SWINDON - LABOUR IN REAL TROUBLE
There are sixty councillors in Swindon, an overwhelmingly working class town, and after yesterdays’ election Labour has just twelve councillors, the Lib Dems have three (all in one ward). The Conservatives now have 44 councillors, though the Lib Dems vote with them on everything.
Only five years ago Labour ran the council, today it has probably has no safe seats. It lost one seat to the Tories in Parks, a traditionally rock solid Labour ward including a large estate of council housing. And in Mordeon, a working class ward where labour held all three councillors up until a few years ago, the Tories now hold all three seats and trounced Labour yesterday, getting 1100 votes to Labour’s 590.
Labour regained control of the Central ward where they had suffered a defection of a councillor to the Tories (actually she was South Swindon CLP secretary at the time as well!).
Leader of the Labour group, Kevin Small (pictured), remarked at the almost total wipeout of his party at the polls: “Overall we have done well, we have taken Central Ward back from the Conservatives and when you look at the national opinion polls where you can see Labour is not doing so good. I think we have done really well”
The town still has two Labour MPs, though South Swindon MP, Anne Snellgrove is on the hard right of the Labour Party, and in the 2005 general election stood to the right of the Tory candidate on every single issue, including trade unions and workplace rights. But both of these seats will surely be lost at the general election.
When we look at the modest electoral achievments of left of labour candidates in the elections, the perspective we have to put this in is the almost complete collapse of Labour as a social democratic party that articulates the aspirations and interests of the working class.
What is most remarkable is that the Labour group of councillors, while in some cases nice individuals, and in one or two cases are left inclined, have no ideas, no vision and no possible way out of this mess.
See also Martin Wicks on this, who lives in this ward and indeed used to be a labour councillor for this area.
Andy the history of the Labour Pary in Swindon mirrors that of the Labour Party in Milton Keynes. No answers and no way forward with years of compromise after compromise and never the word ‘Socialism’ mentioned. Privatisation of Council services, Academy schools and wars - they have supported the lot.
From a town with two Labour MP’s and running the Council they now have just one right wing Labour MP - who will lose in the next election - what a sorry and sad history and a vacume we need to fill.
Respect will be standing in local elections in Milton Keynes from 2009 and our campaign starts next week!
Neil
Comment by Neil Williams — 2 May, 2008 @ 8:35 pm
The situation in Swindon is replicated down here in Plymouth-a solidly working-class City, now has council wards being won by the Tories that 5 years ago were Labour to the core. Now, the Tories are winning where previously they didn’t even bother to campaign. Labour’s problem at a local level is the lack of activists, leading to a lack of decent candidates. The relentless shift to the Right both nationally and locally by Labour has definitely led to traditional supporters just not bothering to vote-In some wards turnout was below 20%. Plymouth is a City crying out for a strong Respect prescence. Shame the SWP don’t see it that way.
Comment by Andy Symons — 2 May, 2008 @ 8:48 pm