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The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain

Tory blues

Another bad week for the Conservatives. They lost the Blackpool South by-election and more than half the local council seats they were defending. The swing to Labour – over 20 per cent in the Blackpool poll – confirms the findings of the pollsters over the past 12 months. But it’s not all been plain sailing for Starmer & Co.

It’s clear that one of the reasons for the Tory collapse is the rise in the Faragist Reform Party. Though still not as big a force as that of UKIP during the height of the Brexit campaign it was, nevertheless, significant to note that the Tory vote fell most heavily in those wards where Reform fielded a candidate. Though Labour has been the major beneficiary this has also helped the minor parties like the Greens and the Liberal Democrats.

Though Gaza wasn’t the central issue on the doorstep Starmer’s slavish support for Israel has cost Labour votes within the Muslim communities that his party took for granted in the past. Muslim councillors who left Labour in protest at Starmer’s refusal to condemn Israeli aggression in Gaza successfully kept their seats as “independents”. Labour lost overall control of Oldham, where the Muslim independents stood on a “Vote for Palestine” platform, and Labour’s vote went down in many other areas with Muslim voters.

Turn-out is never high in local elections. The councils have little real power and on the street most people don’t even know the name of their local representatives. Even at the best of times interest in these polls rarely goes beyond the pressure groups and councillors within the locality. Nevertheless, they are a barometer of voting intentions.

We can safely say that Labour is heading for a landslide victory at the next election. It is equally plain to see that Starmer intends to fight it on a manifesto that barely differs from the Conservatives he claims to oppose.

The Tories have clearly lost the confidence of their core voters while the splits within their upper echelons reflect the deep divisions over Europe and its future relationship with American imperialism. Starmer and the ageing Blairites in his clique think that this will be enough to propel them to high office. This may be so. Whether this will be enough to keep them there is another matter altogether…