Socialist Campaign Group

"Campaign Group" redirects here. For other uses, see Advocacy group.

The Socialist Campaign Group is a left-wing democratic socialist grouping of Labour Party Members of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. It was formed in December 1982 as an alternative Parliamentary left-wing group to the Tribune Group. The Campaign Group, as it is commonly known, is on the left of the Labour Party and as such have been highly critical of the New Labour project, though their influence and numbers have diminished over the years.

Founding members

• Norman Atkinson
• Tony Benn
• Ron Brown
• Dennis Canavan
• Bob Cryer
• Don Dixon
• Stuart Holland
• Les Huckfield
• Bob Litherland
• Joan Maynard
• Willie McKelvey
• Andy McMahon
• Robert McTaggart
• Michael Meacher MP
• Ray Powell
• Reg Race
• Allan Roberts
• Ernie Roberts
• Ernie Ross
• Dennis Skinner MP
• John Tilley

Current members

• Diane Abbott MP
• Ronnie Campbell MP
• Martin Caton MP
• Katy Clark MP
• John Cryer MP
• Jeremy Corbyn MP
• David Hamilton MP
• Kelvin Hopkins MP
• Ian Lavery MP
• John McDonnell MP
• Austin Mitchell MP
• Linda Riordan MP
• Dennis Skinner MP
• Mike Wood MP

Former members

Deceased

The following died while still serving in Parliament:

• Bob McTaggart (d. 1989)
• Allan Roberts (d. 1990)
• Pat Wall (d. 1990)
• Eric Heffer (d. 1991)
• Bob Cryer (d. 1994)
• Bernie Grant (d. 2000)
• Audrey Wise (d. 2000)
• David Taylor (d. 2009)

Left Parliament

These members left Parliament voluntarily, either to retire or for new opportunities elsewhere:

• Joan Maynard (1987)
• Stuart Holland (1989, left Parliament to return to academia)
• Bob Clay (1992)
• Martin Flannery (1992)
• Don Dixon (1997)
• Mildred Gordon (1997)
• Bob Litherland (1997)
• Eddie Loyden (1997)
• Willie McKelvey (1997)
• Robert Parry (1997)
• Tony Benn (2001)
• Maria Fyfe (2001)
• Tess Kingham (2001)
• John McAllion (2001, resigned to focus on his duties as a Member of the Scottish Parliament)
• Bill Michie (2001)
• Tony Banks (2005)
• Harry Barnes (2005)
• Terence Lewis (2005)
• Alice Mahon (2005)
• Llew Smith (2005)
• Jimmy Wray (2005)
• Ernie Ross (2005)
• John Austin (2010)
• Michael Clapham (2010)
• Harry Cohen (2010)
• Ann Cryer (2010)
• Bill Etherington (2010)
• Neil Gerrard (2010)
• Lynne Jones (2010)
• Bob Marshall-Andrews (2010)
• Alan Simpson (2010)

Constituency Abolished

These members lost their seats through the abolition of their constituency as a result of redrawn constituency boundaries:

• Les Huckfield (constituency abolished, 1983 election)
• Andrew McMahon (constituency abolished, 1983 election)
• Reg Race (constituency abolished, 1983 election)
• John Tilley (constituency abolished, 1983 election)

Lost Seat in General Election

These members lost their seats in a General Election:

• Bob Cryer (lost seat, 1983 election - returned to Parliament in 1987)
• Eileen Gordon (lost seat, 2001 election)
• John Cryer MP (lost seat, 2005 election - returned to Parliament in 2010)
• Phil Sawford (lost seat, 2005 election)
• David Drew (lost seat, 2010 election)

Expelled

The following members were expelled outright from the Labour Party:

• Ron Brown (expelled in 1991 when he was convicted of criminal damage)
• Terry Fields (expelled in 1991 over his refusal to pay the Poll Tax)
• Dave Nellist (expelled in 1991 for his membership of the Militant Tendency)
• Dennis Canavan (expelled in 2000 for running as an independent for the Scottish Parliament)
• Ken Livingstone (expelled in 2000 for running as an independent for Mayor of London, was later readmitted to the party)

Deselected

The following members were deselected by their Constituency Labour Parties:

• Norman Atkinson (deselected, 1987)
• Ernie Roberts (deselected, 1987)
• John Hughes (deselected, 1992)
• Bob Wareing (deselected, 2007)
• Frank Cook (deselected, 2008)
• Ian Gibson (deselected, 2009)

Defected

The following member resigned the Labour Party whip and defected to the Liberal Democrats:

• Brian Sedgemore (defected, 2005)

Resigned

The following members resigned their membership of the Campaign Group in 1985 in a show of support of Neil Kinnock's reforms as Labour leader:

• Kevin Barron
• Derek Fatchett

The following members resigned their membership of the Campaign Group in 1988 in protest at Tony Benn's decision to challenge Neil Kinnock for the Labour leadership that year:

• Margaret Beckett MP
• Jo Richardson
• Joan Ruddock
• Clare Short
• Joan Walley MP

The following members resigned their membership of the Campaign Group at various points in time when they became front bench spokespersons or members of the government, which was seen as incompatible with membership of the Campaign Group:

• Michael Meacher MP (joined the front bench, 1983)
• Ray Powell (joined the front bench, 1983)
• Mark Fisher (joined the front bench, 1987)
• Paul Boateng (joined the front bench, 1989)
• Gavin Strang (joined the front bench, 1992)
• Malcolm Chisholm (joined the government, 1997)
• Chris Mullin (joined the government, 1997)
• Dawn Primarolo MP (joined the government, remained a member until 2000)
• Dave Anderson MP (joined the government, 2006)

The following members resigned their membership of the Campaign Group for other reasons:

• Alan Meale MP (resigned, 1987)
• Gerry Birmingham (resigned, 1991)
• Terry Patchett (resigned, 1991)
• Keith Vaz MP (resigned, 1991)
• Jimmy Hood MP (resigned, 1997)