DOREEN MASSEY, professor of who voted Tory to the promise of tax cuts. KATHY LOWE. better paid teorkers? Midlands of the population will fecl differently in different parts of have picked up was the trades unionists — male, skilled house tenant, for instance, comes in. The same stratum quite a complicated picture. You've got class and social local political culture. What worries me is that, because Id there was still strong support for the Tories in the election in What happened this time is not simply a class divide. hattle ground between north and south In 1979 one of It seems that it's to do with the general prosperity of an south, the femptation to buy your house, and what you There were the geographical polarisations. But also the Weat Midlands have declined fatter than in many other regions. Birmingham and the West Midlands. How do you account for government has implemented have had quite different whether they thought they were doing, or going to do, Over the past eight yeors employmene and manufacturing in the and semi-skilled — in the West Midlands. That was a area and whether people fecl, almosr, that their area is best predictor of how people voted seems to have been the crucial sections of the vote that Thatcher seems to things like the winter of discontent (the fact that these would make out of buying it, is a completely dillerent they feel abour employment cither. Ir involves factors Labour did pick up votes amongsr both working class stretches of the south are losing the whole notion of a immediate self-interest and that's where vour council the country precisely because of the overall economic and middle class home-owners over 1983, so some of going to tempt people over to her politics in different arcat economically (nor just in termis of employment). Tr's almost as though the Midlands fave become the rhar effect appears to have been muted. All in all it's structure criss-crossed by what's going on in a given real triumph for her. Ar the time it was put down to going up or down coonomically. That'k not just how Then this is criss-crossed by the differences between ball game from if you are a tenant somewhere in the So you could ray that some actions of the emploned teorking like housing. Tf you're a council house tenant in the cffects in different parts of the country and they are trades unionists were consumers of those disrupted reasonably well out of Thatcher. It's a kind of very Yes. particularly if they are homc-owners, though political culture constructed around socialist ideas. of the way local areas are organised, quire large north. So a lot of the politics that the Thatcher class haze done tell under Thatcher? Why do you think thas is? feeling in their arcas. 20
without producing gains for the middle class. The two Labour defend the bases it sill holds, particularly the But it will break up politically the bascs Labour has, big items on the agenda, it seems to me, are how the hell do we win anything in the south and how does those who have Inst a feel for the old socialist traditions. be done. But until Labour has a project for organising Thatcherism even listening to us. Those people, and produce the polarisations in society, we will never get the economy in a different way, a way that does not workers who are doung relatively well under
manufacturing towns with, in many cases, local Labour and the more rural parts of thie sunbelt srip — and the sher new dectronic end computer industries are centred. Many of the terken in these now firms are not aell paid yet there to Irom sop to Tory there was olen evident. Wo just Have There has been a lot of dirtion about the sunbelt strip — the Irit related to the lose feel of inionisation in these industries? towns. What I End most difficult is that we didn't win destem corridor stretching from east anglia to the seest country unemployment in many towns of the area I think we have to make a distinction between the smaller towns a high ride for the Dories in these arear Isn'T lin a paradox? to sit down and think why. It relates to what we were places it didn't go up cough to win. Also, a swing councils. Although Labour's vote went up in those saying before ahour the need for new economic towns such as Slough, Basildion or Harlow There is low unionisation and also high strategies lor the future. increase in Labour's vote was higher than its increase in deeper than simply saying that the London Labour vote the south west, south cast and cast anglia. On the other GEC, it should have done better. To explam this, 1 think we have to stand out very strongly against a goncralised helose the national accrage ictease. Do you think this is related areas, and because of factors like the inheritance of the notion ofa 'London effect". We also have to look a lor do the changing dess structure of London or was it more to do left. In Battersca, Purney, Fulham, Bow and Poplar need a much more positive vision for the future than hand, because large chunks of London are inner city Labour has ever presented — something a lor more: suffered because of the campaign against the loony In London, the 1. per per cent increase in Labour mate ines I think it's both. London didn't do as barly for Labour as the rest of the south. The percentage with the campaign again the so-called loony left? challenging to capitalism.
