The Socialist Party was formerly the Militant group, which practised entryism in the Labour Party. In the 1980s, Militant supporters Dave Nellist, Pat Wall and Terry Fields were elected to the House of Commons as Labour MPs. In 1982, Liverpool District Labour Party adopted Militant's policies for Liverpool City Council in its battle against cuts in the rate support grant from government, and came into conflict with the Conservative government.[1]
In 1991, there was a debate within Militant as to whether to continue working within the Labour Party, centred around whether they could still effectively operate in the party following the expulsions. The group became Militant Labour in 1991, after leaving the Labour Party. In 1997, Militant Labour changed its name to the Socialist Party,[2] and the Militant newspaper was renamed The Socialist.
During Jeremy Corbyn's leadership of the Labour Party, members of the Socialist Party attempted to join the former, with then leader of the Socialist Party, Peter Taaffe, stating they hoped to be able to affiliate to the Labour Party and stand joint candidates at future general elections. Labour Party sources however distanced themselves from such attempts, highlighting that the rules preventing active members of other parties joining the Labour Party.[5]
In 2018 and 2019, the party was involved in a dispute within the predecessor Committee for a Workers' International (1974) around the questions of socialism and identity politics.[6] The Socialist Party, as part of the “In Defence of a Working Class and Trotskyist CWI” (IDWCTCWI) faction, would go on to re-establish a revived Committee for a Workers' International in 2019 that considers itself a continuance of the original CWI (though this is disputed).[7]
Allegations of violence against women and sexual assault
In March 2013, Socialist Party member and National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers Assistant General Secretary Steve Hedley was accused of domestic violence by a former partner, Caroline Leneghan.[8] Hedley, who had joined the Socialist Party a year after the alleged event took place, resigned immediately from the Socialist Party when the allegations were made.[9]
A former Socialist Party member alleged in 2013 that the Socialist Party's Executive Committee unfairly dealt with her complaint against a fellow member who put his hand on her knee.[10] The Socialist Party did not publicly comment on her case, but Hannah Sell, who was Deputy General Secretary at the time, published a statement on behalf of the Executive Committee: "Combating violence against women: A socialist perspective on fighting women's oppression".[11]
Scottish Militant Labour (SML) was a Trotskyist political party operating in Scotland for most of the 1990s and was part of the Committee for a Workers' International. It later became known as the International Socialist Movement, which has since dissolved.
The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers is a British trade union covering the transport sector. Its current President is Alex Gordon and its current General Secretary is Mick Lynch.
The Socialist Party is a political party in Ireland, active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Internationally, it was affiliated to the Trotskyist International Socialist Alternative until 2024.
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 United Socialist Party is a Trotskyist political party in Sri Lanka. The party is led by perennial presidential candidate Siritunga Jayasuriya. It is affiliated with the Committee for a Workers' International.
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 as 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. There are various sub-groups, split between reformist and revolutionary viewpoints. Progressives and social democrats 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, and socialists, among others on the far left, on the other hand argue for abolition of the capitalist system.
No2EU is a left-wing Eurosceptic electoral alliance in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 2009 when it campaigned under the campaign slogan No2EU — Yes to Democracy; it was led by Bob Crow and backed by the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT), who provided most of its funding, the Communist Party of Britain and Solidarity (Scotland) among others. It participated in the 2009 European Parliament elections and the European elections in 2014 with the party name "No2EU" and the campaign slogan No2EU — Yes to Workers' Rights.
The Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) is a socialist electoral alliance in Britain. It was originally launched for the 2010 general election.
The United Socialist Party (TUSP) was a British political organisation formed in 2004.
The Socialist Green Unity Coalition was an electoral alliance formed by leftist parties and political organisations in Great Britain prior to 2005 parliamentary election after the Respect Unity Coalition rejected requests to discuss an electoral arrangement to avoid clashes in 2005. It was established in September 2004, named in November 2004 and publicly launched in February 2005. After the 2005 election the coalition continued to operate as a liaison and co-ordinating body but has not extended its remit much beyond electoral co-ordination.
The Socialist Equality Party (SEP) is a Trotskyist political party in the United States. SEP first formed in 1964 as the American Committee for the Fourth International, created by expelled members of the Socialist Workers Party. SEP and its previous forms were associated with the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI), a Trotskyist political international.
Socialism in the United Kingdom is thought to stretch back to the 19th century from roots arising in the English Civil War. Notions of socialism in Great Britain have taken many different forms from the utopian philanthropism of Robert Owen through to the reformist electoral project enshrined in the Labour Party that was founded in 1900 and nationalised a fifth of the British economy in the late 1940s.
Entryism is a political strategy in which an organization or state encourages its members or supporters to join another, usually larger, organization in an attempt to expand influence and expand their ideas and program. If the organization being "entered" is hostile to entryism, the entryists may engage in a degree of subterfuge and subversion to hide the fact that they are an organization in their own right.
The Militant tendency, or Militant, was a Trotskyist group in the British Labour Party, organised around the Militant newspaper, which launched in 1964.
The Committee for a Workers' International (CWI) was an international association of Trotskyist political parties and organisations. Today, two groups claim to be the continuation of the CWI, the refounded Committee for a Workers' International and International Socialist Alternative.
Edward Grant was a South African Trotskyist who spent most of his adult life in Britain. He was a founding member of the group Militant and later Socialist Appeal.
International Socialist Alternative (ISA) is an international association of Trotskyist political parties.
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.
This article lists the election results of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) in UK elections.
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