There was a lot of anxiety in England about the local elections yesterday, following the success of Le Pen in France.
Despite an attitude survey before the election that the Labour Party had failed to deliver on all its election promises except the economy, its losses after the second general election landslide were modest. Turnout was up from 29% in the last local elections to 35%. In the Lancashire town of Burnley where there were vicious race riots last year, the racist British National Party won 2 council seats, and may win one more after a recount. This is out of 6000 council seats up for election yesterday. In the wards where they were contesting strongly the turnout was as high as 54%. In the 68 wards the BNP contested they gained 20% of the vote. This contrasts to Le Pen getting 18% of the French vote nationally. Despite the expectation of losing votes badly compared to their high point of the general election, Labour Party losses were modest. In what should be a good time for them, there are no signs that the Conservative Party is in a position to defeat Labour at the next general election in roughly 4 years time. This local election was seen as an important test of political opinion because for the first time the Labour Budget put up direct taxes to fund the NHS something that New Labour has been afraid of doing since 1992. Indeed in old labour areas like Sheffield Labour won a number of seats back. Perception of these results will be important. It is clear that New Labour, which has objectively been following a policy of enlightened finance capitalism, is highly vulnerable to protest votes. But civil society looks a little healthier in England this morning. Local authorities have very little power in England but left wingers, not just in the Labour Party, will be emboldened by these results that there is a way to fight back, not least against racism. Chris Burford London
