All the principles of Marxist or Socialist thinkers are based on their fundamental belief that human beings are good, hardworking, and trustworthy at heart. Because of this belief Socialists have constructed in their minds the perfect Utopian society in which there is justice, peace, and material well-being for all. There have been many variations of Socialism devised but they are all alike in one respect – they preach the common ownership of property and the means of production. People in the Socialist society strive not for themselves or for their families, but for the good of the whole community. It’s a brotherhood of man type of philosophy in which everyone helps everyone else. As the Communist slogan goes ‘from each according to his ability – to each according to his need’.
Because of this alleged great goodness at the heart of all humanity there are in theory no barriers or conflicts arising between races or nationalities. Different communities are able to live side by side in perfect peace and harmony, each retaining their own particular culture and beliefs whilst at the same time standing in mutual respect and admiration of his neighbour’s culture and beliefs. This ‘one world’ Utopian dream is now one of the main articles of faith of modern Socialism.
The ideology of right wing thinkers contrasts with Socialist ideology in not being so convinced of the goodness of humanity. In fact this wonderful, harmonious, peace loving, fairy tale society of the left is dismissed as a pure fantasy: the product of feeble minds. Right wing ideology sees people for what they really are: motivated principally to improve their own position in life, not always good, not always honest, and not always peaceful. This perspective is borne out by history. Communism as an economic system was a dismal failure, crime and dishonesty are a fact of life, and as everyone knows there have been countless wars and millions of deaths due to alienation between different ethnic and national communities.
Nevertheless there are, particularly in places like Barnsley, many people who remain committed to left wing ideals, and give them their due they have stood candidates in local elections to give the public a chance to support these ideals. They have appeared in various guises in Barnsley elections:- the Communist Party, Militant Labour (previously known as Militant Tendency), the Socialist Party, the Socialist Labour Party, Socialist Alternative, the Socialist Alliance, the Socialist Alliance Against the War, and most recently Respect – the Unity Coalition, which is composed mainly of members of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP).
The problem is that the members of these left wing parties cannot seem to agree on a common set of principles or goals. They are constantly bickering and falling out amongst themselves over details of ideology, the proposed method of achieving their aims, or how the coming ‘workers paradise’ should be organised. There are frequent resignations and expulsions often of their leading members and activists, and this leads to splinter parties being set up, which in turn become riven by internal dissent. Over the years there have been a profusion of Socialist political parties and organisations formed in this country and they remain bitterly divided over whether Marx, Lenin, Trotsky, Stalin, or any number of other Communist leaders had the correct philosophy and strategy.
Below is a list of far left parties to stand in Barnsley since 1996. Prior to this there had been one or two Communist Party candidates but not significant numbers.
The Socialist Labour Party (SLP) was set up in 1996 by none other than Arthur Scargill, leader of the Mineworkers Union. At this time the established Labour Party was abandoning its left wing economic policies such as nationalisation, in favour of the Thatcherite policy of privatisation. As can be seen from the list above the SLP has made a determined effort to stand candidates in Barnsley elections. Unfortunately for them the people of Barnsley have seen straight through their ‘head in the clouds’ philosophy, and they have received very poor votes indeed. We’ll take a look at the Party’s results for 1999. This was the third year that they had stood in Barnsley elections, so in theory they had had time to build their support and these should have been their best results. The votes received were as follows (figure in brackets is the winning candidates vote in that ward)
Ardsley Ward 142 votes (819), Athersley Ward 33 votes (858), Brierley Ward 242 votes (1132), Central Ward 68 votes (1074), Cudworth Ward 54 votes (1269), Darton Ward 43 votes (1330), Dodworth Ward 49 votes (1033), Hoyland East Ward 46 votes (1102), Hoyland West Ward 36 votes (937), North West Ward 27 votes (678), Park Ward 59 votes (710), Royston Ward 52 votes (1103), South West Ward 22 votes (813), Worsbrough Ward 221 votes (1043).
So they stood 14 candidates that year and their best vote was 242 in the Brierley Ward. By contrast in the May 2007 local elections the BNP stood 18 candidates and our lowest vote was in the North East Ward (which includes Brierley) where we received 227 votes. From their 14 candidates they received 1094 votes whereas we received 7822 votes from our 18. Many of their results were simply terrible, a total embarrassment. In the same year, 1999, a rival party, the Socialist Alternative stood two candidates in the election and their results were no better. They were: - Wombwell North 29 votes (754), Wombwell South 122 votes (1244).
Not surprisingly there was a marked reduction in enthusiasm to stand for the SLP after this debacle and in the 2000 local elections only one person came forward as a candidate. Once again they received a derisory vote of only 92. By the time the 2001 General Election came around another Socialist organisation had sprung to life in Barnsley, the Socialist Alliance, quite possibly comprised of ex members of the SLP. They stood a candidate in the General Election as did the SLP but again both were decisively rejected by the voters of Barnsley, receiving only 2.6% and 2.2% of the vote respectively, thereby losing them their deposits. Because of the rivalry between the SLP and the SA there was a significant effort made in the 2002 local elections. The SLP stood a total of ten candidates and the Socialist Alliance four, however all candidates were given the thumbs down by the electorate, and it was wooden spoon day again in Socialist Labour land.
