Socialist Party (England and Wales)

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Socialist Party
Welsh: Plaid Sosialaidd Cymru
Leader Hannah Sell
Founded1997;28 years ago (1997)
Preceded by
Headquarters Enfield, London, England
NewspaperThe Socialist
Student wing Socialist Students
Youth wing Young Socialists
Ideology Trotskyism
Marxism
Socialism
Revolutionary socialism
Political position Far-left
National affiliation Socialist Green Unity Coalition (2005–2010)
European affiliation European Anti-Capitalist Left
International affiliation Committee for a Workers' International
Electoral alliance TUSC
Colours  Red
Website
socialistparty.org.uk

The Socialist Party (Welsh : Plaid Sosialaidd Cymru) 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. It is a member of the refounded Committee for a Workers' International, and the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition.

Contents

History

Socialist Party booth at a protest against the 2006 Lebanon War. Lebanon Ceasefire demo IMG 4186 (208359600).jpg
Socialist Party booth at a protest against the 2006 Lebanon War.

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.

In March 2009, the Socialist Party was invited to participate in No to EU – Yes to Democracy (No2EU), a left-wing alter-globalisation coalition by the RMT union leader Bob Crow, for the 2009 European Parliament elections. [3] This alliance later developed into the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC), of which the party is a member. [4]

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]

Electoral activity

The Socialist Party is registered with the UK Government Electoral Commission under the name of Socialist Alternative [8] [ better source needed ]

See also

Notes and references

  1. ↑ Mgadzah, Ray (28 March 1995). "Legacy of Mersey's Militants". The Independent . Archived from the original on 15 November 2016. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
  2. ↑ "The Socialist Party (formerly the Revolutionary Socialist League, Militant Tendency and Militant Labour)". mrc-catalogue.warwick.ac.uk. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
  3. ↑ "Election campaigns". socialistparty.org.uk. Archived from the original on 11 June 2011. Retrieved 3 April 2009.
  4. ↑ "About". TUSC. 5 January 2021. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
  5. ↑ Stewart, Heather; Elgot, Jessica (11 November 2016). "Socialist party leader submits application to rejoin Labour". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 14 August 2024.
  6. ↑ Kelly, Fiach (6 March 2019). "Socialist Party documents illustrate criticism from international comrades". The Irish Times . Archived from the original on 13 July 2023.
  7. ↑ Flakin, Nathaniel (9 August 2019). "The Split in the CWI: Lessons for Trotskyists". Left Voice. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
  8. ↑ "The Electoral Commission Registrations". Electoral commission. Retrieved 31 October 2024.
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