A BRITISH National Party mayoral candidate will target muslim and Nigerian voters at this year’s Lewisham elections, it has been claimed.

The party’s London organiser Robert Bailey has confirmed the party will contest the borough’s mayoral election.

But he said a candidate would not be announced until the party had raised enough money.

Mr Bailey claimed the people of Lewisham had requested they field a candidate, and the party would be supported by those disillusioned with Labour.

He said: “It’s going to be difficult. The Labour Party think they’ve got the ethnic vote sewn up - that’s why they imported all these people and gave them passports.

“But a lot of people who follow Islam won’t be following Labour because of their wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“They can’t rely on the Nigerian Christian vote because of their support for abortion and championing of gay rights above what’s right and normal.”

He added: “Lewisham has a traditional white working-class background and in recent years it’s come under attack by Labour-inspired immigration policies which have made the white working-class a minority.

“Lewisham is symptomatic of a lot of London boroughs where you’d be hard-pressed to find an indigenous face in the high street and hear people speaking English.

“Lewisham, in many respects because of Labour’s open-door policy of mass immigration, looks more like the capital of some far-flung country than a borough in London.”

Mr Bailey claimed the party also stood for lower council tax, a cutback on political correctness and an end to “pandering to ethnic minority groups”.

The party also plans to field around 30 parliamentary candidates across London during the elections.

But current Mayor of Lewisham Sir Steve Bullock said: “The residents of Lewisham have too much sense to be taken in by the superficial makeover of the BNP.

“It’s still a nasty, racist party with nothing to offer but division and hate.”

Mayoral candidate for Lewisham Greens Councillor Dean Walton said: "Racists aren't welcome in a diverse and tolerant borough like Lewisham.

"I'd be confident that the BNP would be sent packing by Lewisham's voters."