RESPECT's best results in the local elections were in Preston City, where five wards were contested. Votes for RESPECT candidates ranged from 24% to 34% with an average of 30%. councillors were elected, the RESPECT campaign made deep inroads into the former Labour heartlands and its core working class and asian electorate.
Furthermore, an independent anti war and socialist campaigner held on to his seat in a neighbouring ward. Half the seats up for election in the Preston parliamentary constituency of pro-war Labour MP Mark Hendrick, six out of twelve, were contested by socialist anti-war campaigners, winning over one-third of the vote.
However, a large number of votes were disallowed in this complex all-postal election, because of the failure to include a correct declaration of identity form in with the ballot papers, not because the votes were wrong. instructions were only in English and papers were distrib uted too late for effective campaigning on how to complete the ballot. This may have robbed RESPECT of significant valid votes in the minority communities, and will be closely examined. Preston RESPECT Councillor Michael Lavalette (right), spoke to Fisher Gate: How did the campaign get such a good response?
been doing over the last year. We have had regular meetings on Palestine and the twinning campaign - as well as regular surgeries where we take up all sorts of local Although no issues. This combination means we have started to build
up trust with local working class and Asian communities -and we were able to use this to move into neighbouring areas. "Over the campaign we leafletted each house on two or three occasions. We had a large cavalcade the Sunday of the election period that helped create a good atmosphere - but crucially, we also canvassed as many doors as possible. Our candidates took time off their work and we went out in pairs - one English and one Gujarati speaker - to argue the case why people should vote, and why we were the best option." What is the significance of the vote in The Preston!
"I think the election results over the last week have shown that where we work property we can engage with local communities and start to establish ourselves as a credible alternative. I think the Preston vote is one of these examples - Tower Hamlets, and South Central Birmingham are others. "What we need to do is start to look at the example of where we are working well, what we are doing and try to generalise from these." "Obviously the campaign built on the work we've Where does RESPECT in Preston go from here? for now. We've got a bit of a plan. to our campaign. meetings. We need to do things differently.
"On Friday people were a bit down. We did fantastically well - but didn't win. But by Saturday things had moved. We have had a discussion with all the candidates about how we work in each of the areas and what we do
First, on Saturday we are going to have a social event to celebrate and talk over our strategy. People are quite tired, and I think this is a good - and necessary - 'ending
Second, we will have a leaflet ready for Friday at all the local Mosques thanking people for their support and letting them know how well we have done - we will then try to get this into every house in each of the wards.
Third, we need to establish a Preston Steering Committee and set up local structures. We want monthly meetings - but we need to think creatively about what they might look like. I think it would be a huge mistake to simply replicate some boring Labour party type ward
Finally, we need to set our campaign and election priorities. I'd like to have provisional candidates for next year's county elections in place quite quickly so they can get themselves known in the wards we are standing in.
l'd also like us to start to think about the General Election. But we must also make sure RESPECT is central to building the 30 June demo against the occupation, that we have people working towards the ESF in London and that we are taking up local campaign issues as well."
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6 socka Euro-Election campaigns • Summer 2004