Results still coming in but TUSC set to poll 100,000 votes for bold No Cuts message

With many councils not starting their local elections count until Friday morning, collecting in all the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) results has been a painfully slow task. But, while the figures are far from complete, we can confidently say that over 100,000 votes were cast for TUSC candidates in Thursday's elections.

The best TUSC parliamentary votes were recorded by Dave Nellist in Coventry North West, polling 1,769 votes, and Jenny Sutton in Tottenham, with 1,324 votes. There were also good scores recorded in Bethnal Green & Bow (949 votes), Liverpool Riverside (582), Barnsley Central (573), Walsall North (545), Leigh (542), Leicester East (540), Salford & Eccles (517), and the other Coventry seats, Coventry South (650) and North East (633).

But actually the parliamentary votes are just a small reflection of the support - including electoral support - for TUSC's socialist, anti-austerity message.

Southampton rebel councillor re-elected

In Coventry, for example, while 3,052 people voted for the TUSC parliamentary candidates, 4,389 voted for the TUSC local election candidates in the city. In two parliamentary constituencies in Barnsley, TUSC won 937 votes - but 2,434 votes were cast for the TUSC candidates contesting just under half of Barnsley's council seats.

Many workers, afraid of the now realised prospect of another Tory government, agreed with our anti-cuts stance but were only prepared to back a local, fighting candidate at this stage. In another example, Southampton rebel councillor Don Thomas was overwhelmingly re-elected in the city's Coxford ward - as fellow councillor and TUSC steering committee member Keith Morrell was re-elected there last year.

Over the weekend, as all the information is gathered in, we will post up a comprehensive overview of how the TUSC candidates fared.