Dave Nellist (right) campaigning in St Michaels. Photo: Coventry Socialist Party
Dave Nellist (right) campaigning in St Michaels. Photo: Coventry Socialist Party

Mila Hughes, Coventry Socialist Party

Street lights being turned off by the Labour council. The Labour government taking away pensioners’ winter fuel allowance. The Labour council sacking street cleaners, affecting community morale.

All these issues were raised every few doors during the campaign. People were sick of Labour’s hypocritical policies, nationally and locally.

We’ve been campaigning hard in St Michaels in Coventry to get a strong vote for Socialist Party member Dave Nellist, our Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) candidate for the council by-election on 10 October – and we did!

Offering a real opposition that Coventry people need, we ended up getting second place in the ward. Almost one in five people voted to get a socialist councillor back in St. Michael’s.

Dave’s vote could have been even higher had the Workers’ Party not stood against him, and taken some votes away.

People continue to recognise Dave Nellist as a former socialist councillor for 14 years, and a socialist Labour MP for nine years. Someone that backed the working class to the hilt.

Fewer people voted Labour over its freebie sleaze. Working people said our anti-cuts and anti-war policies before we even got a chance to.

This anger towards Labour for its contempt for working-class people will continue to spread. So far, Labour has shown that it’s only willing to keep promises until it threatens the pockets of the rich.

With working-class people consistently paying more and more, for fewer services, fewer places to live, and less prospect for a decent future – now is a better time than ever to get involved in the fightback.