Socialist Victory

Britain's five-month-old Tory government got a painful jolt from the voters last week. In a struggle for control of the world's most powerful local-government body--London's huge County Council--Socialist candidates ousted 26 Tories and one Liberal, rolled up a huge Labor majority: 92 seats to 37. Cried Herbert Morrison, onetime cockney errand boy who became Socialist boss of London and then his country's Foreign Secretary: "Thank you, London!"

Tories at the hustings stuck closely to local issues, e.g., Labor's failure to build homes for 175,000 London families, many of whom were bombed out. Laborites pitched their campaign to national issues, blaming Winston Churchill's cabinet--instead of Britain's economic crisis--for higher prices, smaller rations and growing unemployment. So surprisingly effective was Labor's campaign that Socialists won power not only in politically vital London, but also in outlying counties where Tory strength is traditional. Example: Middlesex County cut its Tory majority from 40 to 5. These were but local elections, and in no way affected the Tories' 16-vote majority in the House of Commons, but the pro-Churchill London Times called it "a remarkable victory for the Labor Party."

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