DR MOHAMMED IQBAL, from Allerton, works in a strategic management post for a global pharmaceutical company. He served for six years as a non-executive director of what was Bradford Health Authority and served as a member of the Common Purpose Advisory Board. Here he considers the implications of the increased number of votes for the right-wing British National Party in the local elections The outcome of the local elections has produced a number of shocks and surprises, with the best showing ever for the BNP.

By Friday most of the media was still focusing on BNP gains in Barking, where they had won 11 of the 13 contested seats, thus making it the official Party in opposition.

Personally I felt some relief, with the knowledge that no major disaster or change had occurred in the North of England. In particular, nothing was being mentioned about Bradford and the vote for the BNP - had there been anything the media would have been having Bradford for breakfast, lunch and supper!

By Saturday I was further relieved to read the T&A headline "BNP left with two" - councillors that is - and I thought that all the hard work of so many individuals and organisations to improve race relations and community cohesion must have paid off.

The good people of Bradford appeared to have moved away from the divisive politics of the BNP - or so I thought. However, when I read the report in detail and examined the voting patterns more closely I was greatly troubled.

From the 30 wards shown, while the BNP only succeeded in winning/gaining Queensbury, they picked up an unprecedented number of votes in eight other wards to come close second and third in two others. Based on an average turnout for the elections of around 40 per cent, that's a lot of people who have voted BNP.

Although we should celebrate the fact that Bradford has one less BNP councillor than before, we should not be caught off guard, as I certainly was. Like many other citizens I was always led to believe that the BNP represented a lunatic fringe, but the numbers above speak volumes.

Like most other people I had grown accustomed to the three main parties fighting for the hearts and minds of voters, and I could not see a party like the BNP being a serious contender.

When the local BNP candidate's leaflet was dropped through my letter box, unlike the literature of other parties, I read every word, and while I was greatly upset at the way my faith - Islam - was being attacked, I thought the chap would pick-up perhaps 300 or 400 votes from the so-called "lunatic fringe" and disappear after a while.

What shocked me was the fact that, with somewhere around 200 more votes, the BNP candidate could have ousted our present Lord Mayor, Coun Valerie Binney, and become our local councillor!

Why have so many Bradfordians, ranging from working class constituents of Wibsey and Wyke to sophisticated professionals of Bingley Rural, turned to the BNP in such large numbers? Will they go a step further next time and elect BNP councillors (as in Barking) and perhaps MPs? Could a more focused campaign by the BNP in the wards have got them more seats, rather than close second? What should be done to rectify this situation?

I do not have all the answers but I sincerely hope that our politicians, our community leaders and our media commentators will not brush these questions under the carpet.

I believe that Bradford has been given a wake-up call, and it is essential that we try to find the answers to some of these questions.

Let us put aside political correctness for a while and try to understand as many of our citizens' concerns as possible. We may only engage a small proportion of the 60 per cent or so of our population that has not even bothered to vote, but we should make greater efforts. As for the 40 per cent or so who have voted this time, they have given us a hung local authority - so let us, for the economic and social well-being of our city, stop the bickering and work in a collaborative and supportive manner so that the "rebirth" of this city and district is not jeopardised in any way.

If we fail in this we will all have to pay a very heavy price. And most importantly, let us re-double our efforts to win over those who are unsure of the benefits of a multiracial and multicultural society. It is this single issue which the BNP has used to confuse and mislead people - and the fiasco at the Home Office during the election campaign will have been music to the BNP's ears.

The BNP has fine-tuned its propaganda and made Islam its target of hate, a development I find extremely worrying. Sadly Europe and the Muslim world have had a very difficult and troubled relationship for a long time, and for reasons that are too complex to cover here.

However, anyone who knows history and who knows the factors that triggered the European Renaissance and Enlightenment will know the very positive role played by Islam and Muslims.

For many Muslims like myself the peace of mind provided by my faith (Islam) and the protection and support provided by my nation (Britain) are things that are to be cherished and defended in good times and in bad times. In recent times Muslim extremists, and a lethargic and leaderless Muslim Community in the UK, have played right into the hands of the BNP.

The simplistic idea of focusing on prejudice or racism as a British or white thing only does not cut ice with me.

Despite the anxieties and stress caused by the BNP successes I would still rather live in this beautiful city and in Britain than in any Muslim country.

Undoubtedly, Nick Griffin and others in the BNP are extremists and intolerant of people from other faiths and cultures - but I can equally point to a great many Muslim imams and Muslims in the UK and elsewhere who are intolerant of other faiths and cultures that do not think or do as they insist.

However, these imams and Muslims have nothing to do with Islam, and the BNP has very little to do with the Greatness of Britain.

I hope there will be enough of us who will continue to challenge intolerance and bigotry - whatever direction it comes from. And I hope and pray that Bradford will be seen as a beacon of enlightened individuals and communities living in harmony.