Election highlights. posted by Richard Seymour

The buzz will not die down for a while. Galloway's victory, and the strong results in East london, Birmingham, Slough and elsewhere will give a massive shot in the arm to the Left in this country. There is absolutely no doubt about that. If we have Respect tables out across the country asking people to join this weekend, people will join. The votes are unprecedented for a small party standing on its first election. Added to that is the apparent success for our member Matt Wrack in the election for general-secretary of the Fire Brigades Union. If the firefighters' strike had taken place with Matt at the helm, there would have been no stopping and starting at the whim of the Labour Party. Gilchrist, a member of the Labour Party, was all too susceptible to bullying and cajoling. And we now have a stronger basis on which to appeal for union funds and support; on which to work in and with the unions over issues to do with pay, job safety and employment rights.

Another achievement has been to totally marginalise the extremists like al Muhajiroun, who argue that Muslims should not unite with white people. The necessary anti-fascist campaign that must start in West Yorkshire and Barking with immediate effect will be the stronger for the kind of unity that has been built here.

The Liberal Democrats' success, disguised by strong votes in very safe Labour seats, but exemplified by some astonishing captures from the labour heartland, should be encouraging in one way. But in no sense can they be relied upon to be in practise any more left-wing than New Labour. This is one further reason why Respect needs to grow as an organisation and stand more candidates. It must consolidate itself in the councils, in the unions and on the streets. The groups within Respect are quite happy to become smaller fish in a much larger pond, and that is what will happen. Building in this way, Respect can bring rank and file socialist politics back to the mainstream, after having been relegated for so long to a benchmark from which sensible politicians should compete to distance themselves.

The fine showings for Craig Murray and Reg Keys are very encouraging, as was the remarkable, savage sock to New Labour's jaw from the independent socialist candidate in Blaneau Gwent. Even the Greens did quite well, taking some relatively strong votes - although their sectarian attitude to working with others also saw them humiliated in some constituencies, and their decision to stand against Galloway and Rose Gentle did nothing for them. And the Tory revival was much less pronounced than anyone expected. So far from a swing to the Tories, the Conservative vote rose by a miserly 0.5% - the bulk of the gains came in marginal constituencies where Howard ruthlessly targetted the resources of his party machine. Even then, they did not always succeed - the decent left-winger Bob Marshall-Andrews did in the end keep his seat in Meadway. As the psephologist Tony King pointed out, this was not a swing to the right - rather, the Labour vote crumbled and escaped in various directions.

Finally, some of the best moments have been those inviting schadenfreude - the impotent, stunned groping for explanations by the pro-war liberals; the fact that every one of Oliver Kamm's predictions for the election has been a total failure (the confidence with which he delivers ignorant bullshit is breathtaking, the sure sign of a con artist); the merciless slapping that Paxman received from Galloway on national television; the fact that Blair has had to grovel so deliciously; the agonised expression on Oona King's face; the fact that Howard has had to resign so suddenly, and so sullenly; the fact that Kilroy has been so thoroughly humbled, and that UKIP has spent a fortune without winning a single seat; the realisation that the war really does matter to workers and not just the middle class (and what a nasty shock for Peter Hain MP to discover that). Oh, there are so many delicious moments. This is one to savour. Put it like this: In 1997, I was up for Portillo; this time, I was up for King. That's how big this is.

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