electorally credible

I'm listening to the World at One and they've just had a pundit from Strathclyde pointing out that Labour can't rely on the electorate's continuing dislike of the Tories - the results of the English local council elections have been surprisingly good for the Tories, and Labour has taken a big kicking. That could be because of the bad publicity they've gone through over the past week or so: or it could just be because of their bad management of the country, domestically and internationally, for the past nine years.

But however unattractive the idea of a Tory revival may be in some quarters, it's much more disturbing to see that 'electoral credibility' is being gained by none other than the far-right British National Party. Who are racist, in case you hadn't noticed. It's a huge credit to Scottish politics that the BNP hasn't managed to get a foothold up here so far (although they are trying), but until recently you wouldn't have expected such success for them in England either. We all know that New Labour is a mess, and we all know there isn't much in the way of alternatives, but surely we can't turn to thuggish white supremacists to help us out of this dilemma.