It was a disappointing election for the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP), as its vote dropped across Scotland. Keith Baldassara won one of the SSP’s best votes of 1,666 — 5.4 percent — in Glasgow South West.
The defeat Tony Blair suffered in east London and his other losses in Thursday’s election are for Iraq.
‘Galloway’s election is a big breakthrough. The votes in East and West Ham show there is a significant minority who are determined to punish Blair.’Tariq Ali, author and activist
As the sun came up over Brick Lane on Friday a new dawn had truly broken over the East End of London — and over British politics.
Salma took second place with a total of 10,498 votes, some 27.5 percent. Godsiff came first with 13,787.
Representatives of the left in Europe sent congratulations to George Galloway after his triumph. We reprint the message sent by Fausto Bertinotti of Italy’s Rifondazione Comunista.
Sixty years ago, on 8 May 1945, millions of people celebrated VE (Victory in Europe) Day. There was genuine enthusiasm that the Nazis were gone at last. But in North Africa things looked rather different.
In 1892 a man was elected to parliament who transformed the political landscape. Breaking with the two established mainstream parties of the day — the Tories and Liberals — he became the first independent Labour MP, a worker representing other working people in parliament.
West Ham’s rebel history has passed down from the 19th century to today. In 1937 Maurice Foley, aged 14, went to work in the Royal Docks. He spent more than 50 years there as an active trade unionist and still lives in the area.
Newham, the borough which encompasses West Ham, is now one of the most ethnically mixed areas of Britain. Black and Asian people who arrived from the 1950s onwards have added to the area’s battling tradition by facing down racists and Nazis.
Birmingham The Respect campaign team continues to expand as more and more people are volunteering and canvassing.
Every Major city in Europe is near a river — Rome on the Tiber, Paris on the Seine and London on the Thames. The earliest civilisations grew in river valleys. For most of human history water was a communal resource.
