SL E-Bulletin #79 - 8 May 2022

Sheffield Labour – steering for opposition?

Last week’s local election results demonstrate Sheffield Labour’s slow, passive decline into opposition.
 
This is a time when Labour should be thriving under the most unpopular Tory Government since Thatcher with a clear vision setting it apart from Johnson’s ragbag of sycophants and incompetents.
 
Yet the overall net results for the city council can be summarised as Labour losing one seat, the Greens gaining one and the Lib Dems standing still.
 
It does nothing to change the power balance in the city with the formal title of No Overall Control concealing the likely continuation of the last year’s partnership with the Greens.
 
Council Leader Terry Fox, who retained his seat in Manor Castle, hailed the results as a turning point with the retention of seats under threat such as East Ecclesfield, Walkley and Stocksbridge although two of these are more likely due to stay away Tory voters.
 
The gains for Labour were in Crookes & Crosspool and Nether Edge where strong local campaigning delivered gains but the loss of Hillsborough and the failure to take Beighton indicates that Labour – at least in Sheffield – has not regained the so called “red wall” voters.
 
The map of Sheffield has inexorably changed over the last 15 years with the strongholds for Labour among working class communities in the east and south of the city drifting towards the Tories.
 
The only compensation for Labour is that the 'middle class' wards in the west of the city are turning to Labour where there is a strong local candidate – with the Greens the bigger electoral threat here.
 
Hillsborough stands out an example of Labour losing to the Greens with council leader Bob Johnson ousted last year to be followed by Labour Group veteran Josie Paszek this year. Gleadless is another ward with the Greens on the up which should raise alarm bells.
 
Fox claimed that this year’s elections are a turning point – but where Labour turns to next is anybody’s guess.
 
An unwillingness to put up a political fight against a Tory Government that is taking the venom of the Thatcher years and increasing its poison has taken its toll.
 
Labour in Sheffield seems to offer just more of the same – trying to manage the city with no political direction and just a “we are kinder than our opponents” tag.
 
Derelict shops across the city and a city centre hollowed out economically by the demise of Debenhams and John Lewis speaks of rough times ahead and the endless skyscrapers being built by developers will soon be competing for the title of “best white elephant”.
 
Labour needs to focus on the poorest citizens of the city who can’t afford heating, can’t afford rent and are being exploited by unscrupulous employers or short-changed by a woeful “welfare” system.
 
If Labour is to arrest its electoral decline across the city, the turning point needs to be based on recognising that Labour should be the party of solidarity with the working class. But Labour under Starmer is veering so far to the right that it has come off the road. Perhaps that is the turning point Fox was talking about?