People's Democracy

THE Labour Party has won a remarkable second term in the British elections, a feat that had eluded them since over a century.

Tony Blair has declared that his "remarkable and historic" victory had given him "a mandate for reform and for investment" as he stood in Downing Street after his second landslide win.

Immediately after the win the prime minister highlighted a strong economy, a raft of reforms to public services such as the National Health Scheme (NHS), education and transport, the welfare system and the criminal justice system and respect within Europe and across the world as the goals of his second term in office.

"These changes will not be easy but Britain is a very special country and its people are a very special people," he said.

The victory of the Labours is no doubt remarkable, as it seems that the British electorate has still not forgotten the 18 years of consecutive Conservative rule from 1979 to 1997.

But it can also not be forgotten that the turnout in this year’s polls has been fairly low, attracting comments such as an "apathetic landslide" from sections of the British press.

Less than three out of five voters chose to take part in the General Election, figures show. Turnout slumped to 59.2 per cent - 12 per cent down on 1997 - after 623 results out of the total of 659 were declared.

The prime minister wanted a mandate for transforming Britain and while he got the seats, he didn’t get the enthusiastic endorsement he sought.

What Labour got was one of the lowest turnouts of any general election. It was only slightly better than 1918 when, devastated by war, only 58.9 per cent of the population voted and more than 100 candidates stood unopposed. It was effectively the worst turnout since 1885 - the first time most adult males had the vote.

The discovery that more than 40 per cent of the electorate chose to stay away from polling stations came as a disappointment to the major parties, which had all campaigned against voter apathy.

Chancellor Gordon Brown dismissed it as "a trend in Western industrial democracies," and foreign secretary Jack Straw said the turnout reflected "politics of contentment". However Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy called it "shocking", adding: "It is a very discouraging day for all those who care about politics and democracy."

Veteran Labour parliamentarian Tam Dalyell laid the blame squarely at the door of his colleagues and himself. The turnout, he said, "speaks volumes about the low respect" in which politicians are held.

Deputy prime minister John Prescott admitted: "You have to be a little sad that it clearly is a low poll."

The low turnout came despite government schemes to get voters out, including new postal voting rules, updating the electoral register and transforming pubs, caravans and even fish and chip shops into polling stations.

Ignoring this anti-apathy drive, voters in the Labour heartland of St Helens South - where Tory defector Shaun Woodward faced accusations of being parachuted in - appeared to register their protest by staying away from the polling stations. The previous Labour majority of 23,417 was slashed by nearly 9,000 votes, with a turnout of 51.6 per cent compared with 65.9 per cent four years ago.

Even in Tony Blair’s Sedge-field constituency many voters stayed at home as turnout fell 10 per cent to 62 per cent, cutting his majority by 8,000.

In Oldham, which was recently hit by racial riots, the British National Party (which is said to be behind the riots) scored its highest ever number of votes in a parliamentary election. Although environment minister Michael Meacher held the seat of Oldham West and Royton for Labour, the BNP attracted 16 per cent of the vote.

Now with the elections over what does the future hold? The heads have already begun to roll and William Hague the leader of the Conservative Party has resigned from his post.

But the real issue is what line the Labour party would take in its second term with regard to poverty, low pay, job insecurity, the crisis in the NHS or the growing anti-democratic power of big business. That is why so many people either did not vote or voted without much hope that anything would change.

By the end of the campaign even mainstream commentators had noticed that millions of people felt bitterness towards the whole political establishment. Thursday’s election was no endorsement of Tony Blair’s pro-business policies. Fewer people voted in core Labour areas than in any modern general election. Blair wanted this election to give him a mandate for taking further his so called "reforms". That word for him does not mean making things better. It means more privatisation, longer working hours, pressure for speed-ups, and widening inequality. Even Blair realised as the campaign wore on that that message is deeply unpopular among millions of working people. He tried in the last week to appeal to core Labour voters. But people are sick and tired of being taken for granted.

A senior commentator on the bosses’ Financial Times recently predicted that Blair will face a challenge, not from within parliament, but from "unions representing public sector workers" and anti-capitalist "interest groups".

Last time the Labours had sought a vote to save the NHS - now the ball is in their court - as to what is to be done with regards to the social sector for the common man.

The Asian community in Britian has been a traditional supporter of the Labour Party given its stance on racism and immigration.

This time the Labour Party had nominated seven Asian candidates - all of whom have been victorious.

Labour: 412

Conservatives: 166

Liberal Democrats: 52

Others : 19

(Northern Ireland results awaited.)

Forecast majority: 167

Turnout: 59.2 per cent