International Group

The International Group was the name taken by two groups of British supporters of the Fourth International.

In both cases, the Group was formed as a public faction by members loyal to the International who felt that the then-current leadership of the British section of the Fourth International had broken with its political continuity.

• In 1961, a small group in Nottingham split from the Revolutionary Socialist League to form the International Group. From 1964 to 1968 it published a newspaper called The Week aimed at the left of the Labour Party. The group was led by Pat Jordan and Ken Coates. In 1964, it co-organised an unsuccessful fusion conference with the RSL, from which RSL members walked out. The International Group changed its name to the International Marxist Group in 1968 and became the British section of the Fourth International in 1969.
• In 1985, a group split from the International Marxist Group which also called itself the International Group. In May 1987 it merged with the Socialist Group as the International Socialist Group and became the British section of the Fourth International in 1995.

Further reading

• Winter at the Bookshop, Sylvia Riley, Five Leaves Publications, 2019, ISBN 1910170666