We’ll cut short this tale of woe and jump to the obvious conclusion – far left parties are simply not wanted in Barnsley. The figures speak for themselves. But in 2003 when the BNP first put forward election candidates guess who it was that said WE were not wanted in Barnsley.
Because of this alleged great goodness at the heart of all humanity there are in theory no barriers or conflicts arising between races or nationalities. Different communities are able to live side by side in perfect peace and harmony, each retaining their own particular culture and beliefs whilst at the same time standing in mutual respect and admiration of his neighbour’s culture and beliefs. This ‘one world’ Utopian dream is now one of the main articles of faith of modern Socialism.
The ideology of right wing thinkers contrasts with Socialist ideology in not being so convinced of the goodness of humanity. In fact this wonderful, harmonious, peace loving, fairy tale society of the left is dismissed as a pure fantasy: the product of feeble minds. Right wing ideology sees people for what they really are: motivated principally to improve their own position in life, not always good, not always honest, and not always peaceful. This perspective is borne out by history. Communism as an economic system was a dismal failure, crime and dishonesty are a fact of life, and as everyone knows there have been countless wars and millions of deaths due to alienation between different ethnic and national communities.
Nevertheless there are, particularly in places like Barnsley, many people who remain committed to left wing ideals, and give them their due they have stood candidates in local elections to give the public a chance to support these ideals. They have appeared in various guises in Barnsley elections:- the Communist Party, Militant Labour (previously known as Militant Tendency), the Socialist Party, the Socialist Labour Party, Socialist Alternative, the Socialist Alliance, the Socialist Alliance Against the War, and most recently Respect – the Unity Coalition, which is composed mainly of members of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP).
The problem is that the members of these left wing parties cannot seem to agree on a common set of principles or goals. They are constantly bickering and falling out amongst themselves over details of ideology, the proposed method of achieving their aims, or how the coming ‘workers paradise’ should be organised. There are frequent resignations and expulsions often of their leading members and activists, and this leads to splinter parties being set up, which in turn become riven by internal dissent. Over the years there have been a profusion of Socialist political parties and organisations formed in this country and they remain bitterly divided over whether Marx, Lenin, Trotsky, Stalin, or any number of other Communist leaders had the correct philosophy and strategy.
Below is a list of far left parties to stand in Barnsley since 1996. Prior to this there had been one or two Communist Party candidates but not significant numbers.
The Socialist Labour Party (SLP) was set up in 1996 by none other than Arthur Scargill, leader of the Mineworkers Union. At this time the established Labour Party was abandoning its left wing economic policies such as nationalisation, in favour of the Thatcherite policy of privatisation. As can be seen from the list above the SLP has made a determined effort to stand candidates in Barnsley elections. Unfortunately for them the people of Barnsley have seen straight through their ‘head in the clouds’ philosophy, and they have received very poor votes indeed. We’ll take a look at the Party’s results for 1999. This was the third year that they had stood in Barnsley elections, so in theory they had had time to build their support and these should have been their best results. The votes received were as follows (figure in brackets is the winning candidates vote in that ward)
Ardsley Ward 142 votes (819), Athersley Ward 33 votes (858), Brierley Ward 242 votes (1132), Central Ward 68 votes (1074), Cudworth Ward 54 votes (1269), Darton Ward 43 votes (1330), Dodworth Ward 49 votes (1033), Hoyland East Ward 46 votes (1102), Hoyland West Ward 36 votes (937), North West Ward 27 votes (678), Park Ward 59 votes (710), Royston Ward 52 votes (1103), South West Ward 22 votes (813), Worsbrough Ward 221 votes (1043).
So they stood 14 candidates that year and their best vote was 242 in the Brierley Ward. By contrast in the May 2007 local elections the BNP stood 18 candidates and our lowest vote was in the North East Ward (which includes Brierley) where we received 227 votes. From their 14 candidates they received 1094 votes whereas we received 7822 votes from our 18. Many of their results were simply terrible, a total embarrassment. In the same year, 1999, a rival party, the Socialist Alternative stood two candidates in the election and their results were no better. They were: - Wombwell North 29 votes (754), Wombwell South 122 votes (1244).
Not surprisingly there was a marked reduction in enthusiasm to stand for the SLP after this debacle and in the 2000 local elections only one person came forward as a candidate. Once again they received a derisory vote of only 92. By the time the 2001 General Election came around another Socialist organisation had sprung to life in Barnsley, the Socialist Alliance, quite possibly comprised of ex members of the SLP. They stood a candidate in the General Election as did the SLP but again both were decisively rejected by the voters of Barnsley, receiving only 2.6% and 2.2% of the vote respectively, thereby losing them their deposits. Because of the rivalry between the SLP and the SA there was a significant effort made in the 2002 local elections. The SLP stood a total of ten candidates and the Socialist Alliance four, however all candidates were given the thumbs down by the electorate, and it was wooden spoon day again in Socialist Labour land.
We’ll cut short this tale of woe and jump to the obvious conclusion – far left parties are simply not wanted in Barnsley. The figures speak for themselves. But in 2003 when the BNP first put forward election candidates guess who it was that said WE were not wanted in Barnsley.
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