the Disillusioned kid: Kilroy Takes The Anti-War Vote!
| Email | Home | Linkage | Profile |

Monday, June 21, 2004

Kilroy Takes The Anti-War Vote!

A lot of guff has been written about the elections which took place on June 10. The key factor in this, we are told by some commentators on the left, was the anti-war vote in protest against Blair's fiasco in Iraq. A cold, hard look at the facts suggests a less rosy picture. George Galloway's Respect Coalition are clearly very excited by having polled 252,216 votes in the European Parliamentary Elections, however the British National Party (BNP) polled 808,200, more than three times as many. Alongside this we must remember the huge vote (2,650,768) for the UK Independence Party (UKIP) - led by Robert Kilroy-Silk, whose TV show was axed after he made anti-Arab remarks - which forced the Lib-Dems, who were at least rhetorically opposed to the war, into fourth place. All of this seems a strange way to express one's opposition to the war.

Shortly after the elections I wrote a post in which I pondered whether talk of an anti-war vote was exaggerated, although I didn't really express a firm opinion on the matter. On reflection, what we appear to have seen is a vote against the establishment, a sentiment which expressed itself in various manifestations, some progressive, some not, some overtly reactionary. The best analysis of the election I have seen is this article by the ever incisive (if controversial) Red Action. Taking in the rise of the BNP, the emergence of UKIP as a major force, the collapse of the mainstream parties, the ideology underlying Respect and the victories achieved (in local rather than European elections) by the Independent Working Class Association (IWCA) they conclude that
Britain's political landscape is changing. The two parties that have alternately formed the government since the 1920's are visibly decomposing. The centre cannot hold. Appropriately it is the [BNP and the IWCA] who in their own small ways are helping change the landscape who are likely to be the beneficiaries of the collapse of the consensual centre. So for the first time in 80 years it is game on - with again literally everything to play for.
If they're right then the next few years are going to be interesting to say the least.
|

Links to this post:

Create a Link

<< Home

Side Projects

Carnival of Anarchy
The Peace Pipe
UK Watch Blog

Acquaintances

Against the Current
Atopian.org
Culture hits and gendered bits
Daniel Randall
In The Water
Mike Wood
On The Barricades
Pizarro's Sword
Space Cat Rocket Ship
Surveillant Assemblage
TashCamUK FotoPage
The Naked Lunch
The Peace Pipe
The World of the Dynamite Lady

Strangers

Anarchoblogs
Antiwar.com Blog
Arte & Lingua
Barker in Valencia
Blairwatch
Bloggerheads
Blood & Treasure
Bombs and Shields
Boomablog
Born at the Crest of the Empire
Chase me ladies...
Chicken Yoghurt
Craig Murray
Dead Men Left
Direland
Disreputable Lazy Aliens
Empire Notes
Europhobia
Friends of Al Jazeera
Global Guerillas
Guerillas in the Midst
I Blame the Patriachy
Informed Comment
Insultadarity
Janine Booth
Lenin's Tomb
Life of Riley Blog
Media Watch Watch
Neil Shakespeare
NO2ID NewsBlog
One Hump or Two?
Otto's Random Thoughts
Perfect.co.uk
Pitch In For Uzbekistan
Registan.net
Run over by the truth
Solidarity With Iraqi Workers
Shut Up You Fat Whiner!
Sudan: Passion of the Present
Talk Politics
The Anthropik Network
The Daily (Maybe)
The Devil's Kitchen
The Disillusioned
The f-word
The Head Heeb
The Killing Train
The Revenge of Winston Smith
The Socialist Unity Blog
The Wicked Truth
Theory of Power
Things I Don't Have Time For
This (Fresh) Gringo
This Is My Truth
Thumping the Tub
Time The Dreaded Enemy
UK Watch Blog
UK Poli Blogs
underbrella
Under The Same Sun
Uzbekistan.neweurasia.net
What Fresh Hell Is This?
Where is Raed? (RIP)
Who Are You to Accuse Me?
Words and Rocks
Zeropointnine
Z-Net Blog

Neighbours

Asbo Community Space
Defy-ID
Eastside Climate Action
Faslane 365
Freecycle
Indymedia
No Borders
Nottingham Student Peace Movement
Refugee Forum
Stop the War
Sumac Centre
The Demo Project

Ivory Towers

Anarchist Studies Network
Centre for the Study of Social and Global Justice
Postanarchism Clearinghouse

Miscellania

Anarchist FAQ
Antiwar.com
Chagos Discussion List
Chagos Support Forums
Electronic Intifada
Future of Iraq Portal
Index of Political Blogs
Indymedia UK
Infoshop
Iraq Occupation Focus
Pledgebank
Refuser Solidarity Network
SchNEWS
Socialist Unity Network
The New Standard
UK Chagos Support Association
UK Watch
Weekly Worker
Wikipedia
WriteToThem.com
Z-Net

The Progressive Blog Alliance

Register here to join the PBA.