THE NEW WORKER

The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain
Week commencing 10th May 2019

Lead story

Another Challenge For May

by New Worker correspondent

THERESA MAY is facing renewed demands to stand down from her own backbenchers following the dismal Tory performance in last week’s local government elections and the failure to clinch a deal with Labour over Brexit.

Her leadership will be challenged at an extraordinary general meeting of the National Conservative Convention on 15th June. The powerful 1922 Committee of Conservative MPs has reportedly given Mrs May a dead-line to spell out the ‘road-map’ for her departure and former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith has joined the chorus of dissidents calling on her to step down.

The Prime Minister says she will resign once Brexit is done and dusted. But that may never happen during the term of this fixed-term parliament, which won’t end until May 2022

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Bristol workers’ march on May Day

by New Worker correspondent

WORKERS marched through Bristol’s main shopping streets on May Day to a rally at Castle Park. There the crowd heard union leaders and speakers from the broader movement chart the way forwards with the prospect of a snap general election on the horizon. Bristol’s Kurdish solidarity network brought a message of support and asked for the rally’s solidarity with thousands of people across the world who are on hunger strike calling for an end to the isolation of imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan, who has spent 20 years in Turkish jails.

Steve Turner, Assistant General Secretary of Unite the Union, opened by exclaiming how fantastic it was to be holding a demonstration for May Day on May Day, and went on to say that it is really important to recognise and remind everyone that May Day is Labour Day.

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Editorial

A slap in the face for the Tories

LAST WEEK’S local elections in England were a bitter blow to the Conservatives. Although these elections did not cover major cities such as London, nearly 9,000 council seats in authorities throughout England were up for grabs. The Tories braced themselves for hundreds of losses. The actual results were far worse than expected.

Labour did not profit from the Tory slump. During the campaign some Labour pundits unwisely predicted major gains, buoyed, no doubt, by a recent national opinion poll that put Labour 10 points ahead of the Tories. Despite some key gains in the south however, Labour still came out an overall loser.

All in all the Tories lost 1,324 seats, UKIP lost 145 and Labour was 82 seats down. The major beneficiaries were the Liberal Democrats, who gained an extra 703 seats, and the Greens, who won 194. Residents’ associations won 49 more council seats and other independent groups chalked up over 600 gains. Overall, the vote share between Labour and the Tories was tied on 28 per cent each — suggesting that the next general election may produce a hung parliament

Read the full story here >> A slap in the face for the Tories