Respect got 7500 votes in central Birmigham and won a council seat.

Remind me again where Left List did as well if not better.

Where the left has built a base the results are much better but the left was squeezed by the battle between Livingstone and Johnson. Unfortunately Renewal’s alliance with Livingstone didn’t help this. During the next general election, if the strategy of those on the left who allied themselves with Livingstone is to keep Labour in power rather than campaign for a left alternative then the left’s vote will be squeezed as it was in this election.

It’s not just about building a base and hoping for good results. It’s also about the political strategy that the left uses to convince voters to vote for it. If there’s no unity around that then the vote will be split and squeezed by the main parties.

BUT WITH A WHOLE INTERNET FULL OF POLITICS, SEX AND STAMP COLLECTING TO ENGAGE WITH THIS POSTER CHANGES HIS NAME AND IP ADDRESS AND GIVES A PHONY E MAIL ADDRESS SEVERAL TIMES A DAY TO SHARE HIS HATRED OF GEORGE GALLOWAY WITH THE WORLD. IF YOU WANT TO ENGAGE WITH HIM PLEASE DO IT ELSEWHERE. HE PROBABLY HAS SPACE IN HIS DIARY. LIAM

Principo,
between 2004 and 2008,Galloway has been exposed thoroughly as a corrupt chancer and part time MP.
Even his wife was exposed as corruptly receiving Oil Cash.

Of course, I agree wholeheartedly with anyone who says that the results gave Respect nothing solid to celebrate, that both the list vote and Abdulmuhit’s vote were lower than we’d hoped, and that in general none of us have got anything to crow about. Not crowing; just encouraging a bit of realism.

The key issues are:

1) In 2004 there were only 10 parties standing for the list places, in 2008 this increased to 14.

2) In 2004 there was only one ‘left of labour’ list, in 2008 there were 3.

3) In 2004 the Greens refused to call for a second vote for Livingstone; in 2008 the Greens not only endorsed a second vote for Livingstone there was also a clear pact and many left voters would have realised that they could vote for Livingstone for Mayor and the Greens for the List place, and had a reasonable hope that their vote could help elect someone on both ballot papers

4) In 2004 there were four ballot papers, five votes, and every ballot paper had a “Respect (George Galloway)” candidate - even though it was the first time the voters had been exposed to the new “party”, it was easier to get across a clear message; in 2008 there were 3 ballot papers (4 votes) but “Respect (George Galloway)”was only on two ballot papers in City and East and in the other two votes there were “Left List” or other candidates (including Livingstone and the Greens) that previous Respect voters could “cross vote” for - “cross voting” works to the detriment of homogeneity. Outside City and East there was only one ballot paper/vote with “Respect (George Galloway)” and three without that option.

5) The List voting system is the opportunity for minority progressive voters to cast a useful vote that might get someone elected eg Greens and prevent the BNP getting in - the constituency vote is the one where votes are more likely to be wasted and there was no risk of the BNP or indeed anyone other than Tories or Labour getting in/ therefore astute progressive votes can cast their vote for the party closest to their views without worrying too much about the consequences. Evidence from the last London election and the survey of voters published on the Socialist Unity Network indicates that Respect voters are among the most sophisticated of voters in terms of tactical voting.

6) Within Tower Hamlets and Newham, the Respect campaign focussed on the candidacy of Hanif Abdulmuhit for the constituency member, rather than the list slate headed by Galloway - this was a deliberate decision by Respect.

Taking all these things into account, it is therefore no surprise that the list vote for Respect in City and East was down, and only approx 76% of the constituency vote, compared to say the Greens who had a close correlation between their list and constituency vote.

It is reasonable to say the constituency member election is likely to be a better guide to Respect’s prospects in both the General Election and the next Council elections in May 2010. (I haven’t totted up the votes by parliamentary constituency yet but will do so later).

What the results of the City and East constituency member election do indicate is that Respect has a real block of support that could win seats in both general and local elections. Given the obvious strength in Birmingham, this indicates a base of support in the two biggest cities in the country that can be built on. By contrast, Left List did reasonably well in one ward in Preston and one ward in Sheffield, and very poorly everywhere else, while the Socialist Party won one ward in Coventry and did poorly elsewhere.

As an aside we should also note that local Socialist Party Councillor Chris Flood got 13.1% (472 votes) in the Telegraph Hill ward in Lewisham he holds on the council. This is creditable, but hardly a good indicator that the advantage of incumbency as a councillor on its own helped left candidates. Hanif Abdulmuhit got 38.3% and ‘won’ his own ward of Green Street West in Newham - the opposite outcome. (The SP vote appears to have come fairly equally from Labour, Greens and Respect plus a few from Left List compared to the List vote).

there is no symmety or equality in the votes. And many of us in Respect were disappointed by not too suprised with getting just under 2.5%.

Respect’s vote in East London was staggeringly good, and exceeded my hopes or expectations. It proves there is a local electoral base that could be developed to win perhaps two MPs, and control of TH council.

What is more, we managed to quite correctly position ourselves in the camp of those working hard to get Livingstone reelected.

We are not expecting that others in the left will rally round to join Respect, rather we are establishing ourtselves as a long term player that can work for a reallignment in English politics over the long haul.

Already we have seen a renewed good will towards Respect from many parts of the Labour movement.

Of course there are no grounds for complacenecy, and electoral politics are cruel. BUt there is every reason to congratulate Hanif Andulmuhit and the other East London comrades for a fantastic job, and we can be confident that we start from a very solid base to build upon.

The danger of wishful thinking is that it can lead to complacency and a distorted sense of achievement. Both the Left List and Renewal expected to do a lot better in this election. This was not the case despite having built up a much better vote overall in the past. Between this election and the last the vote for a left alternative reduced significantly and we need to understand why this happened and address it. The results of this election mean that no one on the left can just assume that we will build on our vote. Even in areas where we have done well in the past.

Considering that Respect has split in the recent past it’s very unlikely that the rest of the left will rally round it in the future. The same is true of the Left List and other organisations standing on the left. Perhaps the best we can do at the moment is to get on with building our own organisations and if in the future an alliance is again deemed feasible then form one organisation then. In the meantime we can still work together.

The fact that Renewal polled much lower than it did last time and only received 2.49% overall is not something to celebrate. Considering German polled 4% last time and Renewal did a lot worse this time isn’t a great sign for Respect. Labour pulled in a huge amount of votes in City and East and we should be asking ourselves why this occured when there is great disillusion with Labour. Workers are still more likely to vote Labour than a left alternative.

I think perpetuating the fued by oneupmanship over results when the left as a whole did so poorly overall feeds into demoralisation. It weakens the left because we are percieved quite rightly as a divided, antagonistic bunch of losers who couldn’t organise a brew up in a patisserie.