The Communist League is a British political party that was formed by a group of members expelled in 1988 from Socialist Action. Those members had joined the American Socialist Workers Party's

Pathfinder tendency The Pathfinder tendency is the unofficial name of a group of historically Trotskyist organizations that cooperate politically and organizationally with the Socialist Workers Party of the United States and support its solidarity with the Cuban R ...

. It maintained a bookshop in London, originally in The Cut, then Bethnal Green Road. It now operates a web/mail order service from Seven Sisters for Pathfinder publications. The League's members sell ''

The Militant ''The Militant'' is an international socialist newsweekly connected to the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) and the Pathfinder Press. It is published in the United States and distributed in other countries such as Canada, the United Kingdom, ...

'', the paper of the American Socialist Workers Party. The group claims that many of its members work in the meat-packing industry.

Electoral history

Two Communist League candidates stood in the 2005 general election; one ran in

Bethnal Green and Bow Bethnal Green and Bow is a constituency in Greater London, represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Rushanara Ali of the Labour Party. Boundaries Since the 2014 boundary changes, the constituency has contained the ...

polling 38 votes, the seat which was gained by

George Galloway George Galloway (born 16 August 1954) is a British politician, broadcaster, and writer who is currently leader of the Workers Party of Britain, serving since 2019. Between 1987 and 2010, and then between 2012 and 2015, Galloway was a Member o ...

for

Respect Respect, also called esteem, is a positive feeling or action shown towards someone or something considered important or held in high esteem or regard. It conveys a sense of admiration for good or valuable qualities. It is also the process of ...

. In the

2008 London Assembly election An election to the Assembly of London took place on 1 May 2008, along with the 2008 London mayoral election. The Conservatives gained 2 seats, Labour gained one seat, the Liberal Democrats lost two seats, and UKIP were wiped out. Notably, a c ...

, Julie Crawford stood in the

City and East City and East is a constituency represented in the London Assembly. Created in 2000 it was represented by John Biggs until 2016. Since the 2016 assembly elections the constituency has been represented by Unmesh Desai, of the Labour Party. Bo ...

constituency and polled 701 votes, 0.3% of the popular vote, coming 12th and last among the candidates. In the 2010 general election, the Communist League stood Caroline Bellamy in

Edinburgh South West Edinburgh South West is a Scottish constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, first used at the 2005 UK general election. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of electio ...

(48 votes) and Paul Davies in

Hackney South and Shoreditch Hackney South and Shoreditch is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2005 by Meg Hillier of Labour Co-op. History The seat was created in February 1974 from the former seat of Shoreditch and Finsbury. ...

(110 votes). Peter Clifford stood in Manchester Central in 2012, gaining 64 votes. In the

2012 London Assembly election The London Assembly election of 2012 was an election of members to the London Assembly which took place on Thursday, 3 May 2012, the same day as the 2012 London mayoral election, and the 2012 United Kingdom local elections. Although Conservativ ...

, Paul Davies stood in the

constituency and increased the vote to 1,108 (0.6) coming last out of eight candidates. For the 2015 general elections, the Communist League stood two parliamentary candidates – in London and Manchester – and two other candidates for Manchester City Council. Peter Clifford withdrew his candidacy in the Greater Manchester mayoral election, due to take place 4 May 2017, citing the cost of the deposit. He stood instead in the 2017 general election for the constituency of

Manchester Gorton Manchester Gorton is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Labour's Afzal Khan, who was elected at the 2017 general election. It is the safest Labour seat in Greater Manchester by numerical majority and ...

, gaining 27 votes, equating to approximately 0.1% of the vote. Andrés Mendoza also stood as a Communist League candidate in the Islington North constituency for the 2017 election, receiving 7 votes. In the 2019 general election, Caroline Bellamy stood in the Manchester constituency of Wythenshawe & Sale East, winning 58 votes The Communist League announced in February 2021 that it was standing Pamela Holmes as a candidate in the

2021 London Assembly election The 2021 London Assembly election was held on 6 May 2021 to elect the members of the London Assembly, alongside the 2021 London mayoral election. The mayoral and Assembly elections were originally to be held on 7 May 2020, but on 13 March 2020 i ...

, Peter Clifford in the

2021 Greater Manchester mayoral election The 2021 Greater Manchester mayoral election was held on 6 May 2021 to elect the mayor of Greater Manchester. This election, alongside other local and mayoral elections across England and Wales, was originally scheduled to take place on 7 May ...

and Andrés Mendoza in the

2021 London mayoral election The 2021 London mayoral election was held on 6 May 2021 to elect the mayor of London. It was held simultaneously with elections for the London Assembly, other local elections across England and Wales, and devolved elections in Scotland an ...

. Mendoza was not, however, included in the final list of mayoral candidates, suggesting the Communist League had withdrawn from the 2021 London Mayoral race. Similarly, Cifford was not included in the list of candidates declared for the Greater Manchester mayoral eection by the time nominations had closed.

References

{{UK far left 1988 establishments in the United Kingdom Political parties established in 1988 Trotskyist organisations in the United Kingdom

Electoral history

See also

References