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Candidate Richard Barnbrook, leader of the BNP group on Barking and Dagenham Council and a mayoral candidate, will take up one of the 25 assembly seats.

BNP spokesman Simon Darby welcomed the win: "We've witnessed the first major politician elected not for telling lies but for telling the truth."

But critics said it was a victory for "hatred, violence and stupidity".

London voters elected 14 of the London Assembly members directly, and the remaining 11 divided between the parties in proportion to London-wide votes.

Mr Barnbrook, who came fifth in the mayoral race with 69,000 votes, had promised to give the "real people of London" a voice.

He said he believed immigrants who have arrived in the past 15 years were taking more than they were giving.

The BNP campaign had prompted other politicians to call for voters not to elect the party.

Campaign group Hope Not Hate said: "A BNP victory means hatred, violence and stupidity."