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In the wake of the unrest, President Jacques Chirac's government has introduced a string of measures to tackle its affordable housing crisis, some of which have parallels with the way the UK is dealing with similar issues. France is freeing up redundant local authority land for housing, rebuilding the worst estates and has come up with its own version of the £60k house - the €100,000 house.

In the UK, too, there have been riots when the poor and dispossessed have kicked against a hostile environment, as the television drama Bradford Riots, screened five years after the events depicted, recently reminded us. But this month, a group of residents waged a new form of protest. They did not take to the streets; they used the ballot box. The people of Barking and Dagenham voted the British National Party into power in 11 seats in the borough.

There is a lot of money going into regeneration activity in Barking. Its pavements have been painted with patterns in a public arts project, a lifelong learning centre is under construction and much more is planned. But housing allocation was the big issue for the voters. The BNP played on local anger over who gets what housing. The delivery of new homes that could ease these tensions has been slow, however. That is not the fault of the development industry. Barking Riverside, which will see the construction of more than 10,000 homes, has been dogged by infrastructure problems, most recently the provision of a transport link.

It has long been said housing is not a vote winner, but in Barking that was disproved. Adam Sampson, director of homelessness charity Shelter, has said the election outcome there marked "the re-politicisation of housing." Responding to this point on Radio 4's Today programme last week, Ruth Kelly, the new communities and local government secretary, restated the government's commitment to housing. "Housing is a huge priority, and will be a personal priority of mine," she said.

I only hope you mean it, Ruth.