Prospects for Eastleigh by-election?
By Ian Bone
Former Energy Secretary, Chris Huhne, currently Liberal Democrat MP for Eastleigh in Hampshire, will be standing down after pleading guilty to perverting the cause of justice. Ian Bone looks at the possibilities for the right wing party UKIP in the forthcoming by-election.
The Eastleigh by-election will give UKIP the long awaited opportunity to win a parliamentary seat. The Tories and Lib Dems have been neck and neck for years with Labour nowhere. The Lib Dem vote will colllapse and give UKIP their opportunity – they have been working hard on the seat for months. Much will depend on whether Falange can resist the temptation to displace the UKIP candidate and stand himself.
Though parts of the constituency are villages like Hamble full of yachting types Eastleigh itself has had a solid working class base round its railway industries. My dad was for years chairman of the Labour Party in the adjoining Petersfield constituency and used to think a night drinking in one of Eastleigh’s working men’s clubs was Labour heaven compared to Petersfield.
I doubt those Old Labour stalwarts will vote Miliband this time. Indeed in the absence of any Left alternative I expect some…maybe many…will vote UKIP out of exasperation with everything else. Can we offer anything better?
3 comments
3 responses to “Prospects for Eastleigh by-election?”
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Kate,
Sounds like the ‘left’ in Southampton and others close areas to Eastleigh Constituency need rapidly convene a meeting of all potential interested parties from the discruntled Labour Lefts – the Green Party [Tim Dawes the Chair of the Green Party lives in Hampshire I think] and all others who would like to see a real campaign against austerity and the ConDems take place.
What we don’t want to see is the sort of situation in Croydon North where both Lee Jasper [RESPECT] and Shasha Khan [Green Party] both lost their deposits whereas a single ‘left’ candidate would have certainly gained over 5% of the vote and kept their deposit.
It is worth bearing in mind the potential that UKIP may stand Nigel Farage [who has stood in Eastleigh previously] in a serious attempt to get him into Westminster… I know little of the dynamics or local situation in Eastleigh but if there is anything that we could do to take the sting out of UKIP’s tail then that would be worth doing… It is almost certain that the Lib Dem vote will collapse… perhaps a Green Party campaign backed by the left would have the best chance of mopping up those votes and also giving increased confidence to the working class communities in Eastleigh that have been marginalised and disenfranchised over the recesnt past?
I understand the National Health Action Party is submitting a candidate too…
Heard that RMT Executive member Darren Procter is standing for TUSC