LONDON - MAINSTREAM political parties have to win back the trust of disaffected voters who have turned to the far-right British National Party (BNP), a cabinet minister said on Saturday.

Communities Secretary Hazel Blears said that, in areas where the BNP won votes, it was often as a result of local political failure.

'Estates that have been ignored for decades; voters taken for granted; local services that have failed; white skilled working-class voters who feel polticians live on a different planet,' she wrote in The Guardian.

'We need to win back the trust and confidence of these disaffected voters by proving that mainstream politics has the answers they seek,' she said.

The soul-searching has been prompted by the leaking on the Internet of the far-right organisation's membership.

The BBC said the list of more than 10,000 supporters includes serving and former police officers, teachers and soldiers. Police are prohibited from belonging to the party.

The BNP has complained to police about the publication of the list and is seeking legal advice.

Ms Blears said the membership list showed support for the BNP was tiny and concentrated in a small number of areas such as Leicester and east London.

She urged the main political parties to get out onto the streets campaigning on the issues that mattered.

'The essential thing for all politicians is to be talking the same language as the people. At the moment, they are worried about jobs, they are worried about homes, they are worried about whether their children can get a decent education,' she told Sky News.

'That's why we've got to be on the street in those places, knocking on people's doors, listening to what they've got to say, and acting on what they tell us,' she said. -- REUTERS