British Left

Timeline of parties in the broad socialist movement

The term British Left refers to left-wing political parties, movements and activists in Great Britain. The biggest political party associated with the British Left is the Labour Party, also the largest political party in the UK with over 400,000 members.[1] The Labour Party has 232 seats in the House of Commons.

Aside from Labour, the biggest left-wing party is considered to be the Green Party. As of May 2015, membership in England and Wales was over 65,000;[2] Scottish membership increased dramatically following the Independence Referendum,[3] and they became the fourth biggest party by membership in Scotland, overtaking the Liberal Democrats.[4] The Green Party has one MP.

The only other left-wing party with parliamentary representation is Plaid Cymru,[5] who have three MPs (in addition to seats in the National Assembly for Wales and European Parliament).

The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest left-of-Labour organisation historically from its formation in 1920 until dissolution in 1991, with a peak membership of 56,000 (and two MPs) in 1945. A split occurred in 1988, leading to the foundation of the Communist Party of Britain (CPB), now considered its successor organisation,[6] and which is associated with the nominally-independent daily newspaper, the Morning Star.

A number of smaller leftist parties enter elections as the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC). A new party, Left Unity, was formed in November 2013 and backed by a number of existing leftist parties. Left Unity had an electoral pact with TUSC for the 2015 elections[7] but has since renounced independent electoral activity in favour of the Labour Party. Other, much smaller, Left parties do contest elections independently, such as the Socialist Party of Great Britain (the oldest extant Left party, having formed in 1904) and the Socialist Labour Party.

History

Active in England

Labour Party

The biggest centre-left party in the UK in terms of members and representation is the Labour Party, originally formed as the Labour Representation Committee in 1900. With the party's rebranding as New Labour in the 1990s under Tony Blair's leadership, the party accepted a number of Thatcherite policy positions,[8] causing it to be identified as neoliberal rather than democratic socialist, and no longer a party of the Left;[9][10] Blair himself described New Labour's ideology as a "Third Way". When Ed Miliband became leader of the Labour Party in 2010, however, he described the Labour Party as "democratic socialist",[11] pledging to clamp down on tax avoidance, introduce a wealth tax in the form of a Mansion Tax, raise income tax on the highest earners in Britain and break up the banks.[12]

As an opposition party under Miliband's leadership, the party was criticised by some, including former leader Tony Blair, as straying leftwards from the "centre ground" of British politics,[13] and that Miliband was a "traditional left-wing" politician.[14] However, others disputed this view, and put Labour's loss of the 2015 UK election down to the party being too right wing.[15][16] The unexpected landslide victory of Jeremy Corbyn in the 2015 Labour leadership election[17] represented a resurgence of the Labour Left and led to a surge in membership;[18] in the reshuffle that followed, John McDonnell (chairman of the Labour Representation Committee) and Diane Abbott (member of the Socialist Campaign Group) were appointed to the Shadow Cabinet.[19]

Labour's status as a left-wing party has nevertheless been disputed by those who do not see the party as part of the Left.[20][21][22]

Internal groups

Magazine support

Green Party of England and Wales

In 2015, the membership of the Green Party quadrupled, and its support in national opinion polls sextupled.[23] Several factors have contributed, including the collapse of the Liberal Democrat vote, the influence of social media and greater awareness among younger people about the rise of other leftist parties in Europe such as Podemos in Spain and Syriza in Greece, as well as a rise in anti-austerity movements across Europe and Britain.[24] Other factors include the Scottish referendum, which has proved an inspiration for a new kind of politics. Other key factors had been the contrast in conferences of the Green Party and Labour in September 2014, and the media exclusion of the Green Party during and following their successes in the European elections. A petition against the media blackout of the Green Party reached 260,000 signatures.[25] The party also received a significant spike in membership during January, 2015 following David Cameron's demand that the Green Party be included in the leaders' debates for the 2015 General Election. The Green Party has been included in a seven-way television debate.[26] The Green Party of England and Wales' spring conference had 1,300 members attend, a record for the party.

