Former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey has called on Christians to "stand shoulder to shoulder" in rejecting the British National Party and its leader Nick Griffin, who he branded a "squalid racist".
Lord Carey said it was "chilling" to hear Mr Griffin claim to represent "Christian Britain" in his appearance on BBC1's Question Time on Thursday, and accused the BNP leader of trying to "hijack one of the world's great religions".
His comments came as a poll suggested that a number of controversial BNP policies on immigration, sex education and Islam have resonance with significant numbers of voters.
The survey in the News of the World found that almost two-thirds of voters feel the mainstream parties have no credible policies on immigration.
But only 6% said the BNP had the best policies on the issue and just 10% agreed with the far-right party that there should be a halt to all future immigration.
The ICM research follows a YouGov poll for the Daily Telegraph today which suggested that 22% of voters would consider backing the BNP in a local, European or general election in the wake of Mr Griffin's controversial TV appearance.
Numbers saying they intend to vote BNP had increased from 2% to 3% since September.
The poll provoked a furious response from Labour's long-time anti-racism campaigner Peter Hain, who fought to keep Mr Griffin off the airwaves. "The BBC has handed the BNP the gift of the century on a plate and now we see the consequences. I'm very angry about this," said Mr Hain.
Shadow foreign secretary William Hague said the broadcast allowed voters to see "what a hateful party (the BNP) is and that it is not the way forward for our country".
The ICM poll found that 54% of voters feel the show would have put people off the BNP, but 23% said it would gain them more support.
