The Council elections in Erdington (a working class area in Birmingham with a large Irish population) was low key except for the activity of the Socialist Alliance. The vote for our candidate Steve Godward, victimised fire-fighter, increased from 250 to 285 or 5-6.4 per cent.
The ward was Tory in the early 80s but since then has been a fairly safe Labour seat. This time the Labour majority dropped to 200. In inner-city Birmingham, where there is a large Muslim population, Liberal Democrats won by a landslide, with majorities of 1,000 and 2,000 respectively in traditionally Labour wards. The Liberal Democrat leader had spoken on local anti-war platforms, whereas no representatives of the Socialist Alliance had been invited to do so.
The Socialist Alliance election campaign in Erdington followed an intense anti-war campaign with the largest meetings in the area for twenty years, a lobby of the pro-war local MP and large mobilisations for demonstrations.
During the campaign several attempts were made to get the local MP to explain his views but he consistently refused. Partly as a result of this many activists in the Erdington Stop the War Coalition assisted in the Socialist Alliance election campaign. ly against the war and for the immediate withdrawal of US/UK troops from Irag. It also took up defence of social housing, defence of asylum seekers, the fire dispute and local democracy.
The increased vote means we have the basis to develop and build further.
The BP/NF received 10 percent of the vote in the adjacent ward Stockland Green. The Erdington Socialist Alliance hopes to stand in some of these areas next June so that a real challenge can be mounted to the racist BNP/NF.
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•• Socialist Alliance ice June 2003