New alliance fights its first by-election in Labour's "rotten borough"
LSA - here to stay!
The London Socialist Alliance (LSA) achieved a remarkable result in its first ever parliamentary by-election in Bernie Grant's old seat of Tottenham on June 22 and saved its deposit.. LSA candidate Weyman Bennett, came fourth - polling ten per cent of the collapsing New Labour vote and a third of the discredited Tories' result, reports Veronica Fagan.
The LSA vote was 5.4% with 885 votes, ahead of the Greens, UKIP, Independent Conservative and Reform 2000 Anti-VAT.
To beat the Greens - and decisively - is especially significant, as it was clear in both the European and Greater London Assembly elections that many looking for a left alternative to new Labour's Tory policies voted Green.
While David Lammy held the seat for new Labour, he can have little to smile about in terms of the 15 per cent swing against his Party. He may claim in his acceptance speech that " the heartlands of Tottenham are safe in the hands of new Labour", but this was not the verdict of many traditional Labour voters.
"With fewer than nine thousand votes in a Labour stronghold, out of a 64,000 strong electorate, if this is repeated across the country, New Labour is in deep trouble"
The swing against new Labour did not benefit the Tories, who were unable to recover from their 1997 low showing in the constituency. As in the Romsey by-election, the rightward lurch of the Tories under William Hague did not play well in front of the electorate.
The Liberal Democrats made a last minute surge to double their previous showing in Tottenham with a last minute leaflet that this was a two horse race between them and Lammy. Their supporters applauded Weyman Bennett's speech when he spoke out against privatisation and in support of asylum seekers, though other aspects of their campaign were much more reactionary.
For the LSA this result compares very favourably with those of other similar formations across Europe, including the Scottish Socialist Party at such an early stage in its existence. The LSA really came together in a serious fashion last autumn to prepare for the Greater London Assembly elections, where it polled well, saving two constituency deposits and averaged 3.1 per cent across the London constituencies.
But the Tottenham by-election was a greater challenge. True, Weyman Bennett stood in the Haringey and Enfield constituency then, so he had some recognition already in the by-election, even amongst those who didn't already know him as a long time campaigner against racism and for workers' rights.
But in the GLA elections, following the stitch up of Livingstone by the new Labour hierarchy, there was an effective strike of Labour party members. Nor did any of the other parties have an effective campaign.
The media concentrated on the Mayoral election - the Assembly received virtually no mention other than in London's Evening Standard. So the LSA were in many places the only people out campaigning: many people in Tottenham and across London told us ours were the only leaflets they had seen.
In the Tottenham bye-election the situation was very different. While there were undoubtedly Labour Party members who were less than enthusiastic about the fact that Blairite David Lammy was selected against Sharon Grant, he won a formally democratic contest.
While some Labour Party members stayed at home, or did the bare minimum, in protest either against Lammy, new Labour's policies or both, the party machine was certainly in operation in this election.
In the last few days of the campaign, when it became clear from canvass returns that New Labour would have difficulty in getting the vote out, the effort was stepped up. Photo-opportunities were arranged with Cherie Booth and Mo Mowlam, and workers from Millbank stepped up their involvement.
The new Labour campaign was politically vacuous from start to finish, dominated by glossy photos of the candidate, and a "campaign" slogan of "From Tottenham to Tottenham"!!
Several leaflets produced at great cost contained not one single policy position. Learning from the pasting that a number of New Labour candidates got from their LSA opposite numbers in the run up to the GLA elections, Lammy refused to engage in political debate.
It is true that Lammy did try to portray himself as following in Bernie Grant's footsteps but given the level of the former MP's majority and popularity, this was more a question of opportunism than anything else. In an important breakthrough for the LSA, Bernie Grant's sister Rosamund issued a statement saying
"I wish to make it clear that none of the Grant family will be voting for David Lammy, the New Labour candidate in the Tottenham by-election, and that some of the family will be voting for the London Socialist Alliance's candidate, Weyman Bennett."
The subsequent leaflet produced by the LSA - which was distributed to about half the homes in the constituency within 48 hours undoubtedly had an positive impact on the numbers of people who voted for Weyman.
But Rosamund Grant is not exceptional in being fed up with new Labour's performance both in Tottenham and in government. Many other long term Labour supporters are increasingly looking for an alternative. A layer left the Labour Party to support the LSA in the GLA elections - and a far greater number remained party members but voted for us. The Tottenham campaign saw a repeat of this experience, proving that it was not just dependent on the Livingstone slip stream.
The LSA worked hard throughout the short three week campaign focusing on campaigning against privatisation particularly in education and libraries and in defence of asylum seekers. Many lessons have been learnt from this first by-election which will stand us in good stead for future contests.
The greatest challenge will be to fully involve LSA supporters beyond the ranks of the existing far left. That is why it will be crucial in the weeks and months ahead to carry through the decisions of the recent LSA conference to relaunch the LSA as a membership organisation and build fully functioning local groups.
Commenting on the result a smiling Weyman Bennett said: "I am thrilled we've achieved this excellent result so early in the LSA's existence. Voters are clearly hostile to New Labour and their Tory policies.
"We don't want the privatisation of our hospitals and schools which Lammy wants to foist on Tottenham, as he made clear in his pro-privatisation speech last night. He's only a poor boy made good because, like me, he had a decent education and welfare system to depend on which New Labour seems intent on dismantling."
"The LSA also raised the subject of asylum seekers, which Lammy has evaded throughout the campaign. The low turnout of 25.5 per cent, the third lowest since the war, is a threat to democracy. The 16,466 votes cast is pitifully smaller than Bernie Grant's entire majority in 1997.
"And with fewer than nine thousand votes in a Labour stronghold, out of a 64,000 strong electorate, if this is repeated across the country, New Labour is in deep trouble. The LSA has only just begun. We're not going away. We've raised the flag of socialism in Tottenham and I hope that Bernie Grant would have been proud to see it."
New Labour's hatred of political debate was demonstrated yet again in an outrageous manner after the declaration of the result, when Haringey councillor and ex-Mayor Sheila Peacock threatened an LSA supporter to come outside so she could " give him a good slapping". The supporter in question had merely responded to David Lammy's acceptance speech by pointing out that in fact new Labour's vote had collapsed.
This disgraceful behaviour follows racist comments made by another new Labour councillor earlier in the campaign and demonstrates their political bankruptcy.
Acting returning officer David Warwick threatened the LSA election agent that he will bill her for LSA fly-posting. The LSA is already taking legal advice on a private prosecution of Haringey senior officers who abused council funds for partisan purposes - and we have witnesses.
Council workers in cash-strapped Haringey were instructed to tear down LSA posters as soon as they went up. Weyman Bennett pointed out, "The Labour council pleads poverty when it comes to cleaning the streets of Haringey and yet they can get to every lamp-post in the borough within hours of our placards going up. I noticed they left all the commercial fly-posting and the New Labour placards. This is one rotten boroughs story which will run and run."