Unsurprisingly, the Liberal-Democrats were the main beneficiaries of anti-war feelings, not Respect. At least they stood a chance of winning and giving Blair a bloody-nose. Given that Respect, thanks to the SWP, explicitly eschewed any socialist principles a vote for it did not represent any victory for radical politics. As such, it cannot be claimed that at least it bolstered independent working class politics. A vote for Respect meant as much (or as little) as one for the Liberal-Democrats.
In spite of the (predictable) failure of Respect to capitalise on the backlash to the Iraq invasion it is doubtful that the SWP leadership will rethink its lurch to the right. As in some places during the Euro elections, they got sufficiently okay results to justify their opportunism. They came fourth in both Birmingham and Leicester, with 1,282 votes (6.27%) and 3,724 votes (12.66%) respectively. As it stands, the SWP leadership seem blissfully unaware that Iraq will not be a political issue indefinitely and, consequently, Respect's long term future is as bleak as its overall European election results.
We can expect the SWP to continue with its Respect front for the time being (probably as long as the money remains). Hopefully, in the process it will make any principled socialists who remain within it reconsider their position and the benefits of electioneering for advancing socialist ideas. If the Respect fiasco does produce a backlash against electioneering and a corresponding interest in anti-parliamentarianism then the chances of constructive socialist activity in the workplace and community may increase. If so, then we anarchists may see a corresponding interest in our ideas, particularly if we start now to present a positive alternative where we work and live.
Respect can draw one consolation from the by-elections. For a change the prize for the most delusional post-election comments does not go to them. In spite of strong competition from Respect ("quite extraordinary results by any standards . . . without precedent . . . the boost Respect needed to begin to establish itself as a serious challenger"), the prize goes to the successful Birmingham Labour candidate who, facing the ninth worst swing from Labour in history and a slashing of its majority from 11,618 to 460 explained it was "excellent for Labour." While the result was "truly awful for Mr Howard" it really cannot be said that it "showed that Labour still governs in favour of the many, and not the few." With hyper-nonsense like that, he has a great future awaiting him in Respect if he ever decides to change party.