Labour, as expected, ended 14 years of Tory government on 4th July but independent and minor party candidates performed strongly in the general election amid a surge of anti-Establishment political sentiment. The trend was perhaps best exemplified by the strong performance of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party on a pledge to reduce net migration to the UK.

　　The Liberal-Democrats have struggled in the polls since forming a coalition government with Conservative Party leader David Cameron in 2010. But they bounced back to win 72 seats–their best performance since 1923–while the Greens expanded their representation in the House of Commons from one to four seats.

　　The Irish nationalists also enjoyed significant success, with Sinn Féin becoming the largest party in Northern Ireland. But the party’s MPs always refuse to take their seats in Westminster in rejection of continued British colonisation of Ireland’s northern counties. It was a different case in Scotland, however, with the pro-independence Scottish Nationalist Party losing 38 seats after winning 48 in 2019.

　　Nigel Farage challenged the Conservative Party from the right while the Green Party and various independent candidates challenged Labour from the left.

　　The populist Reform party, originally formed to advocate a no deal Brexit from the EU, garnered almost 15 per cent of the popular vote throughout the country and five seats in the House of Commons. In several constituencies Reform relegated the Conservative Party to third place.

　　Some observers have criticised the party as an electoral spoiler, splitting the right-of-centre vote and enabling the Labour Party to take power more easily. Indeed, the combined vote share of Reform UK and the Tories surpassed that of Labour, which became Westminster’s largest party in the election.

　　Former US President Donald Trump congratulated Farage on his entry into parliament after winning the Clacton electoral constituency. “Congratulations to Nigel Farage on his big WIN of a Parliament Seat Amid Reform UK Election Success,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “Nigel is a man who truly loves his Country!”

　　Trump and Farage have remained strong political allies since Farage’s successful campaign during the 2016 Brexit referendum.

　　Meanwhile independent candidates enjoyed unprecedented success, picking up six seats. Firebrand leftist MP George Galloway was narrowly defeated in Rochdale, but five more candidates entered parliament on a pro-Palestine platform, unseating members of the Labour Party.

　　“Looking at the results across the country, including in Ilford North, it is very clear that Gaza has been a real issue for the Labour Party at this election,” said Labour MP Wes Streeting, who eked out a victory over a pro-Palestine independent challenger by just 500 votes.

　　Labour leader Keir Starmer has been broadly criticised for his public stance on Israel’s deadly military campaign in the Gaza Strip, which has killed over 38,000 Palestinians. Starmer claimed Israel “has the right” to withhold food, water and electricity from the Palestinian enclave while also insisting the country has a “right to defend itself” against Palestinian resistance. The intentional starvation of a civilian population is considered a war crime under international law, while UNresolutions have affirmed the Palestinians’ right to violently resist their occupation by the ethno-supremacist Israeli state.

　　Former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn won re-election in Greater London’s Islington North constituency, easily beating back a challenge from a Labour Party candidate after Starmer expelled Corbyn from the party for his pro-Palestine advocacy.

　　“The Labour Party has won a very large majority but on a considerably lower vote than was achieved in previous elections,” noted Corbyn, responding to criticism of the election as the UK’s most distorted in history. “It does call into question the first past the post system and that no doubt is going to be a debate.”

　　“If the Labour Party is going to be the inclusive organisation it ought to be then it’s going to have to loosen up a bit, and open up a bit; otherwise this idea of imposed candidates and removal of democracy within the party is not good for the future and not very good for democracy.”

　　Editor: Zhong Yao  LiuTingting

　　From:The New worker.26 July 2024