The Anti-War Vote In Great Britain
By Victo Kattan
15 June, 2004
Countercurrents.orgThey were braced for it. New Labour knew they were going to get a kicking, but they didn't think it would be this bad. On "Super Thursday", Labour lost votes to the left and to the right of the political spectrum. In the local elections Labour lost more than 400 seats, and in the European Parliament
Labour lost 6 MEPs. Prime Minister Tony Blair's decision to have a referendum on the European constitution pushed pro-European supporters to vote for the Liberal Democrats. Those against further integration voted for the UK Independence Party. The Greens, Respect and the Liberal Democrats,
who all campaigned on an anti-war vote, picked up votes from New Labour.In the elections to the Greater London Assembly, the major anti-war parties - the Liberal Democrats, the Greens and Respect - received 564,196 votes, or 29.44% of the total. This combined vote puts them above the Tories, who received 533,696 votes (27.84%), and above New Labour's vote of 468,247
(24.43%). In the London Mayoral elections, the main anti-war parties got 403,707 votes, or 21% of the total. If you take into account that the winner, Ken Livingstone, was also against the war (although the party he rejoined - New Labour - is not), this figure rises substantially.New Labour and the Tories were both smashed in the European elections. The main beneficiary was UKIP, which received 2,650,768 votes, or 16% of the total. The anti-war parties received 3,732,826 votes, or 22.7% of the total, which is just under half of the votes both New Labour (3,718,683) and the
Tories (4,397,090) received. So although the main winner of the night was UKIP with an astonishing 10% increase compared to the last elections in 1999, the anti-war block was very significant.The anti-war parties did surprisingly well, taking into consideration the scant media coverage they were given. The Greens won 2 seats in the European Parliament and gained 9 seats in the local elections. The Liberal Democrats were one of the few parties whose share of the vote increased in both elections. Although the Greens and Respect argued strenuously during the campaign that the Liberal Democrats are not a "proper anti-war party", most people that voted for the Liberal Democrats believed, right or wrongly, that they were voting for an anti-war party.
Although Respect did not win a seat, they will have surprised New Labour in inner city areas. In the elections to the Greater London Assembly in City and East, Oliur Rahman received 19,675 votes, or 15% of the total, above the Liberal Democrats and UKIP. For a party that did not exist 20 weeks ago,
that is a pretty remarkable result. Respect polled 4.8% in the European elections in London with 91,175 votes, which meant that George Galloway just missed out on a seat in the European Parliament.Although there are no figures available, it would seem that the Muslim vote was considerable. The Liberal Democrats and Respect did well from this community, and if New Labour is to win them back then British policy in the Middle East will need to be revaluated. Unfortunately, however, there has also been a sharp increase in votes for the far right. Blair will need to get a grip on this country if racial tensions are not to spill out onto the streets. New Labour has been shaken. It can no longer assume that a third term is inevitable.
Victor Kattan is the correspondent for AMW. He can be reached at [email protected]