A socialist society is a membership organisation that is affiliated with the Labour Party in the UK. [1]
The best-known and oldest socialist society is the Fabian Society, founded in 1884, some years before the creation of the Labour Party itself (in which the Society participated). [2] The Society's membership is relatively small (around 7000) but it exerts much influence in Labour circles. The Co-operative Party is not strictly a "socialist society" in the context of the Labour Party; it is in fact a separate party with an electoral agreement with Labour. It acts as a socialist society for the most part although it has certain additional rights.
Affiliation means that the socialist societies – like a number of British trade unions – pay an affiliation fee to the Labour Party, and the affiliates' members become affiliated supporters of the Labour Party (a different status from full member), unless they specifically choose otherwise. In return the societies receive a formal role in Labour decision-making, and the affiliated supporters can take part in all-member ballots in certain circumstances. For example, they can participate in the election of Labour Party leaders and deputy leaders, have delegates and votes at Annual Conference.
Socialist societies also elect a delegate (currently James Asser) to the Labour National Executive Committee and can affiliate at a local level to Constituency Labour Parties. A second seat was allotted to BAME Labour in early 2007, when its membership rose above 2,500. The Socialist Societies also elect three representatives to the National Policy Forum; currently, these are Sina Lari, Andrew Harrop and Paul Clarkson. Since the 2011 'refounding Labour' process, seats on the NPF have also been allocated to LGBT+ Labour and the Disability Labour. Each Socialist Society can nominate, and since 2015 Socialist Society members can vote individually, in the Labour leader and deputy leader elections. [3]
The socialist societies are also involved in the Labour Party's policy reviews, and the work of the Socialist Societies is co-ordinated by the Socialist Societies Executive. This is a regular meeting of the chairs and key officers of all the societies to share ideas and co-ordinate work. These meetings also co-ordinate regular meetings with senior Labour Party officials and MPs.
As a collective, the societies try to co-ordinate campaigning work and hold a joint event at Labour Party conference. A small group of officers are elected to co-ordinate this work. The current committee is:
As of January 2020, there are 20 affiliated socialist societies: [4] [2]
There are other organisations, such as Labour Arts Alliance, Muslims for Labour and Labour Humanists, which are not formally affiliated to the Labour Party but act as campaign groups for Labour Party members in the same way as the affiliates, but have yet to apply for affiliation or have decided not to do so.
Young Labour and Labour Students are not Socialist Societies, and retain separate places within the Labour Party as national branches for young and student members.
The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse working-class candidates. A sitting independent MP and prominent union organiser, Keir Hardie, became its first chairman.
In British politics, an affiliated trade union is one that is linked to the Labour Party. The party was created by the trade unions and socialist societies in 1900 as the Labour Representation Committee and the unions have retained close institutional links with it.
The National Executive Committee (NEC) is the governing body of the UK Labour Party, setting the overall strategic direction of the party and policy development. Its composition has changed over the years, and includes representatives of affiliated trade unions, the Parliamentary Labour Party, constituency Labour parties (CLP), and socialist societies, as well as ex officio members such as the party Leader and Deputy Leader and several of their appointees.
The Co-operative Party is a centre-left political party in the United Kingdom, supporting co-operative values and principles. The party currently has an electoral pact with the Labour Party. Established in 1917, the Co-operative Party was founded by co-operative societies to campaign politically for the fairer treatment of co-operative enterprise and to elect 'co-operators' to Parliament. The party's roots lie in the Parliamentary Committee of the Co-operative Union established in 1881.
Labour Students is a student organisation within the Labour Party of the United Kingdom. It is a network of affiliated college and university clubs, known as Labour Clubs, who campaign in their campuses and communities for Labour's values of equality and social justice.
The Young Fabians is the under age 31 section of the Fabian Society, a socialist society in the United Kingdom that is affiliated with the Labour Party (UK). The Young Fabians operate as a membership-driven think tank that organises policy debates, research projects, publications, conferences, and international delegations. The organisation holds no collective position on policy.
Scottish Labour Students (SLS) is a student society affiliated to Scottish Labour, and part of the UK wide organisation Labour Students.
The Cambridge University Labour Club (CULC), formerly known as Cambridge Universities Labour Club, is a student political society, first founded as the Cambridge University Fabian Society to provide a voice for British Labour Party values of socialism and social democracy at the University of Cambridge. Although the society served only University of Cambridge students for most of its history, in 2007, membership was also opened up to students of Anglia Ruskin. In 2018, with the setting up of a student society for Labour members at Anglia Ruskin, the society reverted to existing for Cambridge University students only. CULC's varied past has seen it go through several disaffiliations with the national Labour Party, including periods in the 1960s and 1970s when it was under the influence of the entryist Militant tendency. It is currently affiliated to the Labour Party and the Cambridge Constituency Labour Party.
The National Policy Forum (NPF) of the British Labour Party is part of the policy-making system of the Party, set up by Leader Tony Blair as part of the Partnership in Power process. A Provisional National Policy Forum had been established by Blair's predecessor, John Smith, in May 1993.
Compass is a British centre-left pressure group, aligned with the Labour Party which describes itself as: "'An umbrella grouping of the progressive left whose sum is greater than its parts". Like the formally Labour-affiliated think tank the Fabian Society it is a membership-based organisation and thus seeks to be a pressure group and a force for political organisation and mobilisation.
LGBT+ Labour is the socialist society officially representing the LGBT wing of the Labour Party in the United Kingdom. The purpose of the organisation is to campaign within the Labour Party, and the wider Labour movement to promote the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, and to encourage members of the LGBT community to support the Labour Party.
The Fabian Society is a British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of social democracy and democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist effort in democracies, rather than by revolutionary overthrow. The Fabian Society was also historically related to radicalism, a left-wing liberal tradition.
The Jewish Labour Movement (JLM), known as Poale Zion (Great Britain) from 1903 to 2004, is one of the oldest socialist societies affiliated to the UK Labour Party. It is a member of the progressive coalition of Avodah/Meretz/Arzenu/Ameinu within the World Zionist Organization. Its sister parties are the Israeli Labor Party (Havodah) and Meretz.
West Yorkshire Young Labour (WYYL) is a branch of Young Labour, the youth wing of the Labour Party, for members between the ages of 14 and 26 in the English county of West Yorkshire.
Christians on the Left, formerly known as the Christian Socialist Movement (CSM), is a socialist society in the UK. The movement fulfils a need among Christian socialists for an organisation that would be both politically engaged and theologically reflective. Christians on the Left is a member organisation of the International League of Religious Socialists. Members have included Labour leaders John Smith, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, R. H. Tawney, and Donald Soper. Today, Christians on the Left has over 40 members in the House of Commons and the House of Lords.
Momentum is a British left-wing political organisation which has been described as a grassroots movement supportive of the Labour Party; since January 2017, all Momentum members must be members of the party. It was founded in 2015 by Jon Lansman, Adam Klug, Emma Rees and James Schneider after Jeremy Corbyn's successful campaign to become Labour Party leader and it was reported to have between 20,000 and 30,000 members in 2021.
BAME Labour, formerly the Black Socialist Society until 2007, is a socialist society affiliated to the Labour Party made up of black, Asian and ethnic minority Labour Party supporters.
The Labour Movement for Europe (LME) is one of 20 "socialist societies" affiliated to the UK Labour Party, just like the Fabians and The Jewish Labour Movement.
Disability Labour is a socialist society associated with the UK Labour Party. Disability Labour seeks to represent and support disabled Labour members and supporters. They are an independent policy-making group on disability with further "aims to support and develop disabled party members to serve as policymakers, ministers and elected officials".