determined to reman organised and strengthen its campaigning as the forthcoming merger approaches.
fears were unfounded. JOHN LISTER WRITES: I was one of those with greatest reservations about the possiblities I running a successful Socialist Alliance can sign in Oxford East. In the event i became th candidate - and was delighted to find that my During a vigorous campaign we managed to expand the list of Alliance supporters and con tacts five-fold from the initial 60 or so, drawing around a wide layer of activists from key trade unions, local campaigns, and a number of long standing Labour Party members.
which grew from an initial skeleton crew to mobilise dozens on the streets in the final weekends and evenings before the election, raised (and spentl) well over (4,000, distributed 20,000 coples each of two blold campaign newspapers other leaflets and or to door eve of poll leaflee in addition to the free mailshot to every household.
Our street stalls, loudhailers and campaign "battle wagon", a flatbed truck festooned with posters and balloons, got to parts of Oxford East that were otherwise untouched by campaigners from Labour or other parties, none of which rganised meetings or much activity at a We hit hard issues: we took on - and got the better of - Cabinet minister Andrew Smith in a debate in the local paper over PFl in the NHS. challenged Labour's vicious asylum laws, and called publicly for decriminalisation of cannabis. We joined campaigners fighing the privatisation of the County's residential homes for the ciderty, backed striking postal workers and col. lege lecturers, student protestors, and the local Globalise Resistance event. We mounted a spoof "capitalist" lobby of one local hospical, but were stopped by security guards from doing the same outside the John Rodelle. We made officia visits to meet ow paid hospital scaff and local fire fighters. 706 votes for me as a candidate came despite 274 votes for the almost invisible Scargillite candidate, who waged no campaign, and 1,500 for the left wing Green Party candidate. These fig unes underline the prospects for a strengthened fighting left in Oxford as the Allance goes forward to build on the base we have establshed.
I can only feel sorry for any socialists left in the local Labour Party, who will have had to sit on their hands during the whole election period, with nothing more political to do than dole out leaflets promoting Tony Blair and Treasury Secretary Andrew Smith.
By contrast Allance supporters have had some laughs, some cheers, a few beers, and no tears.
We have done far more than huddie together the existing left, and are much stronger now than we could have been if we hadn't stood.
It's a nice way to be proved wrong.