Moss Side
rr HE extremely low poll in the Moss Sidc by- 1 election makes analysis of the result a more than usually chancy business. But one or two conclusions can safely be drawn, beginning with regret that the local Conservative association did not choose another candidate; Mr. Frank Tay- lor's campaign did nothing, to put it mildly, to correct the impression left by his notorious Brighton speech, and his appearance in the House of Commons as a Tory MP on the same day as Mr. John Biffen, who will presumably have emerged victorious in Oswestry, will make him seem even more of an anachronism. We can be thankful that it is Mr. Biffen who typifies the Tories today and for the rest hope that Mr. Tay- lor may be persuaded to observe a decent reticence on those aspects of his beliefs which must at times have made it a little difficult to distinguish him from the fourth candidate at Moss Side.
The apathy of the electorate, which resulted in a poll of less than 50 per cent., should not be thought to count for too much; the appalling con- ditions in part of this constituency are exactly the kind that produce political indifference, and no wonder; people living in such conditions can hardly be blamed for thinking that the politicians are indifferent to their fate. But for the Labour Party, the fall to third place, behind the Liberal, must be a weary disappointment. All those fine votes at Blackpool, and all gone for nothing. But the Opposition must realise (Mr. Gaitskell realises it very well, of course) that the voters are not fooled all the time, or indeed any of the time where the Labour Party is concerned. The reversal of the Scarborough decisions at Blackpool was a paper victory; the split in the Labour Party is as bad as ever, as the lunatic foray of Mr. Green- wood and Mrs. Castle has made clear; the double-dealers are more discreet but wait their hour to strike; and the country is perfectly cap- able of seeing a haystack by daylight.
The haystack is the fact that there are two Labour Parties, not one, and until the haystack is removed by the Labour Party becoming two in practice as well as in theory, the party's electoral fortunes will continue to wane. The Liberals, inevitably, will be the gainers, and whether Moss Side is yet another flash in the pan or not, they can feel justifiably pleased with themselves. But it will not be until they actually start to capture seats that the Liberals will start to be thought a serious future alternative to Labour as the radical oppo- sition party. Of course, if the Labour Party does split, there is yet another possibility.
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