questions about the Tories moral authority in Scotland. will lead a bartle char Labour people in the north and in Tabour is now in the north. It isn'tin Scotland I hope thar the Scottish MPs, as well as raising quite legitimate Tabour's percenage in the south cast, car anglin and different way. In therefore prosents a different kind of Nonetheless in terms of representatives in parliament political problem from, say, the absence of Labour in What is the nguificance of the dramatec long-form decine in Before we get tob excited, the percentage that the history and its own insritunions welded together in a In 1955 the Tories awn 50 per crit of the cute in Sentiand Tories hold in Scotland, 24 per eer, is higher than The lughest percenragn of the vote regionally for different nation, with its own politinal and cultural Do sos tank at till roer be hocsible for Labour to an the the south cast for any future Labour governtent. the south west. So to talk about a wipe out of the particularly as therc are four parties in Scotland tley do Juuk extremely weak. Also Scotland is a Conservatives in Scoiland is a bit over the top, Wales can also be part of. support for the Totier they> These changes relace to Thatcher's economic strategy, a strategy that says forget manufacturing industry, let it locus on the Ciry and on producer services for indusiry. Another important ciement in the election in London Party were really rarlical they would have defended the dear, however, that the Labour leadership doesn'r like and in Newham South it didn't. As far as one can rcll. while a large swathe of the population now enjoys a lot broadly defined, This has had an enormous impact on marginalised and the uld labour movement decimared Tharcherland I rhink thar if the leaders of the Labour run an clection campaign on a London-wide basis for was the GLO. The Gic did give a kind of coherence to the re-institution of metropolitan government — not go as the international division of labour will take it, the social structure of London, leaving many peopic GLC a lot hetter than they did. And they would have policies and politics that have proved popular, Tris - hut for a set of in these constituencies it was changes in the social London and to Labrur polities in the middle of those policies and it backed off from that. structure which were the main cause. necessarily for Ken Livingstone of money.
21 Wait right to Digging deeper: issues in the miners strike many ways it mcans being more radical, Certainly as lar Yes Ido, but T don't think at means moving right. In interested in another National Investmenr Bank that is dis cconunic policy is concerned. Economic policy this socialist project couldn't win the support of a majority time didn't hold together. For example people aren't fill. We have to show that there are ways in which an going to fill in the gaps that the private sector cannot polarisations of Tharcherism. If Labour sticks to the mouth or coer to cemble a majordy go the changing class strategies of this time I don't think there is a way of economy can be reviralised which don't involve the Richard Megan (Methuen), and a contributor with Hilary winning. But that's not to say that in principle the struzture you 'be talled adout and the decreaning number of Labour (MacMillan), The anarony of job loss auth • Doreen Massey is the author of Spatial divisions of af the population. Of course it could manual sorters 2 Whet cort of future du you see for Landon with ate areas of greas I found it quite astonishing that Thatcher started her The quesrion is, will her strategy in London be at all unemployed of any andestrialised caly of Western Europe on the other? Will Mere he generalised prosperity for London or do you north? It won't produce the lie of Dogs effert berause treaith and the City on the ene hand and the largent nambert ef think it is destred to become more like New York with hearily translatable to other cities? A few urban development education. What is that going to do to the cities of the prublem as a problem of property development. Her corporations, an attack on public sector housing and private capital is just not as interested in these cities. clection campaign in the Isle of Dogs in the London kind of strategy is going to lead co a highly divided Docklands Development Corporation. She cicarly: guarded orlanes of spectacular iealth and huge areas of believes that is a success. She sees the inner city population: we can ser it happening already. SOCIALIST OUTIOOK no 2 July/Augu 1997 depriation?
