Communist Party of Britain

In the period leading up to 1988, the Communist Party of Great Britain was in turmoil as the leadership fought the Marxist-Leninist tendencies inside the party. The rupture was made publicly visible in August/September 1982 after the CPGB's theoretical journal Marxism Today published a feature article by Tony Lane which was critical of the labour movement. The CPGB-affiliated Morning Star newspaper responded with a front page article by the party's Industrial Organiser Mick Costello criticising the Marxism Today article. The CPGB's Executive Committee was flooded with communication from party branches over the affair.[9] The party did not withdraw support for Marxism Today, but the editorial board did introduce a disclaimer that 'the views expressed by authors are personal and not necessarily those of the editor or editorial board', marking the journal's deviation from the party line.

Both publications came to characterise separate visions for the future of the party; the internal opposition rallied around the Morning Star and the reformist leadership around Marxism Today.[10] These early signs of trouble attracted international attention, notably from the East German SED which was concerned about the Eurocommunist tendency in the CPGB.[11]

At the CPGB's 38th congress in November 1983, Tony Chater the editor of the Morning Star, as well as the assistant editor David Whitfield, were both removed from their positions on the party's executive. However, they were able to keep their positions at the paper, as it is owned and managed separately by the People's Press Printing Society co-operative. The following year at the PPPS Annual General Meeting in June 1984, a majority of delegates re-elected Chater and Whitfield to the management committee of the newspaper, against the wishes of the CPGB leadership. In November 1984, the North-West District Congress elected an opposition majority to its District Committee, to which the leadership responded by declaring the district election illegitimate.[12] A similar movement was brewing in London, where the CPGB General Secretary Gordon McLennan pre-emptively dissolved the London District Congress and 11 members of the District Committee were suspended. In Scotland, 20 branches were brought under disciplinary sanctions.[13] The CPGB Executive Committee then brought the dispute to a special congress on 18–20 May 1985, with a draft resolution condemning the Morning Star and the group around it. Over 650 amendments were submitted to the resolution, which was eventually passed after a long debate, and followed up by the expulsion of eighteen members.[14]

In June 1985, dissident and expelled members of the CPGB formed the Communist Campaign Group. This group declared itself loyal to the party programme, and stated its aim was to prevent the liquidation of the party.[15] The Campaign Group was provided an office within the premises of the Morning Star.[16] The first post-congress meeting of the new CPGB Executive Committee in July 1985 dropped the commitment for party members to support the Morning Star; it concluded with the dissolution of more branches and further disciplinary measures, such as the expulsion of Ken Gill.[17]

For two years, the Campaign Group organised within the CPGB to defend the party's Marxist-Leninist principles. However, at the 1987 party congress the Campaign Group failed to shift the leadership, and the direction of the CPGB diverted towards transformation into a social-democratic party. Kevin Halpin was invited to Moscow to discuss the possibility that the CPGB would break apart, he was advised by the CPSU that the Campaign Group should continue working within the existing party structures.[18] On 8 January 1988 the Campaign Group called a press conference to announce the formation of the Communist Party.[19] The re-establishment congress took place over the weekend of 23–24 April 1988, where one of the prominent leaders of the Campaign Group, Mike Hicks, was elected to the position of General Secretary.[20] Chater emphasised the continuity with the CPGB at the congress, explaining at the time:

"We are not creating a new Party. We are re-establishing the Party on the basis of its' [sic] rules and programme."[21]

The first party card was issued to Andrew Rothstein, who had also been one of the founding members of the CPGB.[21] The following year the leaders of the CPGB formally declared that they had abandoned its programme, The British Road to Socialism. Many members perceived this as the party turning its back on socialism. The CPGB dissolved itself in 1991 and reformed as the Democratic Left.[22] Many members of the Straight Left faction who had stayed in the CPGB formed a group called "Communist Liaison" which later opted to join the CPB. Others remained in the Democratic Left or joined the Labour Party.

The party still has members who were active in the CPGB, some of whom were active in the Anti-Apartheid Movement[23][24][25] and trade union disputes such as the Upper Clyde work-in or the miners' strike of 1984–1985.[26]

In 1998, Hicks was ousted as such in a 17–13 vote moved by John Haylett (who was also editor of the Morning Star) at a meeting of the party's executive committee. Hicks' supporters on the Management Committee of the Morning Star responded by suspending and then sacking Haylett, which led to a prolonged strike at the Morning Star, ending in victory for Haylett and his reinstatement.[27] Some of Hicks' supporters were expelled and others resigned in protest. They formed a discussion group called Marxist Forum, which is now defunct.

