General Election – Campaign News
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NEWS RELEASE
Quote:The Socialist Party of Great Britain, the second oldest political party in the country, today announced plans to contest ten constituencies at the General Election on Thursday, 7 May. This will be the largest UK Parliamentary election campaign undertaken by The Socialist Party since it first stood a candidate in the historic 1945 General Election.
“The Socialist Party offers the only alternative to the profit system,” said prospective candidate Howard Pilott who has been selected to contest Brighton Pavilion. “We stand for the common ownership and democratic control of the resources of the world. Production just for use where goods and services are provided to meet people's needs, not for sale on a market or for profit.”
Jacqueline Shodeke, selected for Brighton Kemptown said that “rather than the daily struggle that most people face today, we could have a world where we all have access to what we require to satisfy our needs, and are not rationed by the size of our wage packet or state handout.”
Oxford East candidate Kevin Parkin added that: “Standing candidates in ten constituencies means people will have more chance to register their support for a genuine socialist alternative to the capitalist system, one where everybody has an equal say in the way things are run. The Socialist Party stands for a future that works with everyone able to sit in the ‘driving seat’.”
The Party announced the names of its prospective candidates for each of the ten constituencies: Bill Martin – Islington North; Danny Lambert – Vauxhall (London); Brian Johnson – Swansea West (Wales); Steve Colborn – Easington (North East England); Kevin Parkin – Oxford East; Mike Foster – Oxford West and Abingdon; Robert Cox – Canterbury; Andy Thomas – Folkestone and Hythe (Kent); Howard Pilott – Brighton Pavilion; Jacqueline Shodeke – Brighton Kemptown.
For more information contact the Socialist Party of Great Britain on spgb@worldsocialism.org or telephone 0207 6223811 or contact: http://www.worldsocialism.org/spgb or write to the Socialist Party of Great Britain at 52 Clapham High Street, London SW4 7UN.
An election statement from the prospective socialist candidate for the constituency of Brighton Pavilion:
Quote:Voters of Brighton, you are needed like never before. Unlike other candidates I am asking you to do more than just put an X on a piece of paper: I am also asking you to think. Additionally I am hoping you will act. Most of what you have been and will be told about this election is spin and nonsense: you are beinggiven various cocktails of deceit to numb you and keep things pretty much asthey are. PR + politics = lying on an industrial scale. The truth is that the present is bleak, and the future more so… except for a lucky few.My first ask of you is to give 5 minutes to the question as to why most of us have got worse off during the past 6 years whereas the top 1% have become wealthier. Look at the situation around you: A & E crises; unaffordable rents; zero hours contracts; student debt; little or nothing in the way of pay rises for ages…Looks bleak to me. And most of the politicians are offering more tough medicine to come. This sits alongside companies that pay little or no tax on increasing earnings; rich individuals who pay little or no tax on huge incomes; and fat cats getting huge bonuses and large pay rises. Ever thought things were unbalanced?Look at the horizon: on the economy yet more austerity – some say the worst of the cuts are yet to come, yet more pain to the vast majority. On the environment impending disaster. We have had 20+ years of global discussions and it has got us nowhere nearer doing anything substantial in protecting the environment. In fact in some respects we have gone backwards: as the consensus amongst those who know (the climate scientists) has consolidated that we have caused climate change and it is getting worse, so fewer of the public believe it or even seem to care. My second ask is to get you to think why the experts – and they ARE experts – and the public are so far apart on this one.So that’s a glimpse of the context of the forthcoming election. And so why am I standing in the election? What do I offer that’s so different? Firstly there is nothing in this for me beyond what is in it for you. Let’s face it: I know I will notbe elected – I realise I am too far from most people – but I do hope to sow seeds. The most important seed is THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE. Secondly, most of the electoral offer, and certainly all the main parties, will offer to work within the set up as it is: they accept the dominance of the market system. Some will claim their brand of regulation will curtail any excess, and they will make the markets work for you. Few – I might well be alone here – want to abolish this system altogether. What does this tell us about the election? It means most of the people you can vote for want power to stay pretty much where it is.I, however, want it transferred to you. I think the current capitalist system is criminal, but somehow we have all got used to it and have become blind to its cockeyed nature. To an outside observer it would appear bizarre. Imagine a friendly visitor from another planet came here. They note how resourceful how planet is – how there is plenty – and ask how we organise things. The reply is that the best arrangement we can think of is to take half of what we have and give it to 1% of the population, at the same time as letting millions starve. We do this because