WORLD WORLDWIDE EUROPE UK uk United Kingdom - news journal UPDATE - (en) UK, ACG, Jackdaw 26 - The May Elections and After (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

The May council, mayoral, and Welsh and Scottish Parliamentary elections showed the shifting ground of British politics. The two main establishment parties, Labour and the Conservatives, were decimated in England and Wales, and many, well those who bothered to vote, did so against the attacks both had led against working conditions and living standards of the working class. This disgust was expressed in Wales and in Scotland with votes for the nationalist parties, which adopt centrist to left social democratic language. Labour lost almost 1500 council seats, in England, whilst the Tories, with a much reduced 1,300 seats, lost a further 600 seats.

However, the biggest benefactors were the hard right populists of Reform, who won roughly 30% of the council seats up for grabs, including 14 councils. These included traditional Labour strongholds like Barnsley, Gateshead, and Sandwell. They came second after the Plaid Cymru nationalists in Wales and in Scotland grabbed 16% of the vote.
Farage and Reform are exploiting the anger felt by many with successive governments, and fanning the flames of racism in British society. Many were disgusted with the way the Starmer government carried on with austerity measures like previous Tory governments. The vote for Reform appears to be higher in the most deprived areas. On the other hand, some working class voters voted tactically to block Reform. This wasn't by any means a guaranteed vote for Labour, as the Greens won 500 councillors, an increase of more than 400.
In fact, the Greens seem to be filling the vacuum of social-democracy relinquished by Labour, with increasingly left-sounding promises. The nationalists of Plaid Cymru and the SNP use similar rhetoric to gain working class votes. Zack Polanski referred to the Greens as the 'workers party', and put forward a charter for workers.
However, like Green Parties in other parts of the world, and indeed with already sitting Green councillors and councils in the UK, the hopes of the Green Party posing a genuine alternative will soon be dashed. In over 40 councils they have helped implement cuts just like the rest. Where they now have wrested control, will they refuse to implement austerity measures?
Well, Polanski has said that councils have no choice in implementing cuts because it's due to the decisions of central government. No mention of local organising of workers and local people in alliance with intransigent councillors, or a cartel of councils pledging to refuse to implement cuts. This doesn't even enter his head!

https://www.anarchistcommunism.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/jackdaw_low-res.pdf
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Source: A-infos-en@ainfos.ca