Elections Follow

Waltham Forest Respect was delighted to receive nearly 15 percent of the vote in the Leytonstone ward by-election on Thursday 14 July. We came a strong third, well ahead of the Tories and the Greens, whose votes collapsed. We only had four weeks to build our campaign, and the lessons from the doorstep are clear — where we were able to canvas we could quite easily turn people towards Respect as a clear alternative to the inadequate policies of our Labour/Lib Dem council. The timescale between now and the borough wide council elections in May is obviously far longer, so our campaign effectively starts now! We are planning on holding meetings on pressing issues such as managing Olympic inves

Iran’s presidential election on Friday this week was set to be a major test for the reform movement that has emerged in the country over the last decade.

The results of Unison’s national executive council (NEC) elections were disappointing for the left.

Following a disastrous defeat for the governing SPD, the equivalent of Britain’s Labour Party, in its North Rhine and Westphalia heartland, it has called for early elections in a desperate move to ward off rebellion in its ranks.

Elections for the postal executive of the CWU union saw left candidates keep their positions. Socialist Worker supporter Jane Loftus was re-elected with one of the best votes, drawing support from all regions of the union.

The first round of voting in Lebanon’s elections has exposed the reality behind the "new dawn for democracy" in the Middle East.

Elections for governors and councillors took place across Uruguay, South America, on 8 May. Right wing parties were crushed in almost half of the districts of the country.

A new left wing party is contesting the regional elections in North Rhine and Westphalia in Germany this Sunday.

Of themselves, elections don’t change anything. They act as a barometer of the deeper social forces at work. But that doesn’t mean that elections are irrelevant. Only a fool would say that the victory of the Tories under Margaret Thatcher in 1979 had no effect on British society.

The fascist British National Party (BNP) did not enter the general election expecting to win a parliamentary seat. But it did hope to increase its share of the vote in a number of areas, building a base for next year’s local elections.

Recent regional elections in Italy saw successes for the left. In Puglia the winner was Nichi Vendola, a gay communist and member of Rifondazione Comunista. Here he explains how he won and looks at the choice in Britain.

Ballot papers are going out for the Unison national executive elections. Unison United Left is standing a number of candidates.