It is a common joke at academic conferences on the internet and politics that the British far-right BNP has long had the "best" web campaigning strategy in UK politics.

What "best" actually means in this context is, of course, highly debatable.

But if we examine the Alexa rankings for the BNP, as revealed at the foot of their home page, they clearly appear to have the most highly ranked political party website in the UK. They have also long deployed sophisticated integration of mobile and web tools, and they have recently migrated, along with all of Britain's parties, into the new arenas of online social network sites.

The big challenge is how to explain the "popularity" of the BNP site. This is especially pressing as we progress, not only through arguably what is one of the most significant crises of confidence that modern Westminster has ever faced -- the MPs' expenses scandal -- but also the European Parliament elections.