The Green Party of England and Wales is now the second largest party of the European Greens, and has increased significantly in the national polls from an average 1% to 7%. It beat the Liberal Democrats to fourth place in the 2014 European Elections with 8%, under a proportional voting system, having a third MEP elected.

However, the status of the Greens as a party of the Left is also disputed.[27][28][29]

Internal groups

Other organisations

The Respect Party, which at one point had the support of other Left groups (such as the Socialist Workers Party, CPGB(PCC) and Socialist Resistance, and was the second largest left-wing party in the UK after Labour, lost its final two councillors in the 2014 local elections,[30] and its only MP, George Galloway - who is also the party leader[31] - in May 2015. However, four Bradford councillors rejoined Respect in March 2015, and a Labour councillor defected to Respect around the same time.[32][33]

The largest Left organisation (at least electorally) is the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition, comprising the Socialist Party (England and Wales), Socialist Workers Party, Independent Socialist Network, and others. TUSC contested the 2014 United Kingdom local elections with 554 candidates, winning 68,031 total votes, composed of 64,098 votes for the council candidates and 3,933 votes for the three mayoral candidates. The average vote for TUSC candidates was 3.4%, with one candidate winning 43% of the vote, and 8 others gaining more than 10%.[34] TUSC stood 100 candidates in the 2015 General Election - gaining 36,327 votes - and 1,000 council candidates in the local elections. TUSC has a small number of local councillors. Following the 2015 election of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader, TUSC floated plans for an electoral pact with any Labour councillors standing on an anti-austerity platform. [35]

Electoral groups

Groups working within TUSC
Groups working within Left Unity
Further information: Left Unity (UK)

