On November 4, voters in the North East of England delivered a humiliating drubbing to New Labour by massively voting down John Prescott's plans for regional self government. Victory was decisive.
By a huge majority of 696,519 against to a miserable 197,310 in favour of a regional assembly with nearly half the electorate voting, Geordies have wrecked the government's strategy for devolved government in England for the foreseeable future.
Originally referenda for local assemblies were to have been the North West and Yorkshire and Humberside but these were shelved because Labour could not teel sure of winning them. In the Northeast they felt more confident.
Early polls by the BBC last year indicated that the dogged cultural loyalty to region - symbolised by wearing football shirts every day and everywhere - could be translated into political regionalism. Now Prescott must pick up the pieces.
What explains the fiasco? Critics of the 25 seat assembly were quick to point out that its powers were extremely limited. With no control over health, education, policing, economic planning or even transport to be vested in the new body, the Yes campaign was obviously in trouble trom the word go.
The dying days of the campaign saw John Prescott desperately trying to wring concessions from other ministers to boost the region's powers over transport, but to little avail. The same week saw Tony Blair refusing to grant emergency help to Swan Hunter shipyards despite assisting Scottish yards, a fact that the Yes campaign attributed to the Scots having their own assembly. This decision undoubtedly damaged the government and contributed to a late surge of hostile voting.
On the other hand, the No campaign could exploit the widespread distrust of politicians. Although they were wrong to claim that the region would be saddled with 'an extra layer of politicians' - district and borough councils would have been abolished - their claim that the "talking shop could cost 265 million proved extremely effective. They toured the region with a huge inflatable white elephant!
Regional self government as a potentially popular cause, served a number of strategic objectives for New Labour. Rather than a remote London appearing to impose cuts and economies on other areas of Britain the regions could 'choose' the cuts themselves.
The struggle for "inward investment ' in competition with other regions brings workers and employers together as 'partners in regional growth and sets a right wing agenda for the unions. It is difficult to see what New Labour can now do to rescue this project.
The left were conspicuously absent from the fray. The region's TUC was a component of the Yes team, but the trades councils were opposed as were the Socialist Workers Party, while the Communist Party was divided and confused.
The next issue of Socialist Resistance will carry an in depth analysis to clarify the issues in the wake of a significant defeat for Blair.