UK Parties: The Greens and the Socialist parties

[T_i_B]

A thread about the parties to the left of the 3 main ones. First off there's the Green Party, who have seats as the European parliament and are aiming to win their first parliamentary seat in Brighton Pavilion this time round.

http://www.greenparty.org.uk/

I'll also try and post links to the Socialist Parties. Now the far left have a history of infighting amongst themselves and there are a few of their parties, something not helped by the collapse of George Galloway's RESPECT coalition.

Socialist Workers Party http://www.swp.org.uk/
Socialist Labour Party http://www.socialist-labour-party.org.uk/
Workers Revolutionary Party http://www.wrp.org.uk/
Communist Party of Great Britain http://www.cpgb.org.uk/
Socialist Party http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/main/Home

[Anarcho-Socialist]

1. To that, I would add the Communist Party of Britain, which is basically the Morning Star

but it's the largest communist party in Britain.
CPB: http://www.communist-party.org.uk
Morning Star: http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk

The CPGB above isn't anything to do with the old pro-Soviet party which existed until 1988, but a collection of Trotskyist academics who inherited the name.

There's also the CPGB-ML, a group of about 50 Stalin worshippers people in London who were expelled from Scargill's Socialist Labour Party six years ago and set up their own "anti-revisionist" party. http://www.cpgb-ml.org/

The Socialist Party is the direct descendant of Militant from the 1980s, if anyone wants to know.

The not-to-be-confused-with-the-above Socialist Party of Great Britain (SPGB) http://www.worldsocialism.org/spgb also exists, a left-communist group that's been on the go since 1904 and occasionally puts up the odd candidate.

Then there's the Hoxhaists:
Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain (Marxist-Leninist) http://www.rcpbml.org.uk/

...and the Maoists:
http://www.workers.org.uk/

I could go on, but I won't.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

8. Now I can see where Monty Python got their idea of

The Judean People's Liberation Front and the People's Front for the Liberation of Judea.

[T_i_B]

9. No discussion of the far left is ever complete...

...without reference to that scene in Life of Brian.

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. Hard to find whether or where some of the socialist parties are putting up candidates

SWP, WRP, CPGB appear not to be;

Scargill's Socialist Labour Party has a 2010 election speech by him, for "a lad standing here in Portliversuch" ?? :shrug: (he's speaking at various places in the country, so no clue there; the YouTube video of the end of his speech has related videos like 'Arthur's Chicken Pox 1', so I suspect they're not great at publicity ... ); they are putting up candidates (see eg http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/england/8617459.stm ) but appear to be trying to keep it quiet.

Only the Socialist Party from that list of socialist parties appears to be putting up multiple candidates and actively telling people about them on their website.

Here's one more for the list:

Socialist Equity Party http://www.socialequality.org.uk/ British section of the International Committee of the Fourth International , and affiliated with the World Socialist Web Site - at least 2 candidates

[Anarcho-Socialist]

3. the Socialist Party is, as is the CPB

The SP are standing under the Trade Union and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) which is also supported by the SWP, and the CPB are standing a handful of its own candidates in safe Labour seats.

Edited to add here's a link to the list of TUSC candidates: http://www.tusc.org.uk/candidates.php

[T_i_B]

5. Interesting

Last weekend I had a word with the guy from the Socialist Party trying to get people so sign petitions in Sheffield town centre. What he told me about their plans for the general election was the exact opposite, that they weren't putting candidates up but campaigning on individual issues, and that TUSC wouldn't be a going concern until after the election.

Evidently the left hand does not know what the far left hand is doing, which does not make it easy when you try and do one of these threads about what the far left are up to for the general election.

[Anarcho-Socialist]

4. Update: Communist Party of Britain are standing six candidates

Glasgow North West
Newcastle East
Sheffield South East
Croydon North
Cardiff South & Penarth
North Devon

http://www.communist-party.org.uk/

[Anarcho-Socialist]

6. Full list of the far-left candidates

A List of left parties standing in the 2010 General Election

Each organisation is listed with the candidate's name, and the previous combined far left vote in that constituency (where applicable) from the 2005 and 2001 general elections. This does not count results from by-elections or other 'second order' elections.

