WATCH: British Democrats win town council by election in Chatteris

You can still count the number of British Democrat councillors on one hand but do so today and up will pop the name of Ken Perrin, newly elected town councillor at Chatteris. He will join the 11 other members of Chatteris town council after winning a by election on Thursday for Slade Lode South Ward caused by the resignation of Cllr Alice Keating.

On a turnout of 21.2 per cent, Mr Perrin received 67 votes, Labour’s Richard Bernard Hirson was in second place with 39 votes whilst the independent candidate Jo Fuller-Gray came bottom with 35 votes.

It may not be quite the victory he achieved 11 years ago when as NE Cambs organiser for UKIP he saw his party gain five of the 11 Fenland seats on the county council, but Mr Perrin remains a seasoned campaigner.

And it has been a grassroots campaign objecting to 70 homes proposed for a site off West Street, Chatteris, which clearly caught the attention of local voters.

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Last month he submitted objections to a planning application by Minster Property Group that included 144 signatures on a petition “wholly and categorically” opposing the development.

OPINION: British Democrats by election victory ‘a dark day for Chatteris’

His accompany statement re-stated objections familiar with other recent planning applications such as lack of GPs, poor infrastructure, and flooding fears.

But Mr Perrin’s objection also challenged a claim by Minster Properties of there being an “urgent, acute and growing need” for affordable homes.

He price checked 145 homes on sale in local estate agents in January and concluded Minster were wrong to say there was a shortage of affordable housing.

“We have plenty, more than we need and we do not need any more,” said Mr Perrin.

Mr Perrin also claimed the new housing estate would devalue the price of other homes nearby “which is totally unacceptable”.

Directing a response at the FDC head of planning and the FDC planning committee he said: “Should, yet again, the decision be made to push this through, despite the opposition to it, who pays the compensation?

“No longer can you allow planning committees to ruin people’s lives by developments that ruin people’s lives and not recompense them for their loss and devaluation of their properties.”

Mr Perrin described his by election success as an “emphatic victory for the people of Chatteris, the British Democrats and, importantly, democracy. We are the only political party in the UK that puts British people first because their voice counts.”

The British Democrats website puts it more strongly.

“The win reflects the electors’ acceptance of British Democrats’ policies and commitment to Britain,” it says.

“It also highlights the electorate’s dissatisfaction with mainstream parties whose policies and attitudes towards the country are destroying the British way of life, heritage, culture, and existence.

“Ken aims to lobby for better infrastructure and services, including doctor appointments, fixing potholes, getting a permanent police presence, and opposing unnecessary developments.

“He believes that Chatteris should grow as a town but not at a rate that turns it into a city. Instead, he wants to focus on promoting sustainability, especially since Chatteris’ primary industry is agriculture.”

British Democrats point out that Mr Perrin is working to get Speedwatch into the town.

He told his party’s website: “We deserve better. We need the services and infrastructure we have paid for to make Chatteris a more secure and safer place to live.

“We British work hard enough, have contributed to the system all our lives, and get nothing for it. Charity begins at home. I will be proud to serve the people of Chatteris.”

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Cllr Lawrence Rustem achieved the first electoral success for the British Democrats by

In a congratulatory post to Mr Perrin on the party’s website, he wrote: “This is a fantastic and well-deserved victory both for our candidate, Ken Perrin, and our party.

“This shows that our party has the capability to win seats at a local level. Eventually success will follow at a national level too.

“That electoral success is attainable, even in these dark times for our country. It is also important to dismiss absolutely and categorically those who call themselves patriots who espouse the imbecilic idea of rejection the electoral approach.

“An idea put forward by idiotic types who have historically destroyed viable patriotic political vehicles.

“This contest shows that a sensible patriotic approach to building support is viable, and it works, just as it has been shown to be a recipe for success on the continent with the likes of National Rally in France, Vlaams Belang in the Netherlands, or Alternative for Deutschland in Germany as well as other places in Europe.

“A massive congratulations to Ken for being a fantastic candidate who will I’m sure be a credit to the British Democrats as our new councillor and will serve the people of Chatteris with honour and distinction.”

Quite whether his Chatteris electorate endorse any or all of the principles of their newly elected councillor’s political party remains to be seen.

Among British Democrat policies are:

1: A commitment to end all immigration

2: Illegal immigrants and immigrants who have committed serious criminal offences to be repatriated immediately.

3:  Other immigrants “especially the unassimilable ones, would be provided with incentives to return to their countries of origin and those countries would be provided with incentives to welcome them”.

4: Laws that provide immigrants and ethnic minorities “with preferential treatment would be repealed”.

5: Asylum seekers would be accepted only “if they had been singled out for ill treatment and if Britain were the first safe country they encountered. Asylum seekers who travel through or over several safe countries before arriving in Britain become migrants of choice.

“Successful applicants for asylum status would be permitted to stay until a safe country in their own part of the world could accommodate them”.

6: When suitable jobs are available, claimants must be expected to seek them. “Neither the state nor the claimants can be complacent about the problem of the long-term unemployed.

“However, it serves no purpose for state officials to harass claimants to apply for jobs that do not exist. The state has a duty to ensure that work is provided to satisfy real needs, so there are no long term unemployed”.

7: “The present perceived need to build more and more houses on precious green field sites is fuelled by endless large-scale immigration. If we were to stop immigration and put the process into reverse, the housing crisis would disappear. In the meanwhile, people with local roots must receive statutory preference over recent arrivals”.

8: On Government, “democracy is too delicate a flower to be left to the free market. “Parties must not be capable of being bought and sold to the highest or most powerful bidder.

“Indeed, they must be free from those who support, financially, all parties but the unfavoured ones. Corporate donations from companies, trade unions and pressure groups must be prohibited. Individual donations must be limited in size and frequency”.