RACISTS and fascists crawled out of the woodwork yesterday to contest a by-election for the seat of murdered Labour MP Jo Cox.

Labour is expected to win the multicultural Batley and Spen parliamentary constituency in West Yorkshire.

Ms Cox was a dedicated anti-racist. She famously said in her maiden speech in Parliament: “There is more that unites us than divides us.”

She died following a gun and knife attack in the streets of Birstall in her constituency and, out of respect, the Liberal Democrats, Greens, Ukip and Tories did not stand candidates in yesterday’s election.

But the by-election proved an irresistible publicity target for the far right.

Among those contesting were the National Front (NF), British National Party (BNP) and Liberty GB.

The NF candidate was veteran fascist Richard Edmonds. He was a leading figure in the NF under John Tyndall in the 1970s, and later was active in the BNP.

He was jailed in 1993 for attacking a black man and his white girlfriend as they walked past him and his mob of racists in east London.

The BNP crowd spat at them and Edmonds threw a beer glass at them, while the others “glassed” the man in the face.

Unite Against Fascism joint secretary Weyman Bennett said: “These people do not belong on any ballot paper, let alone yesterday’s ballot to replace Jo Cox. It is an insult to her memory.”