Socialist Unity was a small
socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
electoral coalition
An electoral alliance (also known as a bipartisan electoral agreement, electoral pact, electoral agreement, electoral coalition or electoral bloc) is an association of political parties or individuals that exists solely to stand in elections.
Ea ...
in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
. It was formed by the
International Marxist Group
:''See also the International Marxist Group (Germany).
The International Marxist Group (IMG) was a Trotskyist group in Britain between 1968 and 1982. It was the British Section of the Fourth International. It had around 1,000 members and supporte ...
as a response to the
Socialist Workers Party (SWP) standing candidates in elections.
Sean Matgamna
Sean Matgamna is an Irish Trotskyist active in Britain. A founder of Workers' Fight in 1966, he is still a prominent member of the group, now called the Alliance for Workers' Liberty.
Early life
Matgamna was born in 1941 in Ennis, County Clar ...
,
The Left and Labour: Lessons from the 1979 General Election ("As We Were Saying")
, Workers Liberty
The Alliance for Workers' Liberty (AWL), also known as Workers' Liberty, is a Trotskyist group in Britain and Australia, which has been identified with the theorist Sean Matgamna throughout its history. It publishes the newspaper ''Solidarity''.
...
, 8 July 2009
Initially, in 1977, the IMG formed local groups, and then the national Socialist Unity grouping. They suggested an alliance with the SWP, which was rejected. The coalition attracted the support of the
Workers League,
Big Flame, the
Marxist Worker
Workers' Power is a Trotskyist group which forms the British section of the League for the Fifth International. The group publishes the newspaper ''Workers Power'' and distributes the English-language journal ''Fifth International''.
Origin
Th ...
group, and some independent socialists.
The Workers League, Marxist Worker and the remnants of the
Libertarian Communist Group
The Anarchist Workers Association (AWA) was one of a number of class-struggle anarchist organisations that existed prior to the resurgence of anarchism in the United Kingdom during the miners' strike of 1984.
History
The Organisation of Revoluti ...
were absorbed by the IMG and Big Flame around this time.
The group stood six candidates in the
1979 UK general election
The 1979 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 3 May 1979 to elect 635 members to the British House of Commons.
The Conservative Party, led by Margaret Thatcher, ousted the incumbent Labour government of James Callaghan with ...
, including
Tariq Ali
Tariq Ali (; born 21 October 1943) is a Pakistani-British political activist, writer, journalist, historian, filmmaker, and public intellectual. He is a member of the editorial committee of the ''New Left Review'' and ''Sin Permiso'', and con ...
. None of the candidates secured a contested seat.
The coalition was dropped when the IMG decided to seek to influence the
Labour Party instead.
References
Defunct Trotskyist organisations in the United Kingdom
International Marxist Group
Defunct political party alliances in the United Kingdom
Political parties established in 1977
{{UK-party-stub