In the best electoral result for the English left in many years, Respect won 16 councillors in the May 4 local council elections. In the seats of Newham and Tower Hamlets — both poor, working-class, inner-city areas of London with substantial migrant communities — Respect gained more than 80,000 votes. In Birmingham’s Sparkbrook ward, anti-war activist and Respect vice-chair Salma Yaqoob won with 55% of the vote. New Labour suffered a massive blow, its vote declining to just 26% of the vote, compared to the Conservatives’ 40%. Indymedia photo.

From Green Left Weekly, May 24, 2006.
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