THE GREEN Party made a spectacular breakthrough at the council elections in Brighton & Hove, taking 6 seats (up 3) while Labour lost overall control of the council. In Saltdean, scene of recent hysteria over the possible housing of asylum seekers in a local hotel, the BNP took 314 votes, or 5.6%, after a determined counter-leafleting campaign.
Given the scale of the opportunity presented by the witch-hunt, the failsetback for the fascists, especially given the resources they put in.
Brighton & Hove Socialist Alliance stood three candidates: a former Labour councillor, the Chair of a local NATHE branch, and a social worker.
We received a respectable vote, given that this was our first outing at council elections - 266 (5.4%), 146 (5.4%) and 210 (3.5%). In a fourth ward, a Socialist Alliance member stood independently with the backing
Regency ward. •• right. Steve's election statement was clearpublic profile. every household. global capitalism. of the local unemployed workers' centre, gaining 329 votes (7.8%).
Our campaign itself ended up being somewhat ad hoc, although every household where we stood received SA literature, and some canvassing was done in two wards. We also held very good joint meetings in two wards with the Green Party, with 40 coming to a meeting in Hanover, and 27 in
In Brighton & Hove, as elsewhere, we have paid a price for the two years since the general election in which the Socialist Alliance has not had a consistent campaigning profile in its own
The challenge now is to create an organisation on the ground that can start to release the untapped potential of the Alliance. We must be visible -we have been central to the anti-war movement and other campaigns, and this should be reflected in a higher We must have a serious media operation. We need to target key wards and deliver a regular newsletter to
The Alliance also needs to develop its own political culture - our public meetings should be the obvious first port of call for those interested in find ing out about the socialist alternative to New Labour, imperialist war and
developed.
it (true enough).
What happened next literally took my breath away. ANL full-timer Julie Waterson was next to speak. She came to the rostrum and argued that Conference should vote against Landau's motion.
The effect of this would have been that the Socialist Alliance would :
NOT have affiliated to the Committee to Defend Asylum seekers (which to give it its due, the SWP have been central in setting up and supporting over the last 3 years
NOT have agreed that the fight against state racism is crucial to undermining the basis on which fascists have gained increased support over recent years.
I then made a rather intemperate speech pointing this out to the meeting Subsequently there was a successful challenge to the chair from the SWP's Maxine Bowler, which meant that the motion was taken in parts. The deletion was then narrowly carried, with it seems only the SWP voting that way.
The SWP should be challenged to seriously document their objections so that the Alliance can develop a serious discussion or this vital question. However, whether or not this happens, at least the vital practical work of opposing state racism as well as directly organising against the fascists can be