On June 12, North Tyneside went to the polls to elect a new mayor. The campaign was brief with little time for preparation. The election was called after the resignation of Tyneside's first mayor, Tory Chris Morgan, after just a year in office. LOUISE VAN DER HOEVEN, Secretary, Tyneside Socialist Alliance & national executive member reports
There were five parties standing:
the Socialist Alliance. New Labour,
the Conservatives, the Lib Dems, and the National Front. We had fielded a candidate in the first election and wanted •••• to establish our presence in the borough, and to keep socialism on the local political agenda. It gave us a much needed opportunity to put forward arguments against the bigoted lies that ordinary people are bombarded with every day.
New Labour had a candidate imposed on them by the national office as the local party were both well-known figures in the council. it had created a climate that was reflected in their results, and the fact that they chose to coverage in the local press. We had to rely on leaflets and stalls to get our message and on stalls, and the council delivered an every voter. had been split on the issue the previous year. The Tory and Lib Dems candidates
The National Front had stood candidates in Newcastle in the recent local council elections. The government's racist asylum policy and the media campaigns that go with campaign in north Tyneside on a single issue
The campaign itself was given minimal across as we had very limited financial and human resources. We still managed to put fifteen thousand leaflets out, through doors be put on our mailing list. electoral address from all the candidates to
Our main arguments were against privatisation, for greater democracy and transdisappointing. second preference vote) ... Anti-war protestors march through Newcastle parency in the council (lack of transparency being something that local anti-privatisation campaigners knew all about), the need for people to demand a say in how their borough is run, the need for better education, and the need for child care places for all.
We made it very clear that, as socialists we rejected the scape-goating of asylum seekers, and Bush and Blair's war drive.
The response we got was very encouraging. We received phone calls from people who had never heard of us and wanted to
A twelve year-old school student called us offering to help and joined us on a stall.
People approached me to discuss their concerns for the future of our council housing. Although time and resources were lim• • • • ited we did manage to establish a dialogue
Despite all this, the result was obviously need to be discussed and resolved for us to move forward as a Socialist Alliance.
The decision to stand was unanimously endorsed by the local alliance. Despite an initial planning meeting of thirty comrades, the number of activists who actually participated in the campaign was minute
This obviously limited the type of work we were able to do, and raises questions as to how comrades see the future of the alliance and their role within it.
The low vote? We stood on an uncompromising socialist platform and received 400 votes, which shows how much work still needs to be done.
Some comrades may feel demoralised, but we must look to the future. This election has shown the weaknesses in the Alliance and we must learn the lessons and overcome them.