Election gains for Socialist Left

Dave Packer

The most revealing fact in these elections was that the majority of the population, especially in solid working class areas in England, and especially in the north of the country, did not come out to vote Labour but stayed at home. In England the turnout was only 29% and in most places Labour got in on around 10% of the eligible vote!

In some inner city wards the turn out was as low as 12% – this was front page headline news in Newcastle’s Evening Chronicle This shows two things: first, a growing layer of workers who are disillusioned with Labour and feel disenfranchised, and second, that these workers do not yet perceive a credible alternative.

In Scotland and Wales in contrast the nationalist parties, and even the Liberal Democrats, were seen as far more radical than the Labour Party and the SSP slate provided the beginnings of a credible left alternative. The Greens were also seen by many disillusioned Labour supporters as a left alternative.

In some areas exceptional votes were recorded for socialist candidates. In the Glasgow region the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) received 18,581 votes (7.25%) in the top up vote, and in Coventry Socialist Party (SP) candidate Karen McKay was elected to the council to join Dave Nellist, gaining just under 50% of the vote. In Glasgow Pollock the popular SSP leader Tommy Sheridan came third after Labour and the SNP with 21.51% of the vote and was elected to the Scottish parliament by the top up vote.

In Wales, which was a disaster for Labour, the socialist candidates also did less well. This is partly because Plaid Cymru adopted a leftish stance and collected most of the left leaning protest votes, inflicting stunning defeats on Labour in its heartlands of Llanelli, Islwyn and the Rhondda.

The United Socialists averaged 1.76% where they stood in South Wales Central but with some candidates gaining over 2%.The SLP did marginally better, while the CPB, who only stood in two seats, gained an average of 1.35%.

In England there were a sprinkling of socialist candidates, some of whom had impressive results but there was no concerted effort by the left.

Six striking Tameside workers standing as ‘Defend Public Services’ polled 14000 votes. With an average vote of 10%, coming second in one ward and beating Liberal Democrats and People’s Alliance (disenchanted ex-Labour councillors) in others, they had made a serious impact on the people of Tameside. Labour recognised that the careworkers campaign had been the most serious opposition they had faced in a long time.

Hospital campaigners in Wyre Forest, standing to oppose the closure of Kidderminster Hospital, won seven seats, meaning that Labour lost control of the council. In Sheffield, another Labour heartland disaster, which went to the Liberal Democrats, the left stood eleven candidates, including the Sheffield Socialist Alliance, which achieved between 2% and 3% of the vote. In Bootle on Merseyside SP candidate Pete Glover did well with 15% of the vote.

In all the elections, the picture was marred by the sectarian refusal of the Socialist Labour Party (SLP) of Arthur Scargill to collaborate with other left coalitions or worse, avoid direct clashes. Sometimes the SLP chose to stand against other socialist candidates in order to compete with them and split the vote, for example in St Michael’s ward in Coventry, where Karen McKay’s success left them with a derisory vote – which they deserved.

These clashes weaken the left as a whole because they reduces the total potential vote for the socialists who are seen negatively by working class voters as divided and sectarian.

This was why the London Socialist Alliance withdrew when the SLP put Scargill at the top of their slate for the European elections, even though we had built up an impressive coalition and the SLP had little organisation in London.

The LSA would undoubtedly have agreed to have Scargill at the top of a joint slate, but the SLP’s refusal even to reply to our letters proposing discussions on this led to our withdrawal.

These elections show that it was known candidates and parties with track records in struggle and campaigning which received credible votes, while those that were completely unknown or parachuted in, usually failed to reach 2 per cent.

In Scotland as a whole the SLP got more top up votes than the SSP even though their organisation was very weak. This is because of the SLP’s association with Arthur Scargill and the great miners’ strike – doubtless many ex miners voted for Scargill’s party.. There is also an ageing ex-Stalinist vote, which can always be relied upon to vote for the SLP.

The SSP in contrast drew strength in precisely those areas, mainly in the central belt, where it had worked and campaigned over a period of time. Its supporters would undoubtedly have been on average younger and more dynamic than those of the SLP. The SSP have built themselves through their campaign and hopefully will build on this in their campaign for the European elections.

It is clear that space exists in some parts of these islands for left candidates. Workers are often prepared to vote for a united socialist alternative, if a credible alliance can be built. As disillusion with New Labour spreads as its projects become clearer, this will be the case more often and more widely.