Posted in: Comics, Pop Culture | Tagged: general election, Keir Starmer, Kemi Badenoch, nigel farage, Zack Polanski

The UK Local Elections, Party Games, Cartoons And Anti-Semitism

Yesterday's British Local Elections, the political parties at play, the Zack Polanski cartoons and accusations of anti-semitism

There were elections taking place in Britain today. I know this, as I could see the polling station from my window. Seriously, it is easier for me to vote than not vote. Here in London and across much of the UK, we have local elections. electing councillors to run the local councils of London and onto the general London councils. Americans, in the political cycle, this is basically the UK equivalent of your "midterms". And while they won't have as direct an effect on the country's leader on how or whether they can enact policy, it can be seen as a judgment by the people on political leaders, and parties may be inclined to change them as a result. And it all seems to be basically pretty much going the way I predicted during the General Election two years ago. Reform UK have romped home, gaining councils, with hundreds of newly elected councillors everywhere. But the real mess will probably start later.

That night, on the 4th of July 2024, I wandered around Westminster with one of my best friends, Irving Anderson, who has since died. He would have loved all this. Before the election, I ran the cartoon above featuring then Prime Minister Rishi Sunak MP and Nigel Farage, leader of the new party Reform UK, which drew from UKIP and the Brexit campaign,, and who was elected an MP in that election. I opined, "Nigel Farage is going to smash the Conservative Party, as Conservatives fail to get majorities in their individual constituencies and split the right-wing vote, leaving Labour able to get around 70% of the seats, a massively strong government the likes of which we have not seen since extended suffrage, with only 35-40% of the vote. Americans, picture Ross Perot with a chainsaw. And why would he want to do this? To pick up the pieces. An enraged Conservative Party, many of whose members see Nigel Farage as their spiritual leader, may demand a merger with Reform. Or even get taken over by Reform to unite as a Populist Right-Wing Opposition in time for a 2029 General Election. While another part of the Conservative Party, who see Farage as an anathema to everything they stand for, will split off as their own Lefty Wet Conservative Party. An emboldened Labour Party with a huge majority in Parliament will feel free to copy this, secure that whatever they do, Labour will still stay in government and the Tories won't be. The left of the party, who have felt hard done by this electoral cycle, may split off with other elected but ejected Labour members, such as George Galloway and former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, to create a new Really Left Labour Party. And the Liberal Democrats may seem increasingly irrelevant and seek a common cause with the right of Labour in government and the left of the Conservative Party."

So what has happened? Well, Labour got that majority, though have been seen as ineffective, weak and wrong in government. Support for Reform UK, led by Nigel Farage, has surged, as support for Labour and the Conservatives has declined.  As I predicted, a number of prominent Conservative MPs and former government ministers have jumped to Reform UK, including Suella Braverman MP, former Home Secretary, Robert Jenrick MP, former Minister of State for Immigration, Nadhim Zahawi, Former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Nadine Dorries – Former Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, David Jones, former Secretary of State for Wales, Lia Nici, former Assistant Government Whip, Jonathan Gullis former Under-Secretary of State for School Standards, Dame Andrea Jenkyns, former Secretary of State for Skills, Sir Jake Berry, former Chairman of the Conservative Party and Adam Holloway, former Lord Commissioner, as well as former shadow ministers Andrew Rosindell MP and Danny Kruger MP. It was a rout, even if some of the policies they previously championed were less in keeping with Reform UK's policies and its members' beliefs. I did a cartoon about that as well.

And while the Labour Party didn't split per se, the attempt by former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and fellow MP Zarah Sultana to form an independent left-wing party, currently called Your Party, fell under its own infighting, and now seems to be supporting the Green Party, which has reinvented itself less about environmental concerns but more as an alternative left-wing party. And support for the Green Party has also massively increased under the new leader, Zack Polanski, which won a recent by-election, demonstrating that across England there is now a five-way party split between Labour, Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, Reform and Green. And with a first-past-the-post approach (similar to the US electoral college) to electing the MPs that would form a government, the mathematics has been challenged like never before. But support for the Green Party has also massively increased under the new leader, Zack Polanski, who won a recent by-election, demonstrating that across England there is now a five-way party split between Labour, Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, Reform and Green. And with a first-past-the-post approach (similar to the US Electoral College) to electing the MPs who would form a government, the mathematics has been challenged like never before.

