So Tony Blair looks set to rule with a 66 seat majority, sharply down from 167 at the last general election, however this majority is not the mandate it first appears to be. Due to the quirkiness of the British electoral process this victory was endorsed by only 22% of those eligible to vote (36% of those who did)- the lowest figure that Labour has polled at any post-war election apart from 1983 when the figure was 20.6% and in that election they lost to the Conservatives who had a 144 seat majority.
The Labour vote collapsed right across the country with former supporters votes fragmenting across the range of alternative candidates. In constituencies where local antiwar activists effectively channelled this Labour discontent into a single candidate we saw big upsets for Labour. Examples include Bethnal Green where former Labour MP and Respect candidate George Galloway defeated Oona King with a 26.2% swing and in Hornsey and Woodgreen where Barbara Roche was replaced with Lynne Featherstone, a lib dem, with a 14.6% swing.
George Galloway, in one of the few acceptance speeches to highlight the underlying cause of the collapse in labour support said Mr Blair, this defeat is for Iraq and the other defeats that New Labour has received this evening are for Iraq ... All the people you have killed and all the loss of life have come back to haunt you and the best thing that the Labour Party can do is sack you tomorrow morning.” Galloway went on to thank Oona King for her eight years of work in the constituency and described her as an “able person who will be back in politics and Parliament”, he went on to say “It was not her defeat. It was a defeat for Tony Blair and New Labour for all of the betrayals”.
In Tony Blair’s own constituency, candidate Reg Keys whose son Tom was killed in Iraq, came from nowhere to take over 10% of the vote. Tony Blair, whose support dropped 6%, was forced to stand and listen to some home truths as Mr Keys spoke following the count. He said “If this war had been justified by international law I would have grieved and not campaigned. If weapons of mass destruction had been found in Iraq — again I would have grieved, not campaigned. Tonight there are lessons to be learned. I hope in my heart that one day the prime minister may be able to say sorry. That one day he will say sorry to the families of the bereaved. And one day the prime minister may be able to visit wounded soldiers in hospital.”
The Labour leadership last night were still unable to square the real world experience of the election with the alternate reality constructed by them and corporate media.
A Labour spokesman said: “Clearly, there are some people for whom Iraq was an issue. For the majority of voters, the focus was on their future in terms of the economy and public services and that is what we got on the doorstep and from our own research.”
This view is at odds with a poll published last night that suggests hostility to the war was a bigger issue than has so far been acknowledged. The poll found 23% of people surveyed cited opposition to the war as a reason for being reluctant to vote Labour.
So Tony Blair looks set to rule with a 66 seat majority, sharply down from 167 at the last general election, however this majority is not the mandate it first appears to be. Due to the quirkiness of the British electoral process this victory was endorsed by only 22% of those eligible to vote (36% of those who did)- the lowest figure that Labour has polled at any post-war election apart from 1983 when the figure was 20.6% and in that election they lost to the Conservatives who had a 144 seat majority.
The Labour vote collapsed right across the country with former supporters votes fragmenting across the range of alternative candidates. In constituencies where local antiwar activists effectively channelled this Labour discontent into a single candidate we saw big upsets for Labour. Examples include Bethnal Green where former Labour MP and Respect candidate George Galloway defeated Oona King with a 26.2% swing and in Hornsey and Woodgreen where Barbara Roche was replaced with Lynne Featherstone, a lib dem, with a 14.6% swing.
George Galloway, in one of the few acceptance speeches to highlight the underlying cause of the collapse in labour support said Mr Blair, this defeat is for Iraq and the other defeats that New Labour has received this evening are for Iraq ... All the people you have killed and all the loss of life have come back to haunt you and the best thing that the Labour Party can do is sack you tomorrow morning.” Galloway went on to thank Oona King for her eight years of work in the constituency and described her as an “able person who will be back in politics and Parliament”, he went on to say “It was not her defeat. It was a defeat for Tony Blair and New Labour for all of the betrayals”.
In Tony Blair’s own constituency, candidate Reg Keys whose son Tom was killed in Iraq, came from nowhere to take over 10% of the vote. Tony Blair, whose support dropped 6%, was forced to stand and listen to some home truths as Mr Keys spoke following the count. He said “If this war had been justified by international law I would have grieved and not campaigned. If weapons of mass destruction had been found in Iraq — again I would have grieved, not campaigned. Tonight there are lessons to be learned. I hope in my heart that one day the prime minister may be able to say sorry. That one day he will say sorry to the families of the bereaved. And one day the prime minister may be able to visit wounded soldiers in hospital.”
The Labour leadership last night were still unable to square the real world experience of the election with the alternate reality constructed by them and corporate media.
A Labour spokesman said: “Clearly, there are some people for whom Iraq was an issue. For the majority of voters, the focus was on their future in terms of the economy and public services and that is what we got on the doorstep and from our own research.”
This view is at odds with a poll published last night that suggests hostility to the war was a bigger issue than has so far been acknowledged. The poll found 23% of people surveyed cited opposition to the war as a reason for being reluctant to vote Labour.