Elections 2006; Modest gains for the left
Jim Jepps
Labour
had a terrible night on May 4th losing control of over 40% of its
councils with the Tories as the main beneficiaries of this collapse. It's
clear that 'up north' the Labour vote tended to hold up far better than 'down
south' - and it's hard not to draw the conclusion that the Labour losses were
often in those areas where the Tories are making some sort of recovery.
In other words whilst in the north there still seems to be no viable alternative to Labour, in the south too many are turning back to the Conservatives, although many election analysts agree that they still have a big hill to climb before being remotely near getting back into Parliamentary power, and it is as well to remember that at last year's general election the Tories got more votes than Labour in England and it is only with the help of the bizarre electoral system and, of course, the less Tory inclined Welsh and Scots that returned a healthy Labour majority.
BBC estimates
vote share disaster for Labour
Tories 40%, Lib Dems 27%, Labour 26%
But whilst the Tories were, of course, the main beneficiaries of this flushing of Labour support those to the left of Labour were able to make modest gains too. There were a series of very respectable results around the country for left of Labour candidates. Council elections produce a confusing potpourri of local events but in the overall pattern the left tended to do well.
The Left
If we look at the very localised left alternatives first, we see a pattern of
extremely credible results. The Enfield Save Chase Farm group who have
organised a vibrant and energetic defend the NHS campaign had two candidates
elected (note), and independent socialist Ruth Ford in Waveney re-won her seat
comfortably allowing her to continue to plug away for Old Labour policies
inside the council. Tim Oxton, one of six ‘unlabelled’ socialists in
Colchester won a credible 11.5% of the vote on the back of strong campaigning
over public transport. The IWCA also added one more councillor to their group
in Oxford. Socialist Party member, Dr. Jackie Grunsell, was elected on a “Save
Huddersfield NHS ticket”.
All these candidates are of the left, but it’s important to note they are as
tied to the needs of their communities as they are to any ideology and this
can mean that they do not always present an A1 consistent socialist
alternative. For instance, in Wigan the Community Action Party who won four
seats has clear left roots, but also touts a zero tolerance on crime line.
The Socialist Party had a good night with two councillors elected in Lewisham
and one in Coventry. Janine Booth, Socialist Unity, in Hackney achieved a
convincing 10.5%. The little known United Socialist Party in Knowsley achieved
over 20% of the vote with both candidates. (read the
SP statement)
The Greens
Of the progressives the Greens gained the most on election night. Under ‘first
past the post’ progress has been slow and much of the increase in the Green
vote has gone unnoticed where it has not resulted in an actual win. Despite
this the Greens gained 20 new councillors taking their national total to 91.
Then the Greens win a by election in Scarborough seven days later which takes
their total to 92.
National growth does not guarantee good fortune locally and the Leeds Greens,
whilst holding on to their seats, saw their majorities slide with Labour
hoping to retake the seats next year. This loss of support could be due to
their decision to take seats in the Tory administration (Go Green Vote Blue
anyone?)
Read Peter Cranie and Matthew Selwood on the Green result
Respect
Respect had fifteen councillors elected, and although this falls short of
their stated expectations it is, in reality, a good showing for them. 12 in
Tower Hamlets, 3 in Newham and one in Birmingham is certainly something to
make supporters smile in and of itself. But this hides some very reputable
also rans. Particularly impressive was Jerry Hicks in Bristol giving Labour a
close run for their money with 25% in a solidly white working class estate,
helping to undercut the idea that Respect’s vote can be simply defined as
“Asian”.
There was the occasional disappointing patch. In the election for Hackney
Mayor Respect achieved 6.6% compared to the Socialist Alliance who 12.7% in
2002, but these are naturally occurring blips rather than indicators of
anything particularly awry.
The signs of left co-operation at this election are less than inspiring,
although they do exist. There were no clashes between Respect and the other
main left groups (although Respect did stand against some of the Labour left)
with a few minor clashes where the Morning Star’s CPB stood against far more
credible Respect candidates, but this made no impact on results.
There are signs that Respect is
still having difficulties breaking out of its strong holds, so only one of the
new councillors was elected outside of London for instance, but seeing as
these strongholds are impressive and Respect is clearly advancing on a very
patchy general election result last year, things are certainly improving for
them, as long as they can make good use of their new, but mainly untried and
untested councillors.
Respect and the Greens clearly had no national negotiations, so it was down to
local groups as to whether any deals could be struck, to the disadvantage of
both organisations. Respect missed out on a win in Preston and the Greens
missed two or three London wins due to the inability of either group to
recognise where the other has more credibility. However, in Haringey there was
clear evidence of mutually beneficial cooperation. My own election day
research (which can be found at
Cambridge
Indymedia) indicates that in multi-vote wards if the two parties cooperate
they boost each others vote, so if for no other reason than self interest
Respect and the Greens must come out of their bunkers and actually talk to
each other.
See also
Two election myths about Respect
Strong showing for Respect Liam Macuiad (blog)
SWP failure in Respect success Peter Manson
In conclusion
For the minor parties the first past the post system is a real barrier to
gaining representation and it will be interesting to see next year when PR
local elections take place in Scotland what effect this has on the left of
Labour vote, but what’s also clear is that it is possible to make gains under
FPTP and in places like Tower Hamlets where Respect have established
themselves as the opposition FPTP actually made little difference to the
number of representatives they had elected. Certainly there are whole towns
and areas where there was a good Green vote yet not a single councillor was
elected.
Whilst all progressives should be pleased with these results it is also clear
that the fragmented left is not gaining ground nearly as quickly as Labour is
losing it.
see election 2006 subsection for more
details
May 2006
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