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The Guardian
February 12,
2003
Summary: Article discusses
the candidacy of Arthur Scargill for the Welsh assembly, which is
elected by a form of mixed member proportional representation (or
’Äúadditional member system,’Äù as it is known in the UK). Arthur
Scargill is running for the Socialist Labour party.
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/elections/story/0,13008,927178,00.html
The Guardian
Scargill to
stand in Welsh elections
By Tom Happold
February 12, 2003 Former miners' leader Arthur Scargill is to
stand for election to the Welsh assembly in May on a platform of
greater public ownership. He will top the regional list for his
Socialist Labour party in south-east Wales. Mr Scargill told the
Western Mail: "We are going into the assembly election on a policy
which spells out socialism ... we want to see the health, education
and housing systems taken into public ownership." It is also
understood that he wants to see the mines renationalised and
reopened. He branded first minister Rhodri Morgan's socialism
decidedly "pink", on BBC Wales, condemning the administration for
its support of PFI schemes. Under the assembly's proportional
representation system, Socialist Labour is putting up candidates in
three regions. Socialist Labour, founded after Labour abandoned its
clause IV commitment to public ownership, has had no major electoral
success. Mr Scargill's attempt to unseat Peter Mandelson in
Hartlepool at the last general election ended in humiliation when he
polled a meagre 912 votes - only 2.4% of the vote. The victory
prompted Mr Mandelson's victory speech declaring himself "a fighter
not a quitter". Mr Scargill stood down last year as president of
the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), a post he held for more
than 20 years. He continues to be employed as a consultant by the
union, for £1,000 a month, and as its honorary president. The NUM's
defeat in the 1984 miners strike led his leadership to be compared
to that of General Haig and other first world war generals, when the
miners were described as lions led by donkeys. The union claims to
have up to 10,000 members now but it is thought that only a few
thousand of those are still working. |
