07.05.2003

Mackay re-elected

The SSP's six MSPs and the SA's councillor in Preston were not the only successes for the left on May 1. The Socialist Party's Karen Mackay retained her seat in Coventry St Michaels, increasing her vote to 1,185 (48.4%). Although she was the only candidate elected, there were other SP results that compared favourably to those of the SA, although clearly on a much smaller scale. Peter Glover polled 672 votes (34%) in Netherton and Orrell, Merseyside and five other candidates received more than 10%. The SP contested 25 council seats in England. In Scotland the Socialist Labour Party stood a full slate of candidates (a good many from south of the border) for the regional lists, where they won between 0.8% and 2.6%. The SLP's 3,091 votes in Glasgow (1.5%) represented just under a tenth of the SSP's return. The Morning Star's Communist Party of Britain did even worse, gaining only 345 votes in the city. Neither the SLP nor the CPB is very forthcoming about the number of their candidates or their results in the English council elections, leading to the suspicion that they were not exactly earth-shattering. Peter Manson