BNP's Griffin left trailing by Labour veteran

Labour veteran Margaret Hodge was victorious today in her battle with the leader of the British National Party.

Ms Hodge, 65, held the mainly white, working-class constituency of Barking in east London, taking 24,628 votes – more than 16,000 more than any other candidate.

BNP leader Nick Griffin, 51, conceded defeat in the early hours of the morning, saying the “hugely high” turnout of 61.8% counted against him.

To loud cheers, Ms Hodge said the people of Barking had sent a clear message to the BNP: "Pack your bags and go.''

She said: “This really is a great moment in our history.

“On behalf of all the people in Britain, we in Barking have not just beaten but we have smashed the extreme right.

“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.”

Conservative Simon Marcus came second with 8,073 votes, followed by Mr Griffin and the BNP in third with 6,620 votes.

Frank Maloney – the boxing promoter who once represented Lennox Lewis – stood in the seat for the UK Independence Party, taking 1,300 votes in fifth place behind the Lib Dems.

Labour has won the seat at every election since it was created in 1945.

But the BNP has been extremely active in Barking, where its candidate polled 4,916 votes at the last election, only 27 fewer than the Conservatives, who were runners-up, and 1,000-plus more than the Liberal Democrats.

Culture and Tourism Minister Ms Hodge has represented the seat since 1994, and in 2006 she publicly warned of voters fleeing to the BNP in local elections in the area, saying “no one else is listening to them” about their concerns over housing, employment and immigration.

In that year the BNP secured a majority of seats in the Dagenham ward. The BNP delivered a bunch of roses to her office to thank her for her “help” in publicising them.

Last June, Mr Griffin and colleague Andrew Brons were elected to serve as MEPs, meaning that the party leader was controversially invited to take part in the BBC’s Question Time programme.

His appearance in October led to the BBC Television Centre in west London being “locked down” due to a surge of protesters.

Tonight, a small group of about 20 protesters waited to greet Mr Griffin outside the Goresbrook Leisure Centre in Dagenham, where the count took place.

Mr Griffin was heckled throughout his speech with chants of ``Off, off, off'' and ``rubbish''.

He accused Ms Hodge of shedding “crocodile tears” over the pace of change, labelling her and the Labour Party an “absolute disgrace”.

“It’s too late for Barking, but it’s not too late for the rest of Britain,” he said.

Ms Hodge was booed by BNP supporters during her speech.

But she continued to pay tribute to her late husband and all those who had helped on her campaign.

In her victory speech Ms Hodge went on: ``This is really a great moment in our history, a never-to-be forgotten moment for both the good and decent people of Barking and Dagenham.

“Our election here in this constituency was very different from elsewhere in Britain and our voters faced a stark choice.

“And they have overwhelmingly chosen to support a democratic politics, built on tolerance, on fairness and on decency. Not a fascist politics built on division, prejudice and hatred.”

She said she was proud and privileged to represent the borough and its victory for Labour values.

“But tonight is about much more,” she said.

“On behalf of all the people in Britain, we in Barking have not just beaten but we have smashed the attempt by the extreme right.

“The message from Barking to the BNP is clear: Get out and stay out.”

Ms Hodge said she wanted to thank everyone who had been so kind to her during the “toughest time ever in my life”.

She went on: “I nursed and lost my beloved husband, my soul mate, and my life partner Henry.

“Yet over the years it was he who gave me the strength to take on this election battle – the most moral political fight of my 40 years in politics.”

Later she added: “I hope that after tonight’s results we can return to proper democratic politics in this borough again.”

She said 2006 was a wake-up call for Barking Labour Party, and they did wake up and did rise to the challenge.

“But our work doesn’t end with tonight’s results.

“I promise you I, as your MP, and we, as the Labour Party will continue to listen to concerns of people in the borough.

“And we’ll respond to what you want and need.”

She added she would work with “all my heart and soul” to build a “better, strong and proud Barking and Dagenham for every family every old person, and every child”.

Mr Griffin said: ``I would say this to the people of Britain: It is going to be too late for Barking, but it is not too late for Britain.

“Get rid of our masters before they get rid of us.”

He went on: “The Labour Party killed the old East End, they destroyed it, and now they’re doing the same to Barking and Dagenham.

“The Labour Party have a new way to deal with voters who don’t agree with them.

“They don’t seek to persuade them, they seek to replace them. And that’s what’s been done in recent years in Barking and Dagenham.”

He said the last of the old East End was going to die over the next four years in a “wicked, cruel Labour Party project”.

The Labour Party “will reduce us to a minority”, he said.

Mr Griffin added: “This is not just a wake-up call to London. This is a wake-up call to the whole of Britain.”