27.06.2001
End division
This letter, dated June 21, has been sent to Arthur Scargill?s SLP following a unanimous decision of the Socialist Alliance executive
To the Socialist Labour Party national executive committee
This general election saw the largest vote ever for socialist organisations standing independently of the Labour Party.
The Scottish Socialist Party and the Socialist Alliance in England and Wales polled 130,071 votes (SSP: 72,518; and Socialist Alliance in England and Wales: 57,553) and the SLP another 57,288. Ten deposits were saved in Scotland and another three in England (SA: two; and SLP: one). In total the socialist vote in England, Scotland and Wales came to a very impressive 195,402 votes in the context of the lowest turnout of voters by far since 1918. It is clear from the size of the socialist vote and the huge number of abstentions, particularly amongst younger voters, that there are very large numbers of people now looking for an alternative to Blair?s Tory policies.
We very much regret that SLP and Socialist Alliance candidates ended up standing against one another in a minority of the seats we contested. For what it is worth, Socialist Alliance candidates beat the SLP in 24 seats and vice versa in another 12. But we were both damaged by this division which allowed the opponents of socialism to argue that we were more interested in fighting each other than presenting a credible alternative to New Labour. In two constituencies the combined SLP-SA vote could have saved the deposit had there been one candidate.
Moreover, we could have expected a higher vote in constituencies where there were both Socialist Alliance and SLP candidates than the sum of our respective votes would suggest, if there had been only one socialist candidate. In St Helens South this might have meant the socialist candidate coming in third ahead of the Tories. We very much welcome the comments of Mike Perry, the SLP candidate in St Helens South, after the election. Mike said that he would have withdrawn his candidacy in favour of Neil Thompson had it been possible, and that he now intends to work with the Socialist Alliance in St Helens, whilst remaining an SLP member.
The Socialist Alliance comes out of this election heartened by our vote and the vote for socialist parties as a whole and by the number of people we have actively involved in our campaigns. We intend to continue campaigning hard against privatisation and for the renationalisation of the railways and on many other issues. And beyond that we intend to continue contesting elections locally, nationally and at European level.
There is much more that unites us as socialists than divides us. The Socialist Alliance has proved itself an inclusive organisation in which existing political organisations can fully participate whilst preserving their independent structures and political identity, but which also welcomes those who want to be in no other political organisation than the Socialist Alliance itself. We hope the Socialist Labour Party will now give serious consideration to joining us in the Socialist Alliance or, at least, discussing how we can avoid future electoral clashes. Without prejudging where any contact would lead, we would welcome any informal or formal discussions with you to progress this matter.
Whether or not you feel you can now discuss these matters with us, individual SLP members will continue to be welcome to fully participate in the Socialist Alliance at all levels.
Please reply to office@socialistalliance.net, or write to Socialist Alliance, Wickham House, 10 Cleveland Way, London E1 4TR, or phone 020 7791 3138.
Yours fraternally
Socialist Alliance national executive