Entryist groups within Labour Party

Further information: Entryism

Non-electoral groups

Anti-revisionists
Further information: Anti-revisionism
Others

Active only in Scotland

Active only in Wales

Media

Publications affiliated to parties

Unaffiliated

Archive

Further reading

Labour Party

Communist Party

Women

Critiques

See also

References

  1. ↑ "In a less shameless world, Liam Fox’s career would have ended in 2011". newstatesman.com. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  2. ↑ "More than 65,000". Natalie Bennett. 2015.
  3. ↑ "SCOTTISH GREENS THANK OVER 3,000 NEW MEMBERS". Retrieved 22 September 2014.
  4. ↑ Bradley, Jane (8 January 2015). "Scots Greens blast TV debate snub as Ukip included". The Scotsman (Johnston Press). Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  5. ↑ Steven Morris. "Leanne Wood: 'Wales's natural left-ness is reflected in Plaid Cymru'". the Guardian. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  6. ↑ "Review: 'Britain’s Communists: The Untold Story'". links.org.au. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  7. ↑ Hill, Dave. "On relations between Left Unity and TUSC". Left Unity. Retrieved 25 May 2015.
  8. ↑ John Kampfner (17 April 2008). "Margaret Thatcher, inspiration to New Labour". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  9. ↑ http://internationalsocialist.org.uk/index.php/2013/07/labour-neoliberalism-and-the-future/
  10. ↑ Peter Hain. "A smaller state? It’s what got us into trouble to begin with". the Guardian. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  11. ↑ "Ed Miliband: I'm bringing socialism back to Britain", The Telegraph, September 2013.
  12. ↑ "Labour will restore 50p top rate of income tax, says Ed Balls", The Guardian, January 2014
  13. ↑ "Tony Blair says Labour 'left-wing' warning 'misinterpreted'". BBC News. 31 December 2014. Retrieved 25 May 2015.
  14. ↑ "Blair claims 'left-wing' comments about Miliband were 'misinterpreted'". ITV News. 31 December 2014. Retrieved 25 May 2015.
  15. ↑ Stanley, Tim (15 May 2015). "Labour didn't lose because it was too Left-wing. But it will lose again if it becomes too Right-wing". London: The Telegraph. Retrieved 25 May 2015.
  16. ↑ Wintour, Patrick (13 May 2015). "Labour did not lose election because it was too leftwing, says Unite chief". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 25 May 2015.
  17. ↑ ToHelm. "Corbyn hails huge mandate as he sets out leftwing agenda". the Guardian. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  18. ↑ "Labour claim membership surge after Corbyn election". Channel 4 News. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  19. ↑ "Jeremy Corbyn unveils 'unifying' shadow cabinet team". BBC News. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  20. ↑ Singh, Amit (8 May 2015). "The most embarrassing part of the election? Seeing people mistake Labour for a left-wing party". The Independent (London).
  21. ↑ "Socialist Party :: Labour conference - no socialist policies". socialistparty.org.uk. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  22. ↑ "The Labour Party and socialism". Socialist Worker (Britain). Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  23. ↑ Ramsay, Adam (6 March 2015). "Today, Natalie Bennett must deliver the speech of her life". New Statesman. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  24. ↑ See: list of political parties in the United Kingdom opposed to austerity.
  25. ↑ ""Invite the Greens" petition handed in to the BBC". Green Party of England and Wales. 13 November 2014. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  26. ↑ "Election 2015: Seven-party TV debate plan announced". BBC News. 23 January 2015. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  27. ↑ "Just how left wing is the Green Party?". leftunity.org. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  28. ↑ Suzanne Moore. "Forget the Greens – if the UK wants a truly leftwing party, it might have to grow its own". the Guardian. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  29. ↑ ToMiller (14 April 2015). "The Greens are not a real party of the left – here's why". The Conversation. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  30. ↑ Helen Pidd "Labour gains control of Bradford as Respect fail" theguardian.com (The Northerner Blog), 23 May 2014
  31. ↑ Helen Pidd "Who is the leader of the Respect party these days?" theguardian.com (The Northerner Blog), 28 October 2013
  32. ↑ Helen Pidd "Four Bradford councillors rejoin George Galloway's Respect party", The Guardian, 31 March 2015
  33. ↑ Claire Wilde "Sitting Bradford councillor defects from Labour party to Respect", Bradford Telegraph & Argus, 27 March 2015
  34. ↑ TUSC.org, 30 May 2014
  35. ↑ Ian Silvera. "Far-left TUSC seeks anti-austerity electoral pact with Jeremy Corbyn's Labour". International Business Times UK. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  36. ↑
  37. ↑ "Workers Revolutionary Party". wrp.org.uk. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  38. ↑ http://www.newworker.org/nwp1.pdf
  39. ↑ "Tories split - strike now! - The Socialist 23 March 2016". socialistparty.org.uk. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  40. ↑ "Socialist Appeal - The International Marxist Tendency". Socialist Appeal. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  41. ↑ "Socialist Resistance". Socialist Resistance. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  42. ↑ "Socialist Standard". worldsocialism.org. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  43. ↑ "Socialist Worker (Britain)". Socialist Worker (Britain). Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  44. ↑ "Workers' Liberty". Workers' Liberty. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  45. ↑
  46. ↑ "World Socialist Web Site". wsws.org. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  47. ↑
  48. ↑ "Speak for Britain!: A New History of the Labour Party: Martin Pugh: 9780099520788: Amazon.com: Books". amazon.com. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  49. ↑ "A History of the British Labour Party, Third Edition (British Studies): Andrew Thorpe, Jeremy Black: 9780230500112: Amazon.com: Books". amazon.com. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  50. ↑ "Labour Inside the Gate: A History of the British Labour Party between the Wars (International Library of Political Studies)". amazon.com. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  51. ↑ "Cold War, Crisis and Conflict: The History of the Communist Party of Great Britain, 1951-68". questia.com. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  52. ↑ "British Women and the Spanish Civil War". questia.com. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
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