Liverpool Socialist Party members
Tony Mulhearn, photo Harry Smith

Tony Mulhearn, photo Harry Smith   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

In the Liverpool mayoral election, TUSC candidate Tony Mulhearn received 4,792 votes, 4.73%, beating the Tory candidate and just narrowly behind the Greens and Liberal Democrats. He came fifth out of 12 candidates.

This is a good result after a short campaign of just one month. Voters supporting Tony, including those at the sharp end of council cuts, went to the polling stations eager to express opposition to all cuts and privatisation.

The 57.7% for Joe Anderson, who was Labour’s council leader until becoming the city’s first elected mayor, reflected the desire of the electorate to hit back at the Con-Dem government.

Anderson has had blanket coverage in the local media for the last two years. The Liverpool Echo is described locally as a “Joe Anderson fanzine” and he has a constant platform on local radio to justify his cuts policy, with the anti-cuts alternative virtually silenced.

In addition there were lies and distortion by other candidates during the campaign about the 1980s’ record of Tony Mulhearn and the other 46 Liverpool councillors who stood up to the Tory Thatcher government at that time.

Although Liverpool’s Labour council has carried out £141 million of cuts, it has only been in office for two years after 14 years of Liberal Democrat control, so there are still hopes that Labour will be different.

The Lib Dems have gone from running the council in 2010 to now receiving only 6,238 votes in the whole of Liverpool for mayor!

Tony got over twice the vote of right-wing reactionaries Ukip, with the three far-right racist candidates taking up three of the bottom four poll places.

Merseyside TUSC and the Socialist Party will continue to work with anti-cuts activists and trade unionists in the city to provide a fighting alternative to cuts.