And talking about cartoons, that issue has also entered the race. Zack Polanski is a Jewish man, currently the most prominent in British politics, and is also opposed to many of the actions taken by Israel's government against Palestinians. This has confused many media folk, and possibly a couple of cartoonists along the way. Recently, he spoke out against The Times cartoonist Peter Brookes, who portrayed a recent event in which an individual stabbed two Jewish men in Golders Green, a heavily Jewish-populated area of North London. A suspected Somalian-British man was captured, arrested by police and charged with attempted murder, which saw much discussion about the prevalence of anti-Semitism in Britain today, especially in relation to the Islamic community. This was further complicated by the news that he was also charged with stabbing a Muslim man earlier in the day and had previously been diagnosed with severe mental health issues.

Zack Polanski reposted a message on social media accusing police officers of "repeatedly and violently kicking a mentally ill man in the head when he was already incapacitated by Taser". Later challenged on this, he apologised for "sharing a tweet in haste", but added that people in public service "should not be above scrutiny" and that he remains concerned about the actions of the police officers who arrested the suspect, saying that the action must be "proportionate no matter how brave". This has led to a lot of criticism, especially from a Jewish community under attack. It led to The Times publishing a Peter Brookes cartoon showing the police arresting a suspect and Zack Polanski kicking the police officer in the head. At least that's what it is meant to be; the individual doesn't look much like Zack and has to have a large Green Party rosette on his jacket. Instead, he looks more like the classic anti-semitic propaganda image, and as a result, Zack Polanski himself has issued an official complaint. And Nigel Farage also has his old classmates to answer.

As a political cartoonist in Britain, I have seen the political population I draw diversify over the forty years I have been drawing them. At the top, it used to be all white men of various types – and Margaret Thatcher. Over time, that has changed, and as more women, Jewish, Muslim, African, and Asian individuals have sought and achieved elected office, I have had many new faces to draw, but have also had to realise that I am as susceptible to falling foul of bigoted tropes as anyone. But all that means is that I have to be aware of it and keep it in mind as I draw the people in question. Also, be aware of how others emphasise these tropes. I may want to cause offence to some people over their political beliefs, but never over race. If I do so, then I have failed. But also, I am mocking their visual appearance, so it is a tricky line sometimes. I draw Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch with a gap between her two front teeth, because she has one, but I am aware of that racial trope too and try to balance it. I often Google photos of politicians when drawing them, but even before A.I., that could be dangerous, as people have already decided which picture or video frame to use to represent them online. You will all be aware of the contorted face someone makes when speaking on video, as seen when you freeze a frame, which is not representative of how they actually look. Well, with Zack Polanski, it's worse; he does not have a big, hooked nose, a common anti-Semitic trope. However, there are a number of photos taken very close up, or with a wide lens that suggest otherwise, and have been used to defend the cartoon (I still don't think it looks like him).

A better cartoon of Zack Polanski appeared in the Telegraph the following day by Patrick Blower, again, still with that massive nose, but at least the rest of him looked more like Zack. And the cartoon tapped into a wider truth, and one that I have been exploring, of Zack Polanski and Nigel Farage being the two new politicians who are defeating the usually larger parties on the left and the right.

I have portrayed them both as taking on Keir Starmer in a recent by-election in the seat of Gordon And Denton, which saw a Green MP and former plumber, elected to Parliament, and started complaining about MPs drinking in the House of Commons. And again, with them as a push-me-pull-you creature, going in different directions, with opposing views but part of the same creature, two-party politics returning in a very different way. It also led to another cartoon I drew before going out to vote, Farage and Polanski as two old music-hall entertainers, putting on a show together.

Yeah. I'm not going to try to explain all the references to a non-British or indeed a non-Westminster-obsessed audience. But one other thing of note, as a political cartoonist, I sometimes get invited to events with all sorts of political types. And sometimes, if I have taken my ADHD medicine and not had too much to drink, I can just sit amongst a group, shut up and listen. And that's where, rather recently, I learned that while many predict a Reform UK victory at the next General Election, and yesterday's vote may certainly point in that direction, informed Reform UK politicos believe that the Conservative Party will not do a deal with Reform UK at a national level, the feeling of betrayal is too strong. And that Labour, the Liberal Democrats, the Greens and maybe the SNP and Plaid Cymru might well create their own rainbow coalition in the next Parliament. Especially when Labour eject Keir Starmer as their leader. The road to Election 2029 has started today.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!