By Lisa Macdonald
The landslide victory for Tony Blair's New Labour Party in the May 1 British election was more a massive rejection of 18 years of Tory policies than it was a strong endorsement of Blair's new style Labour Toryism.
The lack of enthusiasm for all politicians was reflected in the relatively low turnout of 70% — 10% less than in the last general election. Extensive "tactical" voting patterns across electorates indicate that most people voted for the best-placed anti-Tory candidate rather than simply for Labour. This also reveals a general lack of enthusiasm for Blair or expectation that New Labour will deliver real change.
The final result for the three main parties — Labour 419 seats (on 44% of the vote), Conservatives 165 seats (31%), Liberal Democrats 46 seats (17%) — leaves the Tories without a single seat in Scotland and Wales, and minuscule representation in the major urban centres. The Conservatives are now a party of the English suburbs and countryside.
In Ireland, there was a 10% swing in nationalist areas from the Social Democratic Labour Party to Sinn Féin. Martin McGuinness won the seat of Mid Ulster for Sinn Féin by 6000 votes and Gerry Adams won West Belfast by 8000.
Arthur Scargill's Socialist Labour Party, which split from Labour last year, contested 56 seats. Its best results were in East Ham, where it received 2697 votes (6.8%), Cardiff Central with 2230 votes (5.4%) and Newport East where Scargill received 1951 votes (5.5%).
The Socialist Party (formerly Militant Labour) contested 18 seats and did best in the seat of Coventry South, contested by expelled Labour MP Dave Nellist, who won 3262 votes (6.5%).
Squeezed by the anti-Tory landslide and tactical voting, most socialist candidates polled 1-3%, with the SLP candidates consistently winning the highest socialist vote, aided by the free-to-air party political TV broadcast it was granted for contesting more than 50 seats.
In Scotland, the Scottish Socialist Alliance's Tommy Sheridan received 3639 votes (11.5%) in Glasgow Pollack, the Alliance's best result.