They only stood in areas they thought they would do very well in at this election. I think that will expand now they've started to get good results. But some areas they are incredibly weak in. Is Kent a strong Tory area? They also decided not to stand against any left wing Labour MPs. My feelings towards Respect are complicated. They're not the perfect left wing alternative by any means, and I don't agree with all of their policies, but they are currently the strongest left wing challenge in the country. If they weren't standing in my area, I'd either vote for the Greens or another socialist party. At Socialist Unity Network we've been providing a service listing all the left wing candidates in the country and where they're standing, and what results they got: http://www.socialistunitynetwork.co.uk/electiion2005/front.htm There are also some more objective accounts of Respect on there, by people who are in favour of it and people who are against it.
