TWO brilliant election results in a week! That doesn’t happen very often, does it? But I woke last Friday with a strange mixture of feelings: huge elation tinged with foreboding. 
 
Thanks to the vagaries of our ridiculous electoral system, Labour won a landslide victory with a far lower vote share than Jeremy Corbyn achieved in 2017. FPTP rescued us from much of the political impact of the dark shadow of Reform, which nevertheless clouds the relief we are feeling at the demise of literally the worst government in the history of this country.
 
I still believe in PR though. You can’t fight the far right with arithmetic. You have to do it by addressing the issues — above all the grotesque social inequality after 14 years of the Tories’ contemptable fiefdom — which allow them to spread their filth. 
 
Locally our two constituencies now have Labour MPs – indeed, the first non-Tory MPs — for the first time in political history. 
 
Congratulations to Beccy Cooper, the new MP for Worthing West! I was proud to campaign for her alongside her lovely supporters and she will be a brilliant MP. And although some of us fundamentally disagreed with the process by which Tom Rutland became our candidate I am of course pleased that he has become the first ever Labour MP for my home constituency of East Worthing and Shoreham and wish him all the best for the future.
 
I’ve said it so often: we did this ourselves. Starting around 2017 we have built two incredibly active CLPs from scratch, taken two councils and now elected two MPs. It is above all our local situation which has kept me in the Labour Party. And, personally, I am so pleased that the catalyst for us all joining back then, Jeremy Corbyn, retained his seat in Islington North. Just a shame it wasn’t for Labour.
 
Included here is my victory poem, illustrated by Lysanne Skinner. The Lout is Tim Loughton, the Bottom Peter Bottomley. They’d both been there since 1997, and we’re very glad they’re gone! 
 
Now the real battle begins. Alongside the rise of Reform, which can only be stopped by eradicating the root causes of the alienation so many people feel with mainstream politics, another main issue which the new Labour government must immediately address is the genocide in Gaza. 
 
The anger felt in so many communities here is palpable and justified. As some European countries have already done, Labour must call for an immediate ceasefire and recognise a Palestinian state.
 
Those of us who voted Labour chose hope in the achievable rather than ideological insistence on the ideal. Time will tell if we were right to do so. For the moment, we’re celebrating – and tomorrow we have a matinee victory party at the Dublin Castle in Camden featuring brilliant radical comedian Mark Thomas and the magnificent Newtown Neurotics from Harlow, whose anthem Kick Out The Tories has finally come true. Doors 2.30pm, over by 6.30pm, 90 minutes before England take on Spain.

And well done France!  After the RN’s massive vote in the first round of the elections, in the second I had fingers crossed for the French all day, strongly believing that a much higher turnout inspired by the far-right threat and the weight of history would bring some positive news. I was right. And there is a hugely important lesson for the faction-ridden British left here: this is what happens when we stop arguing among ourselves and work together against the hate-mongering forces who would divide and destroy us.
 
Good luck England on Sunday. If we’re 3-0 up with five minutes to go, please bring on Lewis Dunk. He deserves his moment.