Elected Social Democrat

Press, 4 December 1981, Page 12

Elected Social Democrat

Mrs Shirley Williams performed a remarkable feat in winning the by-election at Crosby, near Liverpool, in England. Overturning a Conservative majority of 19,000 gained only two years ago was astonishing in itself. Mrs Williams not only did that, but she won by more than 5000 votes. The Labour candidate did not even poll enough votes to retain his election deposit. In winning the seat Mrs Williams became the first member of the Social Democratic Party to win in an election in Britain. The party now has 23 members of the House of Commons — 21 of the others defected from the Labour Party and one from the Conservatives. A party built up from party defectors can be deceptive because it might seem to have a strength of numbers, but the test of its popularity with the public that counts is whether people will vote for it. Mrs Williams’ victory, albeit in a by-election, shows that the S.D.P. has begun to pass the test. The effects will be felt in the Conservative Party, in the Labour Party, in the S.D.P. itself, ahd to some extent in the Liberal Party, with which the S.D.P. formed an alliance in September. The Conservatives have to face up to a shattering loss of support in Crosby and, by implication, in other places as well. The S.D.P. win is likely to strengthen the hands of those in the Conservative Party who oppose the strict economic policies of the Prime Minister, Mrs Thatcher. The fact that the S.D.P. has demonstrated it can win a seat may cause some Conservatives to join the S.D.P. Although Britain does not have to have a General Election until 1984, the Conservatives will have to consider the S.D.P.-Liberal alliance as a major, if not the main, threat from now on. Although Mrs Williams was the first S.D.P. candidate elected, a Liberal backed by the alliance won a by-election in Croydon last month. The effect on the Labour Party may be

even more marked. Again the demonstration of the ability of the S.D.P. to win seats may encourage other Labour members of Parliament to defect. Members may be even more willing to do so if they are not selected again as their party’s candidate for the next election. The Labour Party has been wracked by internal divisions for more than a year, one cause of the defections to the Social Democrats. Whether the Crosby result will be the jolt that causes the Labour Party to reconsider the self-destructive course on which it is bent seems doubtful. There would still seem room in Britain for a party broadly devoted to humanitarian aims — a void which the Labour Party cannot fill effectively because it is concentrating on its internal struggles and on doctrinaire applications of left-wing theories. If it is to stay a party seriously in the running for the Government, Labour cannot allow itself to shed so many people — some of them highly experienced — from its more moderate and sensible right wing. Within the S.D.P. the election victory will have several effects. To some extent the party has proven itself in a real election and the result must give the party a great deal of confidence. Mrs Williams will be in a stronger position to bid for the party leadership. Apart from the size of her victory she is now a member of Parliament which her main rival for the leadership, Mr Roy Jenkins, is not. When the leadership contest comes into the open, it will be interesting to see whether the S.D.P. loses some of its popularity. Not only does a leader have to be chosen for the S.D.P., but the alliance of Liberals and Social Democrats also has to sort out who will lead it. Mr David Steel, the leader of the Liberals, will not easily become subordinate to whoever becomes leader of the S.D.P. In winning the Crosby seat the S.D.P. may find that some of its problems are only beginning.