On Monday May 2nd, Chesterfield held its annual Mayday demonstration.

Traditionally, Chesterfield was a Labour stronghold and was represented in Parliament by Tony Benn. The town's Mayday celebrations were renowned and relatively large. Today its reputation remains, but it is no longer able to turnout massive numbers. This year there were - at a push - 1,000 people on the demonstration. This isn't a chronic number compared to many lefty demos and Maydays elsewhere. Nevertheless, there were a number of banners from elsewhere including Mansfield and Sheffield and I met several people from Nottingham, so it is clear that people had travelled from some distance.

As I noted in my report from Nottingham's Mayday, there appears to be a general problem with low turnout at events this year, which is perhaps surprising given the apparent upswing in political activity around cuts and fees. Why this is or what it indicates I am not sure, but I think it is something we should think about carefully.

The march formed up in front of Chesterfield town hall and started off unusually punctually for a lefty demo at almost exactly 11am. Trade unions were better represented than they had been at Nottingham's Mayday, with UCATT, Unison, GMB, UCU and a few others around. There was a sizeable contingent from the Communist Party of Britain, obvious with their large red flags. Probably the largest single group was the Labour Party who inexplicably seemed proud to wear their red rosettes and carried a banner proclaiming "Peace and Socialism" despite 13 years of Labour government moving us further away from both.

The march was led by a brass band and entertainment was also provided by the Urban Gypsies who belly danced their way along the route. The music was a welcome break from the inevitable chanting. At one point, a group around the SWP banner began chanting, "What do we want? General Strike. When do we want it? Now." Apparently, they hadn't realised it was a bank holiday.

The march took a strange spiral route which eventually took us into the market square. Here marchers were addressed by speakers including Matt Wrack from the FBU and Wassim Wagdy, an Egyptian democracy activist. While this was going on, it was possible to peruse stalls from a number of political organisations, campaigns and gardening clubs. The rally was rounded off by music from various artists.