The 55 Group were an internal body within the

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...

(SNP) formed in 1955 (hence the name of the group). This grouping started an organised campaign of internal dissent. This group was formed mainly of younger SNP members frustrated at the lack of electoral progress of the party in this period. There was also overt tones of anti-

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

sentiment amongst this grouping, epitomised by the publication of a leaflet ''The English: Are They Human?''. This anti-English streak proved too much to bear for the SNP leadership and the 55 Group were expelled. Some of their members went on to form a new political party, the Nationalist Party of Scotland (not to be confused with the earlier National Party of Scotland which merged with the Scottish Party in 1934 to form the SNP). This split in the SNP proved to be minor and involved only a few members, mainly located in the city of

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, and the new party made no impact whatsoever in the long-run. The 55 Group are not the only organisation to have been proscribed by the SNP. In the early 1980s the 79 Group (like the 55 Group, named after the year they were formed, but unlike the 55 Group not an anti-English body, but a radical

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 ...

organisation) and Siol nan Gaidheal were banned, and in more recent times they have banned their members from joining the

Scottish Republican Socialist Movement The Scottish Republican Socialist Movement (SRSM) is a political organisation that was formed out of the now defunct Scottish Republican Socialist Party (SRSP), a political party that operated in Scotland. The SRSM campaigns for Scottish inde ...

References

* ''SNP:The History of the Scottish National Party'', by Peter Lynch, 2002 Scottish National Party Political party factions in Scotland 1955 establishments in Scotland Political parties established in 1955 {{Scotland-poli-stub