Hug, hold hands . . . then stampede to the right

What a pleasure it was to see two socialist parties triumph in the most recent elections. First, Labour increased its share of the vote in Oldham — and then, last weekend, the Front National became France’s most popular party, securing almost 30 per cent in the first round of the country’s regional elections.

Labour’s win was, I suspect, a bit of a false dawn. For a start, the party did an un-usual thing and fielded a sentient and likeable candidate, something which most of the time it successfully avoids doing. But even then, it was at least partly dependent upon Asian men hauling large sacks of votes from illiterate and non-English-speaking residents into the local post office. The Asian Muslim — largely Bangladeshi — population of Oldham West and Royton is almost 25 per cent, and Ukip estimated the turnout within this sector at a remarkable 90 per cent. That will have helped a bit.