The New Zealand Socialist Party was founded in 1901, promoting the works of

Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

and

Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels ( ,"Engels"
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New Zealand socialism. It later merged in 1913 with a faction of the United Labour Party to form the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties F ...

History

New Zealand Socialist Party, fourth annual conference

The party was founded by members of the 'Clarionettes', a group of about 190 English Socialist immigrants recruited through William Ranstead's weekly publication. The original goal was to establish a socialist colony, though the colony was never organised. The

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

branch of the party was founded on 28 July 1901, and the

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River ...

branch in January 1902. The initial members were followers of

Robert Blatchford Robert Peel Glanville Blatchford (17 March 1851 – 17 December 1943) was an English socialist campaigner, journalist, and author in the United Kingdom. He was also noted as a prominent atheist, nationalist and opponent of eugenics. In the early ...

's works. Some of the most prominent leaders of the party were English-born Frederick Cooke and Ted Howard. Visitors from England were

Tom Mann Thomas Mann (15 April 1856 – 13 March 1941), was an English trade unionist and is widely recognised as a leading, pioneering figure for the early labour movement in Britain. Largely self-educated, Mann became a successful organiser and ...

in 1902 and 1908 and

Ben Tillett Benjamin Tillett (11 September 1860 – 27 January 1943) was a British socialist, trade union leader and politician. He was a leader of the "new unionism" of 1889 that focused on organizing unskilled workers. He played a major role in founding ...

in 1907. Robert Rivers La Monte from America was (briefly) an organiser for the party: he was a member of the "Wobblies": the IWW

Industrial Workers of the World The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), members of which are commonly termed "Wobblies", is an international labor union that was founded in Chicago in 1905. The origin of the nickname "Wobblies" is uncertain. IWW ideology combines gener ...

. By 1903, Robert Hogg was publishing a party journal called the ''Commonweal'' in Wellington. The party was not prolifically active and stood no candidates at the election. The party received new vigor with the entry of several radical unionists from

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country b ...

including

Paddy Webb Patrick Charles Webb (30 November 1884 – 23 March 1950) was a New Zealand trade unionist and politician. Early life Webb was born in Rutherglen, a small town in the Australian state of Victoria. His father, George Webb, was a miner, and ...

Bob Semple Robert Semple (21 October 1873 – 31 January 1955) was a union leader and later Minister of Public Works for the first Labour Government of New Zealand. He is also known for creating the Bob Semple tank. Early life He was born in Sofala, New ...

, Michael Joseph Savage and

Harry Holland Henry Edmund Holland (10 June 1868 – 8 October 1933) was an Australian-born newspaper owner, politician and unionist who relocated to New Zealand. He was the second leader of the New Zealand Labour Party. Early life Holland was born at G ...

. Others of the Australian cohort, while less radical and active in attempts to enter the political sphere, were still invested in significant social change; Thomas Eagle, who was a carpenter by trade, was an example of those members who stood as representational of the local and regional labouring workforce, and championed issues for such groups accordingly, such as the open accessibility of education and resources to all people. Amongst early issues raised by Eagle that he brought to New Zealand was his campaign for public libraries to be open on Sundays, assumedly so that blue-collar workers (who then worked 6 days a week before the implementation of the 8-8-8 workday model) would be able to access books and media collections on their single day off. By 1908 the party was tested by the Blackball miners strike and membership had increased to 3,000 by April of that year. Also that year the Socialist Party held its first national conference in

. Many of the early leaders were from the UK and Australia, where radical ideologies were not uncommon among political parties, but were seen as out of touch in New Zealand, where more moderate platforms were the norm. As such the party failed to gain much traction. A different group, the Socialist Party of New Zealand, was founded in 1930 and became the

World Socialist Party (New Zealand) The World Socialist Party of New Zealand (WSPNZ) is a revolutionary socialist and anti-Leninist political party in New Zealand founded in 1930 as the Socialist Party of New Zealand (SPNZ). The WSPNZ is affiliated with the Socialist Party of G ...

Policies

The Socialist Party had a very leftist platform. Its members possessed Marxian views of class struggle and advocated the overthrowing of capitalisation by way of political and industrial action. It was then to make way for "the socialisation of the means of production, distribution and exchange."

Election results

References

External links

The Socialist Party and the Anarchist Picnic
{{Authority control 1901 establishments in New Zealand 1910s disestablishments in New Zealand 1913 disestablishments in Oceania Defunct political parties in New Zealand Defunct socialist parties Marxist parties Political parties disestablished in 1913 Political parties established in 1901 Socialist parties in New Zealand