The local election results contain an important warning for Labour
JVL Introduction
In his rapid-fire roundup posted even before the final results were in, Mike Phipps draws together what is of interest to the left: Labour is on course to win the next election but where Lib Dems and Green are organised it has haemorrhaged votes.
The Gaza effect is marked and cost Labour dearly in some constituencies, particularly those with significant Muslim communities. It looked likely to lose the West Midlands mayoralty because of it, prompting an “absolutely disgraceful” comment from “a Labour source”.
There was disappointment for socialists, particularly over Jimmy Driscoll’s relatively heavy defeat in the North East mayoral election, showing that “even where an independent socialist is a brilliant candidate with an excellent track record, it is still hugely difficult to defeat Labour at the polls”.
And Sadiq Khan won easily it in London, a result too late for this particular post to comment on.
RK
This article was originally published by Labour Hub on Sat 4 May 2024. Read the original here.
The local election results contain an important warning for Labour
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Absolute dire turn out.. incredibly low numbers & Labour didn’t so much gain votes and just lose fewer than Tories. Hardly a ” win “.. but depressing results anyway.. Starmer acting like he’s the ” Saviour” of Labour and been proven right in his heinous agenda to destroy the LEFT & over turn everything Labour ever stood for..💔
I think it is very important that all the mainstream media are told that anti-genocidal sentiment is not just a “muslim” thing. The Labour victory would have been much greater if some of us hadn’t voted for other parties or not voted at all – and if those “independent” candidates had come out as Labour in all but name.. Starmer knows this of course and what real Labour support is. He can continue to give scant regard to those opposed to the Christian-Zionist-sponsored, ethnic cleansing and genocide in “Palestinian Zion”.
It is not only Muslims who are upset by the cynical Labour Party attitude to the mass killings of Palestinians. All caring people with a conscience are deeply unhappy about the new alignment of the Labour Party led by Starmer to fulfill his ambition of being Prime Minister. It is also obvious to everyone with common sense that the extremist stance of the State of Israel is actually worsening the long term security of the area, the world and Israel itself.
On another tack, I observed Labour Party Leader Keir Starmer making a big contribution to hostility to London Mayor Sidiq Khan’s progressive health and environment policies. Starmer made it clear that he only cared about getting votes, by any means, and that he does not really care about people’s environment and health. There was a lot of unfair and downright stupid negativity about urban low emission zones. Starmer was part of it.
Much commentary discusses dissatisfaction with Labour’s Gaza position as if it is only Muslims who are alienated. This is ridiculous – it is clear that a huge majority of the country at large, Muslims and non-Muslims alike, have been calling for an unconditional ceasefire for months. All three of my non-Muslim children, who are under 35, deserted Labour in these elections. The surge in Green support in leafy areas where Muslims are thin on the ground demonstrates that many voters are equally appalled at the Labour leadership’s willingness to be complicit in condoning genocide and shredding international law.
We should be very wary of invoking a so-called ‘Gaza Effect’. Actually prior to Blair for decades Labour supporters had been anti-racist, anti-imperialist. All through the 50s, 60s,70s, there were Freedom for Africa, African Nationalist, Arab Nationalist movements that were either directly or indirectly affiliated to the Party.
Prior to that much of Labour’s grassroots were supporting Indian Independence during the 30s and even before that – not to mention Irish independence.
Below is a very brief clip of the director Waris Hussain talking about the theatrical Dame Sybill Thorndike. Described here, she unlike Starmer refused to use her title, but also was a Labour supporting Democratic Socialist, who had supported Ghandi and Indian Independence back in the 30s.
Imperialism is yet another issue which entryist neoliberals have violated the Party’s history and values.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRfomJ1nazg
Cathy Davies has made the crucial point here: Labour didn’t win the elections, the Tories lost them. In most cases (eg. the Blackpool by-election) Labour got less votes than last time and won because of the number of Tories who stayed at home. There was little or no evidence of voters switching to Starmerism.
The same thing happened in all the recent by-elections. This means that the swings to Labour are very much dependent on Tory voters remaining unbribed at the General Election and we know from bitter experience that the Tories will do everything possible to stay in office.
The best outcome for socialists will be a hung parliament, followed by lots of pressure to bring in PR for future votes, so keep your fingers crossed!