we believe these very rich people need much much more than everyone else, because they alone are the wealth creators: we are useless without them. We would not be lying to say this.I for one cannot accept this is the best way to run things: I do not believe this self-serving rubbish for an instant. I cannot accept there is no alternative to a system that runs most things to the benefit of vested interests. I think we probably do not need these fat cats at all. Most people I meet are talented and more importantly it is the workers who create the wealth, so it should be ours to share. This is why I am a socialist. This is why I stand on a platform calling for the abolition of capitalism. So what I am asking you to do is to really think about whether you believe this world is the best that we can offer our fellow humans and our children; whether you really believe this is as good as it gets.I want you to look again at what you are being told in this election and ask who it really serves: who really stands to benefit from what is on offer? As this dying ConDem government tears up the remnants of the welfare state and sticks up two fingers to the environment, your reflection is needed like never before. If you vote for me you are signalling that you too wish things to change: it is a vote which says you want your share of power, and you want the same for everyone.You CAN vote Howard Pilott, Socialist Party of Great Britain on May 7.I see our candidatures are now on wikipedia too:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_East_%28UK_Parliament_constituency%29#cite_note-8http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_West_and_Abingdon_%28UK_Parliament_constituency%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brighton_Pavilion_%28UK_Parliament_constituency%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brighton_Kemptown_%28UK_Parliament_constituency%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islington_North_%28UK_Parliament_constituency%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vauxhall_%28UK_Parliament_constituency%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canterbury_%28UK_Parliament_constituency%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folkestone_and_Hythe_%28UK_Parliament_constituency%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swansea_West_%28UK_Parliament_constituency%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easington_%28UK_Parliament_constituency%29Our opponents are the usual suspects except in Oxford West & Abingdon where we're up against the National Heath Action Party too and in Folkestone & Hythe against various odds and solds (TUSC and the YPP, whatever that is).Anyway, the gauntlets have been thrown down.
Missed this other possible candidate in Brighton Pavilion:
Quote:On 12 December 2014 sex worker Charlotte Rose stated her intention to stand for the seat, although she did not state if she would be standing as an independent candidate or representing a partyThe lists above may well not be the final list as other candidates will probably coming forward in the coming months.
jondwhite wrote:But no more SPGB candidates will be announced right?I don't think it's too late for other branches to 'throw their hats into the ring', so to speak; the more the merrier. Subject to ratification by the EC of course.
ALB wrote:I see our candidatures are now on wikipedia too:Do they mention the next election ?
Yes, scroll down to Elections in 2010s:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easington_%28UK_Parliament_constituency%29Scroll down even further to Elections in the 1990s and see how we did in 1997.I see no one wants to stand there as a Tory or LibDem. Can't say I blame them.
ALB wrote:I see no one wants to stand there as a Tory or LibDem. Can't say I blame them.They would be eaten alive More noticeable is the reduction in turn out over the years.
jondwhite wrote:But no more SPGB candidates will be announced right?I can't see any more branches coming forward to contest the parliamentary elections, but there are local elections the same day in two of the seats we've chosen: Brighton Kemptown and Folkestone & Hythe. There are elections to Lewes District Council (and East Sussex County Council) in the former and to Shepway District Council in the latter. Personally, I'd be in favour of contesting a council seat in each, so as to raise further our profile and also provide a focus for leafletting. Candidates would have to live in the council area but we have members, even parliamentary candidates, living in both.
You could be right, Steve, but all the other sources, including what we reported in the Socialist Standard at the time, say 503. It's possible that all are just repeating an original mistake, but what is your source? The only definite one will be that declared and signed by the Returning Officer but I can't find a copy of this on the internet. Have you got one?
ALB wrote:You could be right, Steve, but all the other sources, including what we reported in the Socialist Standard at the time, say 503. It's possible that all are just repeating an original mistake, but what is your source? The only definite one will be that declared and signed by the Returning Officer but I can't find a copy of this on the internet. Have you got one?Here are just some of those sources. http://www.theguardian.com/politics/constituency/897/easingtonhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/vote2001/results_constituencies/constituencies/218.stmhttp://ukpollingreport.co.uk/2015guide/easington/
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