Adams, Gerry (SF) Hendron, Joe (SDLP) McMahon, Mary (WP) Millar, Frank (OUP)
1987 1983 16,842 Sinn Feins. 16,379 14,641 SDLP 10,934 1,819 Gerry Fitt 10,326 7,646 OUP 2,435 WP 1,893 Unionist Partv (DUP) and the Popular Unionist canJim Kilfedder, Enoch Powell lost his South Down seat to ine SDLP. John McCartney, standing platform which included ending the unionist boycott of Westminster, Jim Kilfedder's majority from 14,000 tọ 4,000.
Unionists
The Unionist parties will now boycott of Westminster naive indicatec they willing to talk to the British government for the first time since the Angloed in November 1985. The ed manifesto was progress towards SUlIC kind devolved government in the six with ower sharing between the Unionis SDLP. This goal is shared by the Dublin the next moves are likely to roposal a fe.
proposal from the loyalist, paramilitary, Ulster Defence Association (UDA) for a devolved Six county government with guaranteed power sharing . tOT the SDLP was floated in the CHIOUS six county administration.
The objective of this proposal is to involve both seven elections in the six counties 1979 Official Un. 36.6 DUP 10.2 SDLP 18.2 11.9 WP 1.7
Socialist Action of England.
hope to form a government. THE FIRST, and most important, lesson of the election is that you cannot win it in the four weeks of a campaign if you have wasted much of the four years beforehand. Second, a minor point, the techniques of the election campaign were obviously taken from those pioneered by the GLC. But without policies which gave the GLC's campaign content they don't have the same effect. Third that one of the biggest strategic lessons Labour, and the lett, has to face is how to -overcome the divisions between the North and the South.
The GLC was by far the most popular achievement of Labour in the South in the last 10 years. Its strength was that it extended Labour's support far beyond its traditional base.
At the present time the press, aided by the right wing in the election, are claiming that the GLC was about an orientation to 'minorities'. That ridiculous — although we certainly did defend minorities who were under attack as part of our overall policies.
The GLC, it musn't be forgotten, didn't just break new ground in support. It increased support for Labour on all the traditional issues as well. The polls in London showed that during the five years of the GLC the Tories lead in support for their anti-trade legislation was 12 per cent lower noon a comany. unilateral niener in London than in disarmament was five per cent Britain as a whole. During the last two years of the GLC we ran in London ten to twenty per cent ahead of Labour's position in the national polls.
These are strengths we could have ONE OF the most important features of the election was the continuing weakness of the Labour Party in the south While Labour was sweeping to huge gains in Scotland, Wales and the North, it suffered serious setbacks in the South. These stopped Labour winning the election. Until Labour increases its support in the South it cannot Yet one experience of Labour in the south of England in the last 10 years stands out - the popularity of the GLC. It was a lesson the Labour leadership was careful not to draw on in the election campaign. The words 'GLC' were not even mentioned in an election broadcast and no serious ded factor that most unemployed are black and subject to racist harassment that no white person faces. But we have to win support not only in areas of terrible deprivation but in areas where the working class is still prosperous.
What we cannot do is try to build up our support on the basis of what is acthe ceptable to the Sun. It is also stupid. because, no matter how much we attack Militant or the Black Section, and no matter how much the Sun praises us at the time, it will turn round and attack us at an election. We have to build support that is for our policies - and that is not dependent on the whims of the gutter press.
I therefore remain completely committed to the policies that the GLC fought for. I do not believe that there is any future for a socialism in Britian that does not place the concerns or women and black people on the same level as nose or white male workers. A party that gives in to the type disgraceful campaign that was carried on against lesbians and gays, and even worse is complicity in it, is not a party unlal will ever bund socialisil.
On Ireland I have explained my position many times. in British politics which is more important than ensuring British withdrawal from Ireland. Ireland was Britain's first colony and every serious socialist policy must involve an unequivocal commitment to withdraw from Ireland. I will eely step that can be taken to strengthen the Cut till British withdrawal from Ireland.
But if we want to elect a Labour government we have got to understand:
after. of those meant something to people.
last four years.
nouncing 'violence' Success unemployment because governments -There is no issue only rights. democratre had to taken portunities Acts organised repression in the demanding campaign was made on Labour's formal pledge to recreate it. The reason is the Labour leadership wants to dissociate itself from the radical policies of the GLC on Ireland, women, support for the black community and other issues.
It has been reported in the press that the Labour leadership took exceptional measures to ensure that Ken Livingstone did not appear in the election campaign — which didn't prevent the press taking as chief targets in the campaign Livingstone and Bernie Grant. As the first of a series on the way forward after the election Socialist Action asked KEN LIVINGSTONE to give his views on the election and But whatever the drawbacks at least on the health service, on education, on pensions we had a campaign which The whole type we have seen party felt it as a sigh of relief after the the last year.
The trouble is that this campaign was not a continuation of what we had ment. been doing previously. We had been deWe had been saying that Militant was the most important question — or that we had to pacify a few racists by attacking Black Sections and Sharon Alkın. We even had an attack on Milltant in the first television broadcast.
I believe one of the keys to success is the link between socialist economic and social policies and democracy. Labour did tremendously well in Scotland not only because it was fighting against win an election.
poverty, but The linked that to extending - the demand for a • Scottish Assembly. The GLC expanded the idea of democracy - and then defended it during the fight against abolition.
That is one thing that is astonishing about the record of the last two Labour - a legacy that still has to be overcome. These governments not through right wing economic policies that broke our sup port, but they didn't even take the first step that could be taken to extend They were secretive as any Tory government. They pressured by women into passing the Equal Pay and Equal Op they directly North of Ireland. That was how the Liberals first to win.
by challenging Labour over its failure to defend civi remember the popularity of the GLC at the end. But when we were first elected we faced a campaign in the press of the against Haringey, Brent, Lambeth and other councils in "The most odious man in was the Sun's famous comWe turned the polls around on our policies - Ireland, on women, on support for the black community by fighting for them. By not allowing the Tories to set the agenda I believe one serious cical soccen by le party icauci• ship on Ireland or lesbian and gay rights would begin to turn the tide of hysteria round — and would give a lead to the entire Labour Party.
If we spend four years saying this type of issue is the most important thing confronting the country, accepting the agenda the Tories set, then we can't expect suddenly, in an election campaign, to set another agenda and about who sets the political agenda is all important. The polls show that the whole increase in support came before the famous television broadcast. What was decisive was that we stopped attacking Arthur Scargill, or denouncing the left, and turned outwards to deal with issues that count to real people. . The problem is that is was done too late. You cannot accept large parts of the Tories' agenda for four years, and then set your own for four weeks, and hope to win an Lesson We have to hope that this lesson will be learned and the party will be kept turned outwards. that is what is needed But I can't say the signs are hopeful. The leaks that have been ap pearing in the press since the election are that the right wing think the mos
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