LONDON—A collection of English flags flutter in the gardens as the train pulls in at Dagenham.
In the high street, Roys Pie & Mash cafe serves up more English pride with the east end's favourite dish.
But along the street is Dal's gents hairdressers and the butcher Jawood Food, reflecting the ethnic mix that is both a tribute to London's cosmopolitanism and a cause of the tension that forms the bedrock of the British National Party's (BNP) southeastern electoral heartland.
The far-right party, which called for an end to anti-white discrimination in its manifesto, looked to tap into the discontent among some voters about immigration and its perceived associated problems of crime, housing shortages and overcrowding in schools.
About 73 per cent of people living in the borough of Barking and Dagenham are white British, down from 80 per cent in 2001.
The area voted 12 BNP councillors to the local council in 2006, making it the second-largest party.
This week, support helped the party secure its first seat in the London Assembly and come fifth in the mayor of London race.
The result was less than the two Richard Barnbrook, BNP mayoral candidate and local party leader, had predicted. He had anticipated coming fourth, possibly third, in the mayoral contest.
A "vote for the BNP is no longer a protest vote," he told Reuters. "This is a solid vote area."
Most of the people interviewed by Reuters on polling day on Thursday were casting their ballot for his party.
Clive Gregory, a 52-year-old nurse, said he was doing so after becoming "fed-up" with Labour.
"They have screwed the working man," he said. "What with the credit crunch. I am seeing all the current influx from European and African nations. Local people can't get housed."
There was a general feeling of disillusionment with Labour among traditional left-wing voters.
Robin Goodhew, a 61-year-old unemployed maintenance worker, said: "I was put on a waiting list for a house for a year. I was told they had got to keep some empty for immigrants. That is what really kicked in and got to me."
Nicola Miller, 35, a mother of three, gave up on Labour a long time ago.
"Nowhere is safe around here. I have two children who do not know what playing outside is because it is so unsafe. Both times they went out recently they had knives held to their throat. I can't get them into the local school because it is full.
"Some people say bad things about the BNP, but I personally think they live in the real world, more than the government. They are the only ones to take the time and knock on doors to ask what people want."
Fernando Ramirej, a retired waiter who moved from the Philippines in 1976, voted Conservative to "hassle Labour".
"I used to vote Labour, but because of the congestion charge, tax and them affecting my pension, I voted Conservative."
Unemployed Clinton Small was somebody who was sticking with Ken Livingstone for mayor, but was less sure about the Labour Party.
The 38-year-old said it was "picking on the poor and disabled—people they should be championing". He said the BNP could be benefiting from the despondency he, and others, feel about Labour.
"I'm a bit worried about their high vote around here—I don't think they should be allowed to stand."
Customer service worker Fedele Carolinde, 40, who voted Green because "it's about time we did something about the environment", said any BNP assembly member would soon find themselves isolated.
"This area will become more and more cosmopolitan," he said.
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