The Communist Party of Scotland (CPS; ''Pàrtaidh Co-Mhaoineach na h-Alba'') was a

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

based in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. It was established in January 1992 by former members of the

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPG ...

who disagreed with the CPGB's disbanding and reforming in 1991 as the Democratic Left think-tank. The party was itself dissolved in the late 2010s.

History

The CPS was set up in mid-January 1992 by former CPGB members who disagreed with the party's dissolution. The party headquarters at its founding were based in

Partick Partick ( sco, Pairtick, Scottish Gaelic: ''Partaig'') is an area of Glasgow on the north bank of the River Clyde, just across from Govan. To the west lies Whiteinch, to the east Yorkhill and Kelvingrove Park (across the River Kelvin), and ...

, Glasgow. Leading members of the CPGB in Scotland joined the new party, including Mick McGahey, who had been a leading member of the National Union of Mineworkers in the 1970s and 1980s, and former CPGB General Secretary Gordon McLennan. Willie Clarke, a CPGB councillor in

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

since 1973, joined the CPS but sat as an

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

councillor until his resignation on the grounds of ill health in 2016. Unlike the

Communist Party of Britain The Communist Party of Britain (CPB) is a communist party in Great Britain which emerged from a dispute between Eurocommunists and Marxist-Leninists in the Communist Party of Great Britain in 1988. It follows Marxist-Leninist theory and s ...

(CPB), which broke away from the CPGB in 1988, the CPS supported

Scottish independence Scottish independence ( gd, Neo-eisimeileachd na h-Alba; sco, Scots unthirldom) is the idea of Scotland as a sovereign state, independent from the United Kingdom, and refers to the political movement that is campaigning to bring it about. S ...

and pro-independence initiatives like the

Scottish Independence Convention The Scottish Independence Convention (SIC) is a cross-party, non-partisan group with the aim of bringing together pro-independence parties, groups and organisations to promote the concept and ideals of an independent Scotland. The current conven ...

(SIC) and Independence First. In 2007, the CPS published a discussion pamphlet titled ''Perspectives for Scottish Independence'' with contributions from Eric Canning, Maggie Chetty and Rhona Fleming. In 2008, the CPS organised a conference aimed at "uniting the left in Scotland around a number of shared political positions on Scottish independence". Canning died in December 2017 while in office as national secretary of the CPS. The

Scottish Socialist Party The Scottish Socialist Party (SSP; gd, Pàrtaidh Sòisealach na h-Alba; sco, Scots Socialist Pairtie) is a left-wing political party campaigning for the establishment of an independent socialist Scotland. The party was founded in 1998. It c ...

paid tribute to his "unshakeable commitment to the cause of socialism and independence".

References

External links

{{Authority control Scotland, Communist Party of Political parties established in 1991 Defunct political parties in Scotland Defunct communist parties in the United Kingdom Scottish independence Communist Party of Great Britain breakaway groups 1991 establishments in Scotland Organisations based in Glasgow Politics of Glasgow