THE VICTORY of Shirley Williams in the Crosby by-election is the product of unique circumstances which will never be repeated. Her new two party (Tory-SP) system is the excusable product of election-night excitement.
here to stay. and that we have definitely entered the era of a 'three party system'.
Why precisely were the Labour Party and the SDP able to bring off such Tories. a spectacular coup in Cro- That there is massive sby. Crosby, including the blue-rinse scaside town of Tories is casy to explain. disaffection the Formby, has always been The most unpopular *Some of the figires COVETIETE living memory is bound to pro. give an indication why. It duce electoral catastrophe. s one of the constituencies Sections of ruling class with the highest rate opinion, particularly those nome ownership associated with industrial More than sixty per around per capital, are toying with the idea of at least temporarily cent or the electorate are in shifting their allegience to the *professional and the SDP. managerial' category and But has the it has an age distribution Labour Parly apparentl TO match, got into electoral difficulOrganised Christianity ty. with only a narrow vicis particularly strong, with 30 per cent of the com- the LUNCHE near-collapse of the Warrington, and Crosby is the kind of con- being Catholics. vote Croydon and Crosby? suluency could never win this side of that Labour doesn't present Labour obviously a united ine millenium: it is the sort and coherent political hne. of constituency that the extent, there Tories thought they could truth the right never lose. wing that "internai bickering" is harming Labour's electoral But this capitalisa praject, Labour always go down to defeat at the SDP. The drive to defeat ICE OR TEE the SDP cannot be carried through Labour policy in disarray.
The concensus among political observers is that ine next parliament will see three major parliamentary blocs. Whether that is true or not, Labour's fate depends not only on put ting forward a electoral alternative, crucially on the balance of class forcer which created between now and the tall of the Tory government, together with the balance of political forces inside the Labour Party and the trade unions. Aid The iwa be separated. It the working class is continually defag. ted on the industrial front, 2110 fightback against unemployment takes COLACE the ensuing passivity will massively aid the SDP and Labour's right wing.
This situation poses a number of urgent tasks for the Labour left. The first is to refuse to shut up shop until the election is over.
That would be a gift to the TIEN wing. and moreover virtually suranee : a big SDP suc second, Socialist Chalente has continually is to the weight Labour left inside all the partial and embryonic struggles which are emerging unempioyment. These can be crucial levers to fight the trade union bureaucracy, which can itself start transform the relationship Of forces in the Labour Party.
WELL DONE It's the Conservatives - they'd like to form an alliance'
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statement that the Labour Party is collapsing and that we are seeing the emergence of a
Nonetheless, a whole series of electoral trends show that the SDP-Liberal alliance is