Labour Independent Group

The Labour Independent Group was an organisation of five former Labour Party Members of Parliament (MPs) in the United Kingdom.

In April 1948, the MP John Platts-Mills campaigned for Pietro Nenni and the Italian Socialist Party, against the Labour government policy. He was expelled from the party. In May 1949, six Labour MPs voted against signing the North Atlantic Treaty, and of them, Lester Hutchinson, Leslie Solley and Konni Zilliacus were expelled.^[1]

All these MPs were known for their communist sympathies, and the four joined with another independent MP, Denis Pritt, who had been expelled from the Labour Party in 1940 for supporting the Soviet Union in the Russo-Finnish War, to form the Labour Independent Group.^[1] Pritt was appointed the group's Chairman.^[2]

The group adopted a position of support for Joseph Stalin. Zilliacus developed a negative impression of Stalin when the two met, and so he resigned from the group later in 1949, instead adopting a position of support for Josip Broz Tito, who he had also met.^[1]

All four remaining members stood as "Independent Labour" candidates in the 1950 UK general election, but all lost their seats, thus dissolving the group.^[2]

Members

• Chairman: Denis Pritt (1887-1972) - MP for Hammersmith North, 1935-1950
• Lester Hutchinson (1904-1983) - MP for Manchester Rusholme, 1945-1950
• John Platts-Mills (1906-2001) - MP for Finsbury, 1945-1950
• Leslie Solley (1905-1968) - MP for Thurrock, 1945-1950
• Konni Zilliacus (1894-1967) - MP for Gateshead, 1945-1950

1950 general election results

Constituency	Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Position
Hammersmith North	Pritt, D. N.D. N. Pritt	6,457	25.2	3
Shoreditch and Finsbury	Platts-Mills, JohnJohn Platts-Mills	7,602	18.0	3
Thurrock	Solley, LeslieLeslie Solley	4,250	9.8	3
Walthamstow West	Hutchinson, LesterLester Hutchinson	704	2.0	4

References

1. Spartacus: Konni Zilliacus
2. F. W. S. Craig, Minor Parties at British Parliamentary Elections