this most original campaign. It is one like no other and it is confounding political parties and pollsters. Voters, on the other hand, see it as a good reflection of how they’re feeling.

We hopped on the bumper cars - yes, the bumper cars - and solicited opinion. James Cambly was game, taking the wheel and telling me he had not made up his mind on how to vote. Some polls estimate that almost a third of eligible voters could yet change their minds with only two days left of campaigning.

We whizzed around as James explained that as a young father he was fearful of where the country was headed and didn’t have confidence that any of the leaders know what to do to set it right. The bottom line: He still has no idea who he is voting for and crucially doesn’t think there’s much difference between them.

This is a well-heeled corner of England. Very close to Manchester and Liverpool, it is a leafy favorite for famous footballers and their families. Taxes are a highly charged issue here and voters say none of the parties have provided enough clarity about which taxes are going up and which are coming down.

Did I mention we started the day in Crewe? Now here is an interesting constituency. It was Labour-dominated for decades but snatched by the Conservatives in a 2008 by election. Back then, it seems like centuries ago now, it was a barometer of how the next general election would go.

Not so fast say the voters of Crewe. A win here is no sure thing for the Conservatives and yet some voters expressed surprise that their community wasn’t more hotly contested. In a few hours there, I saw very few election posters and one voter we spoke to said that although voters were engaged, he felt the national parties and their local candidates were not.

Through Crewe, a town of more than 60,000, we saw not one, two or three,  but four Polish supermarkets. The Polish immigrants showed little interest in the campaign although most are eligible to vote. What they do understand though is the highly charged atmosphere in which Gordon Brown called one voter a “bigot” last weekend.

Here voters say they often are made to feel like outsiders even though they are trying hard to fit in. As one young student put it, the tolerance level in Britain should be higher. Having said that, he also said that what Gillian Duffy dared utter to Brown was a sentiment that he hears often and that most people keep to themselves.

Off to Dewsbury tomorrow but not before sunrise on an English dairy farm in Knutsford. And good thing too, those bumper cars did a number on my neck and back.

Posted by: CNN Correspondent Paula Newton
Filed under: Election •Immigration •The Economy

Peterborough, England - When Gillian Duffy confronted Gordon Brown about “all these Eastern Europeans,” she was talking about people like Milosc and Gitana.

Milosc is from Slovakia. Gitana is from Lithuania. We met them at their camp in Peterborough beside the River Nene. Home is a makeshift tent made out of plastic tarp and wooden pallets.

It took us some time to figure out how to cut through a disused flour mill and crawl through a torn fence to get to their camp site. When we got there, Gitana had just started a fire and Milosc was taking an afternoon nap. We were unexpected guests but they made us feel very welcome.

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Posted by: CNN Correspondent Anchor Atika Shubert
Filed under: Immigration

UK Conservative Party leader David Cameron headed the opinion polls after Thursday’s debate (Getty).

London, England – British Prime Minister Gordon Brown fought to hold on to his job Thursday in a debate against the two men who hope to replace him, David Cameron of the Conservative Party and Nick Clegg of the Liberal Democrats.

But he lost the debate decisively, according to two snap polls.

Cameron came first in both polls, with Clegg second and Brown third.

But the debate performances do not seem to have changed voters' minds about whom to back, according to one poll.

Read the full story >>

Posted by: Richard Allen Greene, The CNN Wire
Filed under: Debates •Immigration •The Economy

Here I am talking to BNP leader Nick Griffin.

Barking and Dagenham, London – Spending your Sunday following the British National Party is an eye-opening experience. And it’s pretty tough on the ears too. It seems wherever the BNP goes, arguments follow especially in their political stronghold of Barking and Dagenham, East London.

I've heard a number of descriptions of what is arguably Britain's most controversial political party: "Far right," "racist," "nazi," "nationalist," "anti-immigration" to name a few descriptions.

Up until this year, the BNP was an all-white party barring all "non-indigenous" Britons from joining. That changed when the courts forced the BNP to accept other ethnicities and religions.

The BNP is campaigning largely on a platform to stop immigration altogether. The BNP's biggest concern is what it sees as an attack on the British way of life – and indigenous white Britons – unless immigration is halted immediately.

Its manifesto says that legal immigrants and ethnic minorities that are already in Britain have the right to stay as long as they accept the majority rule of "indigenous Britons". BNP leader, Nick Griffin, is a controversial figure who has faced several charges of incitement to racial hatred: convicted once and cleared of the other charges.

To be clear, the BNP is a very small, fringe political party in the British elections. But it has been making gains. And this year it stands a chance of capturing at least 1 seat in parliament, a breakthrough for the BNP but a nightmare for its many opponents.

So, spending just a few hours with the BNP was enough to provoke some strong reaction on the streets: You can watch my package here:

I also thought I’d post video of what we shot following the BNP. Our television story condenses what we saw into a four-minute piece. But here you can see more of the raw material and street reactions to the BNP.

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Posted by: CNN Correspondent Atika Shubert
Filed under: Immigration

Gordon Brown’s “bigoted woman” gaffe could spell political disaster for Labour.

Why? Well, 65-year-old widow Gillian Duffy - who Brown called a "bigoted woman" – raised the issue of immigration, a big issue for many voters but one which hasn’t really been addressed in depth during the election campaign.

In many parts of the country, people feel immigration is putting too much of a strain on public housing, medical care and schools.

But they feel their concerns are being ignored by the main parties in favor of “political correctness” and a commitment to multiculturalism.

I met a lot of voters this week in East London, where the far-right British National Party is making much play of its anti-immigration policy. Many people didn’t consider themselves racist or bigoted but said they wanted to see a change.  Read and watch my report from Barking and Dagenham

One man told me: “I think it's because of the amount of immigrants, particularly in this area. people are fed up with it,” one man told me. “Tighter controls. it's got to stop. It's just a small island we live on. It's too many people here.”

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Posted by: CNN Correspondent Atika Shubert
Filed under: Election •Immigration