While most of the conservative Left did pretty awfully in last week's local elections, the Independent Working Class Association (IWCA) took three council seats in Oxford. This is a testament to their focus on issues of immediate concern to those in working class communities and their consistent levels of activity, rather than the occasional bursts around election time which are typical of most parties. The BBC tried to attribute their success to the 'anti-war vote', strange given that their manifesto says nothing about the war and their campaigning has focused almost entirely on local issues. They apparently intend "to now build a national organisation to properly build on the huge political potential the IWCA proved it has on June 10th." I for one will follow their progress with interest.