British left

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Timeline of parties in the broad socialist movement

The biggest organisation on the British left is the Labour Party with over 100,000 members.

The Communist Party of Great Britain had a peak membership of 56,000 in 1945. Other groups include the Socialist Workers Party, Workers' Revolutionary Party, the Alliance for Workers' Liberty, Socialist Party and Socialist Appeal.

Contents

[edit] History

Main article: History of socialism in Great Britain

[edit] Active in England

[edit] Labour Party

Main article: Labour Party (UK)

The biggest left-wing party in the UK in terms of members and representation is the Labour Party. The party had 201,374 members on 31 December 2004 according to accounts filed with the Electoral Commission. The Labour Party grew out of the trade union movement and socialist political parties of the 19th century, and continues to describe itself as a party of democratic socialism. Under Tony Blair's leadership, however, the party has adopted a number of Thatcherite policies; this has led many observers to describe the Labour Party as social democratic or neo-liberal rather than democratic socialist. Blair himself has described New Labour's political position as a "Third Way". The Socialist Campaign Group is a left-wing grouping of Labour Party Members of Parliament in the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1981 by Tony Benn's supporters as a split from the Tribune Group. The Compass organisation has also attracted a number of members disillusioned with the New Labour project. In the 2005 General Election Labour won 9,556,183 votes.

[edit] Internal groups

In contrast to Tribune and Chartist.

[edit] Respect - The Unity Coalition

Main article: Respect - The Unity Coalition

The next largest group is the Respect coalition which has the support of: Communist Party of Great Britain (Provisional Central Committee), the Socialist Unity Network, Socialist Resistance and the Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain (Marxist-Leninist). Before its dissolution the coalition had the support of the national council of the Socialist Alliance. Respect allows its members to hold membership of other political organisations. It includes George Galloway, who was Respect's sole Member of Parliament between 2005 and 2010, Salma Yaqoob a prominent member of Birmingham City Council and people of no other political organisation. Although the leader of Respect is listed in the register of political parties as Linda Smith (until November 22, 2004 Nick Wrack), George Galloway is often assumed to be its leader by the mainstream media. In fact, Respect does not have a leader as such and is run by an elected 'national council', a full list of whom can be found on their website.

Respect's first electoral test was the 2004 Greater London Authority elections, in which Lindsey German came fifth. In the 2005 general election, the Respect Coalition won 68,065 votes. By the time of the 2008 Greater London Authority elections, the Socialist Workers Party had left the coalition amid an acrimonious dispute with George Galloway and instead contested the elections as the Left List with Lindsey German as candidate (coming eighth). Since the split the two factions have become Respect Renewal (now simply Respect) and the Left Alternative.

[edit] Other groups

[edit] Fewer than 500 votes

Including those who did not stand on principle or for practical reasons

[edit] Active only in Scotland

[edit] Active only in Wales

[edit] Media

[edit] Unaffiliated

Main article: List of left-wing publications in the United Kingdom

[edit] Publications affiliated to parties

[edit] Further reading

  • Morgan, Kenneth O. Ages of Reform: Dawns and Downfalls of the British Left (I.B. Tauris, distributed by Palgrave Macmillan; 2011) 314 pages; the history of the British left since the Great Reform Act of 1832.
  • John Callaghan. Socialism in Britain
  • A Socialist World is Possible by Peter Taffe
  • Britain's Road to Socialism by the CPB
  • The Dictionary of Alternatives by Martin Parker, Valerie Fournier and Patrick Reedy. Zed Books, 2007.[1]
  • A History of Communism in Britain by Brian Pearce and Michael Woodhouse

[edit] See also

[edit] People

[edit] External links

[edit] Critiques

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