AS IF THE BNP did not have enough councillors with criminal convictions, one of the partys candidates in Barnslev South Yorkshire, turns out to be a disgraced former magistrate with a conviction for fraud.

Nick Parker, who is contesting Dodworth ward, was fined £450 by Wakefield magistrates for forging a document from a financial firm which stated an insurance policy was worth less than its true value.

The matter came to light during an acrimonious divorce. As a result of the conviction the Department of Constitutional Affairs threw him off the bench.

Parker was an independent councillor in Dodworth at the time of his conviction but stood down from the Barnslev Independent Group shortly afterwards, blaming town hall political games for his resignation, and did not defend his seat in 2006.

He told the Barnsley Chronicle that he agrees with every single part of the BNP manifesto, adding: “My views haven’t changed in many a year. There wasn’t a party that could agree with in Barnsley, but then the BNP came along.”

No doubt the BNP welcomed this fraudster with open arms.