LONDON - A VOLATILE mix of apathy, anger and economic uncertainty translated into gains for extreme-right parties in European parliamentary elections, including the first seats won by the all-white British National Party.

The party, which does not accept nonwhite members and calls for the 'voluntary repatriation' of immigrants, won two of Britain's 72 seats in the European Parliament, gaining ground in economically battered areas that once were strongholds of the left-wing Labour Party.

Analysts said advances by the far right were driven in part by voters' desire to punish mainstream parties for the recession, and by concerns about burgeoning immigration within the bloc of 27 countries that stretches from Ireland to the edge of Asia. Low voter turnout of 43 per cent also played a role.

As voters deserted left-wing parties in droves, center-right parties were the biggest winners in races for the 736-seat EU legislature and conservative nationalist parties made gains, as well.

Right-leaning governments came out ahead in Germany, France, Italy and Belgium, while conservative opposition parties won in Britain, Spain and Bulgaria. The parties praised the results as a continent-wide vote against governments' stimulus spending and corporate bailouts.

They pledged restrained government spending, pushing instead for bureaucracies to quickly use money they've been given for job creation projects like expanding broadband networks and upgrading gas pipelines.

Many Socialists ran campaigns that slammed center-right leaders for failing to spend enough to stimulate faltering economies, but voters did not embrace their cause.

The BNP took about 6.2 per cent of the vote, up from 5 per cent in 2004, but its biggest gains were in traditional strongholds of the governing Labour Party of Prime Minister Gordon Brown. -- AP