SOCIALIST OUTLOOK no 2 July/Auguer:1967 THE LAKOUR right will no doubt try su. left. Of course grater unity on the Labour left is desirable in itelf hac achieved on the basis of class strucele tucking in behind a new accommondo- exploit the fact that the Labour soli don. and that three London seats were lost. This result cumme afteria ceaseless Labour left, as well us pushing forward his project for breaking down the di. F the question 15 whether it can be politics, without the hard left tamely is likely, bur this will take time. The however, be slow in coming. The Kar- nock leadership will use every bit of its left-wing Labour Mrs. A small group and Mildred Gordon, can truly be said much bigger group is soft lot of can The clectin ul Kes situation inside the parliamentary Ta- present himselfas the new leader ol he only went up by one per cent in Len early 1980g. Selection of parliament- ary candidates by a postal ballot ofail Labour Party members, rather Lein by local (s, sets likely to be die first tion in the non-nuclear delence policy situation is however a new intlax at like Par Wall, Alan Mele to be of the hard left. while anocen extent David Blunkeit, creates a ne sions between the soft! and the hard move. In the longer term, sume airers and to a much lesse witch hunt against the left will nui authority to attack the Jefr parados of the tion to Kinnock points of the votes. Roy Hattersley has ship — will lead to new attempts to shift the policy of the party further to A first stage of this will be a cam- paign lo reverse the constitutional gains made inside the party in the The balance sheet that the right don, and by a non-nuclear delence policy which cost several percentage within days of the clection already able thercfore that the outcome of the - a Tory victory plus streng- thened authority for Kinnock' sleader- the right and to further marginalise, went up; more seats were won. It is ent the catcome as the "first step" in the defeat of the Tories, which will be rounded off with a resounding victory at the next clection. "This 15 going to lead to a very diflicult situation for Lie wing will draw is that the campaign was on the right lines, but that Labour was still too much hampered by the Moony left" image, especially in Lon- drawn this conclusion. It seems inevit- real anti-capitalist mcasures, there is thened the authority of Kinnock as Teader of the Labour Party, 1o such an extent that he is less vulncrable as at Icast for the time being. No marter whar criticismus the left makes of the campaign, the conclusion that many in the Labour movement will draw is thal, within limits, it worked and was After all the Labour vote easy for the Labour Icadership to pres- be no such arrempt, because Labour had promised to spend all money saved on nuclear wcapons on conven- But despite the banishment of radi: calism, on any reference to socialism pr no doubt that this campaign streng Labour Party than Icar. Delence is a good example Kin- nock adopted the scrategy of saying as lirtle as possible about it, while the Bour would leave Bricam defenco- on wasting E15 billion on the Trident missile system? Where was the at- popilar outrage against spending bilfions each year on defending tie sheep in the Malvinast Where was the artempt to show that icsources wasted on useless military could be used on socially useful projects? Of coursc, there could Thatcher is as leader of the Tories — The moderate and right-wing cha- racter of the campaign disarmed La- bour in the face of Tory attacks, and was a material factor in Labour's de- Tories bammered the Chemic that La- less'. But where was the Labour attack MPs were not defeated •despite the attacks on and even drive out, the "bard left" them, Labour's left 0 left in the Labour Party tempt to mobilise tional defence! hardware tempt to continued from page 19: danger now could be that sections of Cryer, Wall, ar his second attempt, also two of the new black MPs, Diane Abbot and Bernie Grant, are likely to both join and ar least shake up the undoubted shift to the right of 10-20 of several of the new London MPs. The Tribaw group will, of course, act as loyal defenders of Kinnock and the While there is no doubt that the came up in the doorstep throughout the country, the biggest Leicester East, and Joan Ruddock. class struggle wing of the thic winelakes of Strasbourg, and Par representing Bradford, and at lease But it is the soft left to centre 1 noun group that will benefit most from the new intake of Scorrish LCU-influenced Stalinists led by George Galloway, rbe previous Campaign group, and ware will Meacher and Tam Dalyell arc on the same list as those they would like to see thrown out of the Labour Party. Others on the list include leading ICC supporters like Ken Livingstone. who sees his role as reuniting the successful include dedicated Kinnock- undoubtedly be strengthened by a lew Michael like Dave Livingstone and sections of the "left" So what is the reality? Will we see a new left wing in parliament dedicated A quick glance at the shows that half the people on it want have supported the witch hunt THE NEW parliamentary Labour party is the most left wing ever. Is can overthrow Kinnock and replace him with a left wing leader. I Know, I read it in the Daily Mail. The trouble is Ken to the overturn of society as we know people on the list of 101 damnations? Who's new new-style, image-conscious party. imposition of a candidate Induse and Campaign groups. the left themseives believe in it. who MPs. from to see the other half expelled. Bob house? Keith Vaz, new now representing Deptlord in the like parliament, group of 101 unscathed seem to believe it too. Nellis and Pat Wall. in the North addinions: it? Unlikely. mind "loany left" Campaign Others returning Knowsley ites like The group. never new the and 22
