Home World Politics The Recent British Elections -- An Assessment in Socialist Resistance, organ of...

The Recent British Elections — An Assessment in Socialist Resistance, organ of British Fourth Internationalists

Details
Published on Thursday
22 June 2017  10:24
Written by Radical Socialist

A stunning result for Corbyn and Labour

Protesting Theresa May’s visit to Ealing, west London May 20. Photo: Steve Eason
Alan Davies argues: The election result is a triumph for Labour. Although the party has fallen marginally short of enough seats to form a government, Jeremy Corbyn has pulled off the biggest swing from one major party to another during the span of an election campaign since 1945. The polls were predicting a Labour share of the vote of 26% or 27% but ended up on the night at 40%—which is 12.8 million votes. This is more than Tony Blair got in 2001 or in 2005. With 649 seats declared, the Conservatives have 318 seats, down 13, Labour 261, up 29, 35 seats for the SNP, down 21, the Lib Dems up 4 to 12, Plaid Cymru remain on three, the Greens on one and UKIP wiped out. Kensington and Chelsea is yet to declare. One recount has already taken place and the count has been suspended until 6pm tonight. The turnout is up by 2% to the highest since 1997. The turnout amongst young people was unprecedented in modern times. The UKIP vote collapsed. Nuttall, who has resigned, came a distant third in Boston and Skegness. Labour made significant gains in both Scotland and Wales. The SNP remain the largest party in Scotland but the Conservatives have won 12 seats off them so far, Labour have won seven and the Lib Dems three. In Wales Labour took back Gower, Cardiff North, and Vale of Clwyd from the Conservatives. Jeremy Corbyn and John MacDonnell are right to say that they are ready to form a minority government but it is clear that May will attempt to do so. The result, therefore, is not just a hung parliament, but the slimmest and most precarious of hung parliaments with effectively a coalition between a crisis ridden Tory Party and the ultra-conservative Democratic Unionist Party – one of the most socially conservative political parties in Europe. Its members deny climate change, oppose abortion and marriage equality and are mostly Biblical creationists. Its candidates were endorsed by the Ulster Defence Association, a sectarian murder gang which is now involved in racketeering and drug dealing.  This lash up gives the Tories a majority of  two. Even if this gets off the ground it is likely to extremely unstable and we should prepare for another election before the end of the year. Labour’s election campaign was spectacular and had a huge impact. The outcome is a personal triumph for Jeremy Corbyn, who was vilified in the most brutal way from the start of the campaign until the end. The Tories weren’t even able to use the two horrendous terror attacks to their advantage. The manifesto changed the politics of the election campaign the moment it hit the streets. It mobilised hundreds of thousands of young people to register to vote, join the campaign and vote in, what for many,  the first election in which they had participated. Young people how have been abused and used by successive government have struck back with a vengeance. We are seeing tectonic shifts taking place at several levels in British politics. Labour’s anti-austerity election platform has appealed to many of the same marginalised people who were drawn towards a Brexit vote. The vote is a massive rejection of austerity—bringing about a fundamental change in British politics. There is a new generation on the scene for the first time, completely open to the kind of radical alternative Labour is putting forward. For example, it was the student vote which took Canterbury for Labour which has been Tory for ever. Corbyn is now in a powerful position inside the party. The Labour right who have campaigned for two years to discredit and get rid of him have been politically defeated and have some decisions to make. Every one of the predictions they made about Corbynism have been proven wrong. It is time now to back Corbyn or stand aside. In this situation the job of the radical left is clear. Join the Corbyn movement if you have not done so yet, help him to change and democratise the Labour Party. Deepen the political trajectory that he has initiated, and stand ready to fight the next election as and when it comes.
RELATED ARTICLES

WSF Declaration of the Social Movements Assembly

Details Published on Sunday 13 February 2011 17:06 Written by Radical Socialist WSF Declaration of the Social Movements Assembly 12 February 2011 As the Social Movements Assembly of the World...

Whither Tunisia?

Details Published on Thursday 20 January 2011 01:43 Written by Radical Socialist Whither Tunisia? Curfew in Tunisia! What is the political significance? January 13 by Fathi Chamkhi Just hours after his...

Tunisia, Egypt: a revolutionary process of world scope

Details Published on Monday 28 February 2011 18:16 Written by Radical Socialist Tunisia, Egypt: a revolutionary process of world scope Fourth International The International Committee of the Fourth International at...

Most Popular

SOCIALIST RESISTANCE STATEMENT ON THE RESULT OF THE EU REFERENDUM

Details Published on Sunday 26 June 2016 09:23 Written by Radical Socialist Brexit vote is a disaster, but the struggle goes on Saturday 25 June 2016, by Socialist Resistance This...

From Democrat to Socialist Revolutionary: The Legacy Fidel leaves

Details Published on Sunday 27 November 2016 17:34 Written by Radical Socialist From the late 1980s, the bureaucracy dominated states posing as socialist entered their terminal crisis....

Bulgaria: The wave of protests,

Details Published on Wednesday 01 January 2014 04:18 Written by Radical Socialist Bulgaria: The wave of protests, 2012-2013 Mariya Ivancheva from International Viewpoint http://www.internationalviewpoint.org/spip.php?article3225 In the past half-decade, post-socialist Bulgaria has witnessed...

Greece: will anti-Semitism become law? A Jewish Marxist accused by the Neo-Nazis

Details Published on Saturday 17 August 2013 13:28 Written by Radical Socialist Greece:  will anti-Semitism become law? A Jewish Marxist accused by the Neo-Nazis A Jewish Marxist is being...

China’s rise as a world power

Details Published on Sunday 16 June 2019 12:04 Written by Radical Socialist by Ashley Smith, Au Loong-Yu China’s rapid rise as a new center of capital accumulation has increasingly brought...

A contribution to the pre-World Congress discussion

Details Published on Tuesday 15 December 2009 12:05Written by Radical Socialist

Tories, Liberals at War with School Children in Britain

Details Published on Thursday 25 November 2010 09:17 Written by Radical Socialist Riot police get brutal with students Thousands of school and university students turned out on the streets...

The Aggravating Crisis Cannot be Solved Even with Wen Jiabao’s Push for Political Reform

Details Published on Friday 10 February 2012 13:49 Written by Radical Socialist The Aggravating Crisis Cannot be Solved Even with Wen Jiabao’s Push for Political Reform Zhang Kai The following...

Growth of religious fundamentalism: challenges and the fight back

Details Published on Sunday 01 June 2014 08:59 Written by Radical Socialist Growth of religious fundamentalism: challenges and the fight back   by: Farooq Tariq Pakistan is witnessing an increase...

The role of the left in Syriza

Details Published on Friday 31 May 2013 15:26 Written by Radical Socialist The role of the left in Syriza Monday 27 May 2013, by Sotiris Martalis   This contribution was made by...