From one election to the next...
Saneral Bection 1882 aster latanist Party 34.5% anacrate Unlonist Party 13.1% SELP 23.5% Simm Fel 10% Allance 8.7% Others 10.2% [Source: Irish Times] Forum elections 1898 Seats 24.2% 18.8% 21.4% 15.5% 8.5% 13.8% the near future. More likely, Sinn Fein will turn up at the talks on june 10 and demand admittance on the basis of their mandate. They have accepted, in advance, that British withdrawal and Irish self-determination will not be on the agenda.
With general elections in the offing on both sides of the Irish Sea in the next year or so, the talks look likely to drag on without any serious outcome he main hope of the British, David Trimble, has taken a hammering from the DUP. He is under no pressure from the Labour Party about less sympathetic treatment under a Blair Government. He knows that the Tories in opposition Pete Firmin IN THE rush to keep the parliamentary party free of anyone who might be remotely critical of a Blair government, the Labour Party has got itself in a twist over several candidate selections The number of cases where there has been abuse of election procedures has risen, leaving the NEC to sort out the mess it has created. In the process any regard for the constitution has been ignored, as when they declared that Tory defector Alan Howarth is eligible for selection despite not having been a member for two years as renuired ov mile The left has to defend the right of constituency parties to select the candidate of their choice with no ballot-rigging and no interference from the national party Within that the left should obviously fight for the candidates they want.
Sections of the left have abandoned this position over the selection by Exeter CLP of John Lloyd, a man who has been 'economical with the truth' about his past when he gave evidence for the prosecution leading to the hanging of a member of the African Resistance Movement in South Africa. The NEC instructed Exeter CLP to select another candidate, then deselected him The left needs to he clear . Exeter CLP should have the right to select the candidate of its choice, even if Lloyd should be rejected as an unacceptable choice.
Socialist Outlook 103 • June 8, 1996.