A good night in Coventry

Interesting piece from Shiraz Socialist about the local elections in Coventry, where Labour took seats off both the Tories and the Dave Nellist Socialist Party. I'd be interested if anyone has any more info about this:

"Labour leaflets throughout the campaign banged home traditional themes about saving the NHS, fighting “Tory cuts”, positioning themselves as the party of added investment in schools, public services, as fighters against racism, all of those traditional issues that are music to the left’s ears.

Now, of course the left will say (with justification) that this is rank hypocrisy, these people support a government that has instituted all of the cuts and stealth privatisations of recent years, it’s easy to pose left when you’re in opposition, etcetera. However my point isn’t about how genuine this was. The point is that it worked. Labour gained four seats in Coventry last Thursday, their vote held up throughout the city, and they are now more buoyant than they have been for years...

It was a significant rise in Labour support (not only in that ward, but city wide) made the difference. And this after one of the most left-wing Labour campaigns I’ve seen in a decade."