Democratic Labour Party | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader | Brian Powell [1] |
| Officer | Peter Smith |
| Founder | Dave Church |
| Founded | 1998 |
| Dissolved | 2016 |
| Split from | Labour Party |
| Headquarters | Walsall |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Left-wing |
The Democratic Labour Party was a small British left-wing political party in Walsall, sometimes known as the Walsall Democratic Labour Party. It was founded as a breakaway from the Labour Party after left-wing members were expelled in the mid-1990s.
Dave Church (known as "Citizen Dave"), his deputy John Rothery, and others on the left of Walsall Labour Party had supported a policy of radical decentralisation of power since the early 1980s, but the right-wing of the party had held power as Metropolitan Borough of Walsall councillors, preventing the enactment of the policies. [2] In May 1995, after three years during which the left-wing councillors were suspended from the party for 'operating their own caucus', the left gained control of the council. They sacked nine council department heads, proposing to replace them with 54 directly-elected neighbourhood councils. The spectre of the "Loony left" alarmed Labour Party central office, who suspended the district party that August. [3] [4] Church faced claims of 'intimidation tactics', [5] and Church, Rothery and Brian Powell were expelled from the Labour Party by the National Executive Committee in November 1995 for running a "party within a party" called the Walsall Socialist Group. [6] [7] [8] Eleven councillors in all broke away from the Labour Party. [9]
The Democratic Labour Party was officially registered in 1999. [1]
None of the 10 Democratic Labour candidates in the 1998 local elections won a seat, losing four seats including that of the deputy leader John Rothery to Labour. Labour returned to overall control of the council, and Democratic Labour were left with six councillors. [10] [11] The party lost its remaining seats in the 1999 election, three to Labour and three to the Conservatives, [12] and despite standing 15 candidates at the 2000 election did not win back any seats. [13]
Joined by other local left-wingers, they helped set up their local Socialist Alliance, and stood as candidates under its banner in elections until it was disbanded. Dave Church stood for the Socialist Alliance in Walsall North in the 2001 general election, gaining 410 votes (1.3%). [14]
In the 2005 general election, Church stood for Democratic Labour, again in Walsall North, receiving 770 votes (2.3%). [14]
In 2007, Pete Smith won a council seat on Walsall Council from Labour in the Blakenall ward. [15] Smith also stood in Walsall North and gained 842 votes, 2.3% of the vote at the 2010 general election. [16] He lost his council seat in 2011 but was re-elected in 2012 on an anti-cuts platform; [17] [18] the DLP then affiliated to the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition.
In 2016, the DLP effectively ceased to exist for a second time when Smith lost his council seat in the local elections. [19]
The Official Monster Raving Loony Party (OMRLP) is a political party established in the United Kingdom in 1982 by the musician David Sutch, also known as Screaming Lord Sutch, 3rd Earl of Harrow, or simply Lord Sutch. It is notable for its deliberately bizarre policies and it effectively exists to satirise British politics, and to offer itself as an alternative for protest voters, especially in constituencies where the party holding a safe seat is unlikely to lose it.
David John Nellist is a British Trotskyist activist who was the MP for the constituency of Coventry South East from 1983 to 1992. Elected as a Labour MP, his support for the Militant tendency led to his eventual expulsion from the party in late 1991. He is the National Chair of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC), a member of the Socialist Party, and was a city councillor in Coventry from 1998 to 2012.
The Campaign For A New Workers' Party was an initiative of the Socialist Party of England and Wales that argued for the establishment of a new mass workers' party, involving trade union activists, socialists, anti-capitalists, anti-war and environmental activists. It was launched at the party's annual Socialism event in November 2005. There were more than 4,000 signatories to the campaign's founding declaration, many of whom were trade unionists. Some left parties claimed that the CNWP was a front for the Socialist Party.
The British left can refer to multiple concepts. It is sometimes used a shorthand for groups aligned with the Labour Party. It can also refer to other individuals, groups and political parties that have sought egalitarian changes in the economic, political, and cultural institutions of the United Kingdom. Various subgroups with a national scope are active. Liberals and progressives believe that equality can be accommodated into existing capitalist structures, but they differ in their criticism of capitalism and on the extent of reform and the welfare state. Anarchists, communists, socialists, and social democrats, among others, with international imperatives are also present within this macro-movement.
Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) is a socialist electoral alliance in Britain. It was originally launched for the 2010 general election.
The 2011 Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 5 May 2011 to elect members of Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council in the West Midlands, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Labour Party stayed in overall control of the council.
The 2007 Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 3 May 2007 to elect members of Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council in the West Midlands, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative Party stayed in overall control of the council.
Valerie Wise is a British socialist politician and activist. She is among the fourth generation of Labour Party activists in her family.
A by-election for the House of Commons constituency of Eastleigh in Hampshire was held on 28 February 2013.
The United Socialist Party (TUSP) was a British political organisation formed in 2004.
The Socialist Party is a Trotskyist political party in England and Wales. Founded in 1997, it had formerly been Militant, an entryist group in the Labour Party from 1964 to 1991, which became Militant Labour from 1991 until 1997.
The Socialist Labour Party (SLP) is a socialist political party in the United Kingdom. The party was established in 1996 and is led by Arthur Scargill, a former Labour Party member and the former leader of the National Union of Mineworkers. The party's name highlights its commitment to socialism and acknowledges Clause IV of the Labour Party's former constitution, as fundamental to the party's identity.
Michael Lavalette is a member of the Socialist Workers Party and former local councillor in Preston, Lancashire, England. He was first elected as a Socialist Alliance candidate shortly after the Iraq War began in 2003. In 2007, he was re-elected, this time standing for the Respect Party. In the Respect split in 2007 he remained loyal to the SWP and broke with George Galloway. Re-elected in 2012 as an Independent Socialist, he was affiliated with TUSC until he retired from his seat in 2015.
The 2018 North East Lincolnshire Council election took place on 3 May 2018 to elect members of North East Lincolnshire Council in England. This was on the same day as other local elections.
The Breakthrough Party is a minor political party in the United Kingdom. The party describes itself as a "new home for those determined to disrupt the failed status quo and build an alternative: a society that uses its considerable wealth to provide dignity, security and justice for all". The party's constitution declares it to be a democratic socialist party. It was registered with the Electoral Commission in January 2021.
A by-election for the United Kingdom parliamentary constituency of Birmingham Erdington was held on 3 March 2022. It was triggered by the death of the Labour Member of Parliament (MP) Jack Dromey on 7 January. The winner was Paulette Hamilton, standing for Labour, who won 55.5% of the votes on a turnout of 27% of the electorate.
The 2022 Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 5 May 2022 to elect members of Walsall Council. This was on the same day as other local elections. 21 of the 60 seats were up for election, with 1 ward electing 2 councillors.