will Sparkbrook, as well as a headline that the city was BNPfree (after a flawed count in one area.
Salma displayed a large Respect rosette and so the possibility of a left alternative to New Labour was there for all to see. With good votes in several of the other wards that Respect fought, a platform exists for Respect to start spreading its wings in future elecuons.
The importance of this is shown by the substantial votes for the fascists in many places. They stood in every ward in Birmingham with essentially paper candidates. Yet despite limiting their campaigning to a few areas they still did well.
In nearby Sandwell and Redditch, they added four more councillors to their national tally. In Sandwell
alternative to New
Labour was there for
all to see. they won three wards and lost one by very small margins, so that a bit of extra anti-fascist work might have stopped them, although of course it is the lack of an alternative to New Labour that is key.
The Greens also stood in every Birmingham ward bar one, compared to the five targeted by Respect and got decent votes in many of them, typically of several hundred. This was also done with a near total absence of campaigning.
By contrast, there was an Intensive campaign TO
particularly for Salma Yaqoob. But you wouldn't know about it from the local media, we were lucky The other Birmingham Respect votes were 22 per cent, 19 per cent, 8 per cent and 3.5 per cent.
Like in Tower Hamlets, postal ballot rigging was an issue in Birmingham. Respect stayed clear of postal ballots, but the police intervened against a LibDem candidate and there have been allegations in Handsworth
Overall, the Tory/LibDem alliance will continue to run the Council, with Labour not surprisingly failing to dent their dominance
Yet even if Labour had achieved a miracle and managed to claw its way back the conderal agenda would have been little different from what the Tories are planning (seven academies and privatising street cleaning services for example, given its local leadership.
The Respect literature was would have been different without that mistake.
For the future however, the momentum of the election victory must not be broken, and serious thought will have to be given on how to clearly differentiate Respect from the Greens, as it is unlikely that they will be interested in electoral pacts.
In addition, solid branches of Respect need to be built, that combine a dialogue with Salma with campaigning on local, industrial and international issues within the framework of its conference policies.
Given the high vote for the far right in too many areas, anti-racism, defence of asylum seekers and countering Islamophobia are likely to be prominent In lne cam paigning work when Respect starts moving out of the inner ring. NEW Labour's strategists in Tower Hamlets will be worried by the election of twelve Respect councillors. The Respect group is the official opposition to Labour's twentysix members, seven Tories and six Liberal Democrats.
Ward results varied from 46.4% to 11.8% and averaged 22.8% across the borough. To achieve such consistently high results reveals both the extent of support for Respect and the roots it has put down in this part of east London.
There were times when it looked like Labour's vote would collapse. The days preceding the election brought scandal after scandal for the party. Canvassers reported very little support even in its former heartland areas.
At public meetings and hustings Labour faced public humiliation as they lost arguments and were jeered by the audience.
At residents' association meetings and a large meeting of the London Leaseholders' Association largely white audiences ridiculed Labour candidates and cheered their Respect opponents. Here was visible evidence of Respect's emergence as a real local political force.
When the results came in several Labour cabinet members including the mayor and lead member for housing were not re-elected. Nevertheless the Labour vote held up surprisingly well. Two factors prevented the election of more Respect candidates. One was large-scale theft of votes. This is being investigated. The other was a pattern of non-Bangladeshi candidates receiving fewer votes than Bangladeshi Respect candidates. Branch chair Glyn Robbins At hustings received three hundred fewer votes
Labour than Medhi Hassan. candidates In Bromley by Bow
Rebecca Townsend faced public
got 923 votes while humiliation as Rania Khan was
elected with 1308 they lost
votes. This sugarguments gests, among other and were things, that Respect candidates repeatedly jeered by the the automatic claim does not quite have audience on its voters' loyalty
that Labour has achieved over decades. Respect has been given a new lease of life both nationally and in Tower Hamlets by these results. Clarifying the relationship between the new councillors and taking the lead in local struggles will put it on the path to consolidating its success and making a bid to control the council in the 2010