In the local bi-election last night in Heysham, Lancaster, Lancashire some Facist bugger ran for election. Young, masked and gifted there was a little crowd who send the essential message: "Fascist Scum, off our Streets" - "Fascist Scum, off our Streets" - "Fascist Scum, off our Streets"; but what can we do strategically to avoid the horrible result (details below) in the future?

This was much debated last night and in the weeks prior to the election: should we devote them and provide them with attention by going house to house and *warning* people against them? Does this just turn people towards them? Should we be there at the counting? What can we do? The election results look like Denmark where these xenophobic poor souls in a somwewhat more housebroke version similar to the BNP, is the third biggest party in parliament. And in Italy they have a Fascist Dictator - Austria is dodgy as well, and of course the King of the Hill George the Second in the White Power, erhh, I mean White House is the worst of them all.........

Act now! - meanwhile a local reflection/meeting is in the brewing - there is a need for better understanding what went wrong (apart form the fact that Tony Blair is a loser) and what can be done in the future - i.e., what strategies, and when these are decided upon, what are the specific deployment of them, all the way down to the, yes !, PR aspects of how one dresses when doing informative anti-fascist outreach). We have everything to lose and everything to win, so why not?

Pictures coming later today......... and hopefully comments to this horrific result - and oh, yes, forgot to mention: the candidate is a student in the Politics Dept. of Lancaster University!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

___________

Pasted from a local Green Party list (although by no means advertising for any political party, merely uisng their email to inform you all!!!!!!!!!):

There was a turnout of 27.22% in the Heysham South Ward by-election yesterday.

Ken Brown for the Conservatives got in with a 6 vote majority, there were 2 re-counts.

Ken Brown - Conservative: 499
Darren Clifford - Labour: 493
Paul Bamford - England First Party: 191
Christopher Greenall - MBI: 143
Terry Taylor - Lib Dems: 37
Ashley Toms - Green: 20

The MBIs have therefore lost a seat that they won with more than 500 votes at the elections in May. The Conservatives did not stand a candidate in May.

We did, Elaine Lewis picked up 183 votes - most of those were probably anti-war votes from Labour voters. There were two spoiled ballot papers at the election yesterday, one was marked for both Labour and Green.

How is it possible for an England First party to get so many votes, nearly 14% of the total cast? Though some of the England First group were disappointed and heard to remark that Michael Howard's speech in Burnley had lost them some votes to the Conservatives. It is surely more than Jon Barry's theory of alphabetic advantage, which we witnessed in the John O'Gaunt ward election between the surnames Hart, Mills and Renolds.

In a country that is more hungry for sports champions than solar panels it is surely more than voting for a logo that resembles the England football shirt with the 3 lions rather than a global sunflower.

Ashley wasn't too disappointed, apparently it is 3 more votes than the Ecology Party managed in Heysham at their first election in the 1970s and with our well known anti-nuclear power station and Heysham - M6 link road policies we aren't known for our 'positive news' attitude in that ward.The crowd of protestors outside St James Community Centre were there to greet the England First group and were there at the end to see them off, with a police escort to their cars.