hance challenge. Where Labour lost factors: In Waltham Forest the disas- trously high rate rise imposed by a Labour council certainly lost the scat. In Battersea and Fulham, the lost seate could well be due to social changes in these constituencies — a result of gon- Despite the attacks on them, left- wing MPs in London were not de- feated. In arcas where there are left Labour councils, the Labour vote held up — with the exceptions of Waltham Jocal trification and an influx of 'yuppies" particular there were scats. FINCHLEY MAGGIE CONSERVATVE KI Thatc argare
Forest and Ealing, Hilary Benn being hammered in Ealing North because of another giant rates increase, In Cam- den, there were swings to Labour in both the local constituences, as there
with the Labour leadership, which not The point remains, however, that London, although having areas of great prosperity, also has the highest number of unemployed people of any Labour should have done better and the fact that it didn't must be partly due to Labour's failure to counteract the savage media cam- The main responsibility for this lies only failed to defend left wing councils against a barrage of press lies and distortions, but on numerous occa- sinns joined in with their own reaction- The carefully Icaked "Hewitt letter? was just the most obvious proof that paign against the "loony left" city in Europe. don is complex and contradictory. In some Labour consrituencies the majo. ritics increased - for example in Is- nearly doubled. In Islingron South Tabour held on against a strong Al- But the pattern of thie vote in Lon eflex North, Jeremy mediu campaign of several ycars! duration againer the loony' London left-wing Labour councils, and their I'lus campaign reached a crescendo in the wocks leading up to the election, and without doubt influenced the vote. anti-racist and anti-sexist Thatcher Margaret CONSERVATE
23 offset by the arrival of Stanley, A new: faced something of a crisis they have the bizarre figure of John Stanley, the new second-in-command in the north Thatcher govern mont. Stanley is a former hinister for *tringent military action against the But the really extraordinary same religious ilk as lan Paisley. The final insult to northern Irish catholics is that Stanicy replaces Nicholas Scott who is a catholic and has been the chief target of Tan Paisley's ire for the last ycar. Many unionists will be thinking that the loss of the rather unreliable Enoch Powell is more than attempt to set up a devolved parlia- ment in the north of Ireland is now ship amongst their normally rabid But just as the unionist leaderships been thrown an amazing life line in the armind forces and as such tavours. lical protestant and as much is of the facet of Stanley is that te is an evange according to the Trish Time, of Ircland in the likely to follow. Unionist vote drops the second reason for a growing lack of into somcthing of an impasse provided Fein lightly increasing its support in flects a double dissatisfaction amongi unionist voters. The first was consi over the insistence of their leader that the party continue its allance with ists. DUP members and voters have trust the more upper class Official Unionists both because of their suppo- Now the person who has been teaching that lesson — the more populist lan Paisley — has been the strongest advo- cate within the DUP of a united front with the Official Unionists over oppo- But that this opposition has itself run confidence in the unionist twin leader- ture on the nationalist side is of Sinn The drop in the unionist vote re- derable anger within the ranks of Tan Paisley's Democratic Unionist Party their old rivals in the Official Union- been taught for twonty ycars to dis- hedly shaky unionism and their conser- sition to the Anglo Irish Agreement: Belfast working class arcas but dropp vative cconomic and social policies ing votes cisewhere. THE ONLY REAL Toners in the north of over the choice of candidate in another considerably and suffered the Powell's scar in South Down to tho constitutional nationalier Eddie Mc- actualy increased from that of 1983 and there was also a swing from the rural constituency. The general pic- Ireland seats were the leadership of the Unionists. They saw their total vote The SDLP now have three seats at Westminster whereas at the 1983 clec- Lion they had only one. They failed, however, in the main aim of their clection campaign — to unscat Gerry Adams of Smn Fein in the West Belfast constituency. Adams percentage vote siP to Sinn Fein in the North Belfast constituency. Overall, thc Sinn Fein vote fell 2.4 per cent, a decline which can be attributed to nationalist voters in South Down plumping for the SDLP candidate in an attempt to get Powell out, and divisions within Sinn Fein Official Unionists and the Democratic Insing Enoch Grady of the Social Democratic and SOCIALIST OUTLOOK no 2 July/Augue 1987 embarrassment of Labour Party.
