Editorial: The election results

EDITORIAL THE ELECTION RESULTS New Labour has won its 'historic' third term. A victory, however, which came at a heavy price. Its majority slashed by 100 seats - from 160 to 66 - it received the smallest share of the vote, for a governing party, since WW 2 - just 36%. Blair himself was damaged beyond repair in the process. The war was the issue that refused to go away. The row over legality dragged on and the situation in Iraq got worse by the day. The more Brown was brought in as human shield for Blair the clearer it became that the leadership transition was under way. But Labour's reduced ma- Jority will only lead to changes in words and style, not in the content of its anti-working class offensive. It became clear during the campaign that there are few differences between the politics of Blair and Brown. Much of the electorate rejected both the Tories and New Labour. Mil- lions of Labour voters either stayed at home or voted for anti-war par- ties - predominantly the Liberal Democrats who masqueraded as an anti-war party. They won 11 extra seats but failed to capitalise on a unique opportunity for a major breakthrough. The Tories ran a racist campaign and won 33 extra seats, but failed to increase their share of the vote from the 2001 election. They also failed to resolve their crisis created by New Labour's occupation of their tra- ditional territory. Democratic Deficit Britain's grotesquely undemocratic electoral system was displayed in all its glory. It took an average of 26,000 votes to elect a Labour MP, 46,000 to elect a Tory MP, and a massive 100,000 votes to elect a Lib- eral Democrat. The issue of proportional representation is brought to the forefront yet again. The smaller parties were placed at an even greater disadvantage than usual. This was compound by the undemocratic approach of the media that blanked them out whilst giving wall-to-wall coverage to the main party leaders in a presidential-style campaign. These violations of basic democracy make the breakthrough results won by Respect even more remarkable. Respect's Victories Respect was able to break the mould of the election campaign and build dynamic campaigns in key inner city constituencies, which won a mass resonance on the streets, in a way which no other left party has been able to achieve. The most sensational of these was George Galloway's victory in Bethnal Green and Bow in the East London, the first MP to be elected on behalf of a party standing to the left of Labour, since the Communist Party's finest hour in 1945. It won its two seats in the wake of the Soviet Un- ion s massive war effort. One of them, Phil Piratin, was elected to the same constituency that Galloway has won today - at that time a militant base of the Jewish migrant working class. Respect contested 26 seats, won 68,071 votes, averaged 6.9%, and won one seat. The Communist Party in 1945 contested 21 seats, won 102,780 votes, averaged 12.7%, and won two seats. Galloway overturned a 10,000 majority held by the Blairite pro-war MP Oona King. In a campaign that went to the heart of the large Bengali community in the constituency and beyond, young Bengalis, in particu- lar, flocked to it in droves. But it also attracted others radicalised by the war, as even The Guardian (7.5.05) noted. Three other results in East London were also of breakthrough proportions. In West Ham Lindsey German won 20.7% coming second to Labour. In East Ham Abdul Khaliq Mian won 19.5%, also coming second. Oliur Rahman won 17.2% in Poplar and Canning Town, coming third. Salma Yaqoob's result in Sparkbrook and Small Heath was no less spectacular. She won a huge 27.5% of the vote coming second to Labour, only 3000 votes short of winning. Five other Respect candidates broke the 5%% bar- rer to save their deposits, not easy for left of Labour candidates. The anti-war sentiment in the electorate, however, did not spell auto- matic gains for the left. Respect also received some poor results and in Scotland the SSP lost ground against its 2001 performance. The pleth- ora of candidacies to the left of Respect made no impact. The Socialist Party, the most serious of them, got fewer votes than in 2001, including for their best-known candidates Dave Nellist and lan Page. The Greens also had a disappointing election. They improved on their 2001 result but not in line with the opportunities open to them. In their target seat of Brighton Pavilion they managed only third place. They suffered from the scandalous lack of profile the environment received in this election as well as the media's attitude to small parties. The Far Right Of the small right-wing parties the only one to make an advance was the BNP. They capitalised dangerously on the race card played by the Tories and on years of state racism against asylum seekers and migrants by New Labour and the Tories. Their best vote was 17% in Barking in East London where they came third. But they also got votes between 9% and 13% in at least five other seats, including 9% in Dagenham. They came fourth in eighty-three seats. These developments have to be confronted by the left. The vote for UKIP collapsed, however, and Veritas failed to get off the ground, in part due Howard's right wing, demagogic campaign and because the EU was kept off the agenda by the main parties. Where next for Respect? The Respect results, in particular the election of George Galloway, rep- resent an important challenge and a major opportunity for rebuilding the left. Respect is here to stay and the conditions for building it are good. In his acceptance speech George Galloway promised to lead mili- tant local protests such as the defence of the local fire service. He also said that the campaign for the local elections starts immediately. This is the right approach. Respect has to broaden its support from its current strongholds to wider sections of the working class. It has to become the natural home for those who want to resist the forthcoming attacks by New Labour - which will come despite the smaller majority. Respect has to become a campaigning organisation between elections, at both the national and local level. It has to strengthen its democratic structures and build local branches that have an attractive political life in their own right. It should use its new authority to build stronger links with the trade union left. in particular those union leaders who continue to challenge the employers. The election of left-winger Matt Wrack to the leadership of the FBU' is a good sign of the preparedness of some sections of the organised working class to fight the neo-liberal offensive. Respect also needs to make new approaches to those sections of the left who are not yet part of Respect. If such an open approach is adopted Respect has the opportunity to become a major force on the left. 1