Local elections: Galloway’s Rochdale flop

By David Axon George Galloway’s "grand anti-Labour alliance" made a small dent in Rochdale’s Labour council in the local elections on 2 May. The Workers’ Party won two seats from Labour but none of the other Galloway-backed candidates – Liberal Democrats and Middleton Independents - were elected. The campaign was the opportunity for promotion of …

Owen Jones: from campaigner to social media ‘brand’

The social media 'brand' that is Owen Jones has resigned from the Labour party, saying “It’s difficult to disentangle Labour from my sense of self.” And, indeed, it’s difficult to disentangle his resignation from his self-righteousness. His resignation – variously announced in a Guardian article, an online video, a podcast and on Twitter/X, contains some justified condemnation …

Manifesto of the (genuine) Russian Left

Cartoon by Peter Brookes (the Times) We Need a Just World/ Peace Post author: lefteast Post date: March 16, 2024 Note from LeftEast editors: The following manifesto was released on March 3 in anticipation of the upcoming Russian election on March 17th. It is the product of a number of Russian leftist academics, politicians, bloggers, and …

Just who is supporting the global rise of the hard right?

Young people are switching to right wing parties and young men in particular are embracing right wing views (above: AfD supporters in Germany) By Mike Phipps at Labour Hub (h/t: Coatesy) Half the world is going to the polls in 2024 and so far the signs are not good. Many elections are neither free nor …

Behind Labour’s Rochdale fiasco

Above: Azhar Ali and Keir Starmer in happier times (Picture: Twitter/ Azhar Ali) One of the few aspects of Starmer's leadership of the Labour party that Shiraz has had some sympathy with has been his stated determination to deal with antisemitism within the party. Regardless of the degree to which you might think Jeremy Corbyn …

Galloway: scum rises again

Above: George Galloway and friends One of the most loathsome figures to have polluted British politics is, all too predictably, using the Gazan massacre in a cynical attempt to make a comeback: George Galloway is standing in the Rochdale byelection. Here's a rundown on this chancer's recent political history (mainly gleaned from Wikipedia): On 14 …

Hard right fails to make predicted breakthrough in Spanish election

PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo was left without options to form a government after two key regional parties rejected his overtures |[Thomas Coex/AFP via Getty Images] What happened in Spain’s snap general election on Sunday? Pretty much the opposite of everything the pollsters and pundits had predicted would happen. The election, called by the prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, …

Erdogan wins again: hope is shipwrecked

Above: Erdogan with wife Emine, who often appears in public in a headscarf [REUTERS] After twenty years in power, Recep Tayyip Erdogan won again in the second and final round of the presidential elections on 28 May 2023. Faced with his rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who won 47.84 per cent of the vote, Erdogan, whose bloc …

Unite EC elections: ‘mixed bag’ results, not a left-right choice … abysmally low turnout

Above: one slate was simply those who supported general secretary Sharon Graham By Ann Field The results of the triennial Unite the Union Executive Council (EC) elections, announced on Thursday 27 April, were a mixed bag. The 62-strong EC is a mixture of geographical seats (representing the union’s ten Regions), industrial sector seats (representing the …

SNP: the cult shows its true nature

Above: Regan, Yousaf and Forbes (Getty) By Dale Street Humza Yousaf was declared winner of the SNP leadership contest on 27 March. After votes cast for Ash Regan were redistributed, Yousaf beat Kate Forbes by 52% to 48% on a 70% turnout. More important than the outcome is what the contest – the first SNP …