Tory vote & budging and, who knows. if the campaign bad been a little Jess ing forward the policies on women, it Labour have a great deal of catching up to do where women voters are concerned. It was the Tories who gave women the vote and the Tories who had the first woman MP and now have provided the first woman prime min- ister. The Tories have therefore u- ways had the lion's (sic) share of the argument goes, and still they did not win If we examine women's voling patterns however, we find that the slick and a little more definite in putt- women's vore and seill do today. might have budged even more: Labour scorns the women's vote up to do where? achieved from the top, hardly, when it comer down to it, a real airerative to olsuch an alternativo. Even the Trade: Unionists for Labour booklet given ality legislation for contract comp- liance: (whereby employers with gov- crment contracts are forced to. com- ply with certain targets for equality). for paternity leave, oqual educational opportunity and so on, But the main was to emphasise the demand for 50 In other words equality is to be The Labour Party's programme an the other land, did have the makings plank of their platform for equality per cene women on all public bodies Thatcherite policies: (wo Alliance and one Scottish National seriously and have actually got into the manifesto? Labour's Diana Jouda was simple as that expediency requires that wornen be taken seriously, bur there is HAVE the highcer-ever number of women Mis - a total of 41 compared to 29 elected in 1983 (which later rose to 28 in by-elections). Out of these 21 are Conservative, 17 Labour, Party, But how much does this really mean for women? The sop's radical rabbi, Julia Neuberger claimed that this was the first election in which just as excited, it's extraordinary. Something has changed; it may be as women's issues are. WE NOW
Conservative's lead among women of Yet since the late 1950s the Tories The shift is not as dramatic as in the Uniter States but it Women are now no longer more likely to vote Tory and just as ing to the Times of 13/6/87, in this election Labour nearly halved the 20 per cent to 11 por cent, a 4.5 per cent swing This was particularly true among young women where the Tory lead was reversed to an 11 point La- Labour did better among older and younger women than it did among shane of the women's vote has been likcly to vote Labour as men. Accord- steadily declining; Noticcably dropped from this list was any demand for abortion right, a lynchpin of women's struggles in the labour movement lor over a decade cut to labour canvassers as a guide included all the muin planks of this and yet mosr Labour Party activists pro- There was the demand for a nationa! minimum wage, for equal pay and conditions and job security for part time workers, contract compliance, for nursery places for all three and four year-olds, for well women clinics, for parental leave and for a ministry for women's rights even with a suggested bably did got realise what was in t figure of 10 million for its hudger the clection because, as vice-chairman, The record of the Torics in govern- ment shows what a lie this is. This government abolished the universal no question that it's happened. Yes, we've got women on the agenda at But though getting more women into parliament undoubtedly reflects something, women can be forgiven for not popping the champagne corks just yet. The ruling party is set on raking things in the opposite dirction. Un like the other parties, the Tories did nut target women as a group at all in treating women as equals! Emma Nicholson
the main issues which thc majority of ing to ome poll taken in April this year Given thesc figures it seems altost criminal that women were not more further poll takeo in April shows that the Torice still have 53% of their support from women, the Alliance Su, in relation to women the lesson we must clearly draw is not that the Tory vote will not budge nor that we older and younger men. Much of this weaknesses on the Tory side. Accord- women saw as important were educa targetted in the labour campaign. A tion and the national health service. 545 and Labour only 50% Nevertheless this programme, if im- plemented, woul have very lar reach: ing effects. Perhaps this is why the