Alliance for Green Socialism
Kensington - Eddie Adams (N/A)
Leeds East - Mike Davies (2001, SLP 419 votes (1.4%))
Leeds North East - Celia Foote (2005, AGS 1,038 votes (2.5%); 2001, SLP 173 votes (0.4%))
Leeds North West - Trevor Bavage (2005, AGS 181 votes (0.4%))
Scarborough and Whitby - Juliet Boddington (N/A)
Vale of Clwyd - Mike Butler (N/A)

Alliance for Workers' Liberty
Camberwell and Peckham - Jill Mountford (2005, SLP + WRP 245 votes (0.9%); 2001, SA + SLP + WRP 736 votes (2.9%))

Communist League
Edinburgh South West - Caroline Bellamy (2005, SSP 585 votes (1.3%))
Hackney South and Shoreditch - Paul Davies (2005, Respect + CPB + WRP 1,729 votes (5.4%); 2001, SA + CPB + WRP 1,803 votes (6%))

Communist Party of Britain
Cardiff South and Penarth - Robert Griffiths (2005, SocAlt 269 votes (0.7%); 2001, SA 427 votes (1.2%))
Croydon North - Ben Stevenson (2001, Socialist Alliance 539 votes (1.3%))
Glasgow North West - Marc Livingstone (2005, SSP + SLP 1,387 votes (4.2%))
Newcastle East - Martine Levy (N/A)
North Devon - Gerry Sables (N/A)
Sheffield South East - Steve Andrew (N/A)
Leicester East - Avtar Sadiq (N/A)

Peace Party
Guildford - John Morris (2005, PP 166 votes (0.3%); 2001, PP 370 votes (0.8%))
Horsham - Jim Duggan (N/A)
Woking - Julie Roxburgh (N/A)

Respect
Bethnal Green and Bow - Abjol Miah (2005, Respect + CL 15,839 votes (36%))
Birmingham Hall Green - Salma Yaqoob (N/A)
Blackley and Broughton - Kay Phillips (N/A)
Bradford West - Arshad Ali (N/A)
Brent Central - Abdi Duale (N/A)
Croydon North - Mohammed Shaikh (2001, SA 539 votes (1.3%))
Enfield Southgate - Samad Billoo (N/A)
Garston and Halewood - Diana Raby (N/A)
Manchester Gorton - Mohammed Zulfikar (2005, WRP 181 votes (0.6%); 2001, SLP 333 votes (1.2%))
Oldham West and Royton - Shahid Miah (N/A)
Poplar and Limehouse - George Galloway (N/A)

Scottish Socialist Party
Aberdeen North - Ewan Robertson (2005, SSP 691 votes (1.9%); 2001, SSP 454 votes (1.5%))
Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East - Willie O'Neil (2005, SSP 1,141 votes (2.9%))
Dundee East - Angela Gorrie (2005, SSP 537 votes (1.4%); 2001, SSP 879 votes (2.7%))
Edinburgh South West - Colin Fox (2005, SSP 585 votes (1.3%))
Glasgow Central - James Nesbitt (2005, SSP + SLP + CPB 1,445 votes (5.2%))
Glasgow East - Frances Curran (2005, SSP 1,096 votes (3.5%))
Glasgow North East - Kevin McVey (2005, SSP + SLP 5,438 votes (19.1%))
Livingston - Ally Hendry (2005, SSP 789 votes (1.8%); 2001, SSP 1,110 votes (3.1%))
Paisley and Renfrewshire North - Chris Rollo (2005, SSP + SLP 1,090 votes (2.7%))
Paisley and Renfrewshire South - Jimmy Kerr (2005, SSP + SLP 896 votes (2.4%))

Socialist Equality Party
Manchester Central - Robert Skelton (2005, Independent Progressive Labour + SLP 565 votes (1.9%); 2001, SLP 484 votes (1.9%))
Oxford East - David O'Sullivan (2001, SA + SLP 982 votes (2.5%)

Socialist Labour Party
Liverpool Wavertree - Kim Singleton (2005, SLP 244 votes (0.7%); 2001, SLP + SA 708 votes (2.2%))

Socialist Party of Great Britain
Vauxhall - Daniel Lambert (2005, SPGB 240 votes (0.6%); 2001, SA 853 votes (2.6%))

Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition
Bootle - Pete Glover (2005, SocAlt 655 votes (2.6%); 2001, SLP + SA 1,643 votes (5.9%))
Brighton Kemptown - Dave Hill (2005, PP + SLP +SocAlt 448 votes (1.1%); 2001, SLP 364 votes (0.9%))
Bristol East - Rachel Lynch (2005, Respect 532 votes (1.3%); 2001, SA + SLP 769 votes (1.9%))
Bristol South - Tom Baldwin (2001, SA + SLP 746 votes (1.8%))
Cambridge - Martin Booth (2005, Respect 477 votes (1.1%); 2001, SA + WRP 777 votes (1.8%))
Cardiff Central - Ross Saunders (2005, Respect 386 votes (1.1%); 2001, SA 283 votes (0.8%))
Carlisle - John Metcalfe (TUSC-backed independent) (2001, SA 269 votes (0.8%))
Colne Valley - Jackie Grunsell (N/A)
Coventry North East - Dave Nellist (2005, SocAlt 1,874 votes (5.04%); 2001, SA 2,638 votes (7.1%))
Coventry North West - Nikki Downes (2005, SocAlt 615 votes (1.4%))
Coventry South - Judy Griffiths (2005, SocAlt 1,097 votes (2.7%); 2001, SocAlt + SLP 1,889 votes (4.7%))
Dundee West - Jim McFarlane (2005, SSP 994 votes (2.7%); 2001, SSP 1,192 (4.1%))
Edinburgh East - Gary Clark (2005, SSP + CL 905 votes (2.3%))
Edinburgh North and Leith - Willie Black (2005, SSP 804 votes (1.9%); 2001, SSP + SLP 1,593 votes (4.8%))
Gateshead - Elaine Brunskill (N/A)
Glasgow North - Angela McCormick (2005, SSP 1,067 votes (3.8%))
Glasgow North East - Graham Campbell (2005, SSP + SLP 5,438 votes (19.1%))
Glasgow South - Brian Smith (2005, SSP + SLP 1,569 votes (4.1%))
Glasgow South West - Tommy Sheridan (2005, SSP + SLP 1,809 votes (5.9%))
Greenwich and Woolwich - Onay Kasab (2001, SA + SLP 833 votes (2.6%))
Huddersfield - Paul Cooney (2001, SA + SLP 582 votes (1.7%))
Hull West and Hessle - Keith Gibson (2001, SLP 353 votes (1.2%))
Inverness Nairn Badenoch and Strathspey - George McDonald (2005, SSP 429 votes (1%))
Leicester West - Steve Score (2005, SocAlt 552 votes (1.7%); 2001, SA + SLP 671 votes (2.1%))
Lewisham Deptford - Ian Page (2005, SocAlt 742 votes (2.4%); 2001, SA 1,260 votes (4.3%))
Liverpool Walton - Darren Ireland (N/A)
Manchester Gorton - Karen Reissman (2005, WRP 181 votes (0.6%); 2001, SLP 333 votes (1.2%))
Midlothian - Willie Duncan (2005, SSP 726 votes (1.9%)); 2001, SSP 837 votes (2.9%))
Motherwell and Wishaw - Ray Gunnion (2005, SSP 1,019 votes (2.7%); 2001, SSP + SLP 1,321 votes (4.4%))
Portsmouth North - Mick Tosh (N/A)
Redcar - Hannah Walter (2005, SLP 159 votes (0.4%); 2001, SLP 772 votes (2%))
Salford - David Henry (2001, SA 414 votes (1.8%))
Sheffield Brightside - Maxine Bowler (2001, SA + SLP 715 votes (2.8%))
Southampton Itchen - Tim Cutter (2001, SA + SLP 466 votes (1.1%))
Spelthorne - Paul Couchman (N/A)
Stoke Central - Matt Wright (2005, SocAlt 246 votes (0.9%))
Swansea West - Rob Williams (2005, SocAlt 288 votes (0.9%); 2001, SA 366 votes (1.1%))
Tottenham - Jenny Sutton (2005, Respect + SLP 2,277 (7.2%); 2001, SA 1,162 votes (3.7%))
Walthamstow - Nancy Taaffe (2005, SocAlt 727 votes (2.1%); 2001, SocAlt 806 votes (2.3%))
Wellingborough and Rushden - Paul Crofts (2005, SLP 234 votes (0.4%))
Wythenshawe and Sale East - Lynn Worthington (2005, SocAlt 369 votes (1%); 2001, SLP 410 votes (1.2%))

Workers' Power
Vauxhall - Jeremy Drinkall (2005, SPGB 240 votes (0.6%); 2001, SA 853 votes (2.6%))

Workers' Revolutionary Party
Norwich South - Gabriel Polley (2005, WRP 85 votes (0.2%); 2001, SA 507 votes (1.2%)

The above is not my work, and was taken from a Morning Star readers and supporters' group.

[miscsoc]

7. that post makes me physically angry

why the fuck do these groupuscules insist on running their own candidates in every fucking election

do they actually believe that this might be a good strategy?

respect, the ssp, and that trade union/socialist coalition thing are a bit different, but the rest of them do my head in