11.05.2011

Welsh Labour rejects coalition

Gareth Evans recognises a threat of mass redundancies and cuts in services

In stark contrast to the party’s fortunes in Scotland, Labour did reasonably well in Wales. On a lower turnout compared to the last elections to the Senydd (42% compared to 43.5% in 2007), the party increased its overall share of the vote, gained four seats and secured 30 out of the total 60 seats available.

Clearly, Welsh Labour, which is marginally to the left of the party in Britain as a whole, has seen a return of its traditional voters. In the main this is due to the Con-Dem coalition government and its programme of savage cuts. The Liberal Democrats were seen as betraying their principles in order to get into government and have been suitably punished. Their share of the vote slumped, though they only lost one seat, going from six to five AMs. Meanwhile, Labour’s old coalition partner in Wales, Plaid Cymru, actually lost four seats. For the first time since the birth of the assembly in 1999, Plaid ended up behind the Tories, finishing third and thus making its claim to be the “party of Wales” seem a little thin.

As good as this might be for Welsh Labour, however, the failure to capture the 31st seat means that it is unable to form a majority administration in the Senydd. Nevertheless, Carwyn Jones, Labour’s leader in Wales, announced that his party would go ahead alone. At least to begin with - reportedly the door is being left open to Plaid and the Lib Dems at a later date. Needless to say, all coalition deals should be rigorously opposed by the left. Labour must not be allowed to water down its already completely inadequate election manifesto commitments. Better to suffer defeat than a rotten compromise.

Leave that aside, the fact is that the Welsh administration’s budget has already been set at a level which threatens mass redundancies and cuts in services over the next four years. Militants must demand that Welsh Labour uses its position in the assembly to mobilise resistance rather than engaging in special pleading for Wales. What is more, it must refuse to implement the Con-Dem cuts in areas under its control. If all other AMs vote against it - an unlikely scenario - or Westminster moves in hard - so be it. Labour should appeal to the working class for support.

The results for non-Labour left organisations were abysmal. Promoting a generally principled anti-cuts agenda, yet standing against each other despite arguing for a similar platform predominantly relating to economic demands, the Socialist Labour Party and the Morning Star’s Communist Party of Britain contested all five of the country’s regions. Trade Unionists and Socialists against Cuts stood in two of them as well.

Both the CPB and Tusc barely registered, finishing towards the bottom (if not at the bottom) of the regional poll, below such reactionary organisations as the Welsh Christian Party and the British National Party (itself on a much reduced overall percentage vote). Faring rather better, but hardly capturing any significant section of the Welsh working class vote, was the SLP. In those regions with a history of militant working class politics (in particular South Wales West and South Wales Central) Scargill’s organisation secured around 3% of the vote (and 2.4% overall).