Andrew Murray was a Communist Party member until late 2016.[28] Prior to the formation of the Respect – The Unity Coalition, with the support of the Socialist Workers Party, the party engaged in a debate about whether to join an electoral alliance with Respect and George Galloway.[29] Those in favour, including general secretary Rob Griffiths, Andrew Murray and Morning Star editor John Haylett, were, however, defeated at a Special Congress in 2004.[30]

In 2009, the party was one of the founder organisations of the No2EU electoral alliance alongside the RMT and a number of other left parties. The alliance stood in the 2009 and 2014 European Parliament elections on a platform of opposition to the European Union, which it considers undemocratic and neo-liberal. Later the party went on to lead a Left Leave Campaign (which was chaired by the party’s General Secretary Robert Griffiths) along with the Socialist Workers Party, advocating the progressive case for a leave vote in the 2016 referendum on EU membership.[31]

The party was a founding member of the People's Assembly Against Austerity in 2013, along with a number of other political and campaign groups, to create a broad organisation in opposition to austerity policies of the major political parties of Britain and of the European Union. The People's Charter, which the Communist Party had helped create several years earlier, was subsequently voted to be incorporated into the People's Assembly.

At the 2017 general election, the party fielded no candidates and gave its support to the Labour Party under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn. The CPB said it was the first election at which neither it nor the CPGB had fielded any candidates.[32][33] In March 2018, Susan Michie, a leading member of the CPB, said that the party would no longer stand against Labour in general elections. CPB members should be "working full tilt" for the election of Corbyn as prime minister, she said.[34][35] In the 2019 general election, the party again fielded no candidates and gave its support to the Labour Party.[36]

However following the resignation of Corbyn as leader of the Labour Party and the election of Keir Starmer as his successor, the CPB again decided to field candidates in elections. In February 2021 the party's executive committee decided to mount one of the biggest electoral campaigns since the early 1980s.

In 2021 the party contested parliamentary seats in the Scottish parliamentary election, all regional lists in the Welsh Senedd election and seats across England in the May local elections.[37]

The party briefly had a Councillor on Barrow Borough Council, after he left the Labour Party in February 2023,[38] until the council was abolished in April the same year. [39]

The party takes the traditional Marxist approach to capitalism, saying that it is at fault for wars, climate change, and corruption. It claims that 'capitalism must be overthrown in the interests of the working class and humanity.'

The party believes that the First World War was a war between imperialists, caused by competition between monopolies.

As monopolisation and the over-accumulation of capital began to depress profitability, the finance capitalists increasingly turned to potential sources of super-profits abroad. Thus, capitalism expanded into its imperialist stage in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. As competition intensified between rival monopolies backed by their respective states, so the scene was set for the inter-imperialist 'Great War' of 1914–18.

— The development of capitalism and imperialism

They criticise US imperialism, and US involvement in regime change. They also hold that the World Trade Organization, World Bank, International Monetary Fund and European Union work to push a neoliberal, imperialist agenda.

New and existing international agencies and mechanisms such as the World Trade Organisation (WTO), GATT, the IMF, the World Bank and bilateral so called free trade and investment agreements are utilised to enforce neoliberal policies. The European Union (EU) has played a leading role in this process, confirming its character as an alliance led by the most powerful state-monopoly capitalist powers. It strives to overcome internal contradictions and transform itself into an imperialist 'United States of Europe', complete with its own foreign and military policies aligned with NATO.

— The development of capitalism and imperialism

The party claims that inequality in the UK can be traced back to capitalism, with workers providing the country with goods and not being properly paid for it, with workers' pay coming under pressure in the recent decades.

As exploitation intensified, so the gap between working people and the superrich has widened enormously. In Britain today, the richest 10 per cent of the population own around half of all declared personal wealth, while the poorer 50 per cent of the population own less than one-tenth of it. Moreover, capitalism has always utilised differences of sex, ethnicity, education, skill, employment status and mental and physical disability to divide the labour force and drive down wage levels.

— Social inequality and oppression

The party's attitude towards the Soviet Union is positive, with criticism of Nikolai Yezhov's actions during the late 1930s as 'violations of socialist democracy'. Both the party and the Morning Star approved of perestroika and processes of reform in the late 1980s, believing that these would pave the way to a more humane socialism.[40] The final assessment of the Soviet Union is summed up in Britain's Road to Socialism:

Russia and the other countries of the Soviet Union were transformed from semi-feudal, semi-capitalist monarchist dictatorships into modern societies with near-full employment, universally free education and healthcare, affordable housing for all, extensive and cheap public transport, impressive scientific and cultural facilities, rights for women and degrees of self-government for formerly oppressed nationalities. This was achieved through a world historic break with capitalist ownership and social relations, on the basis of social ownership of industry and centralised economic planning.

— Socialism – the lessons so far[41]

The Communist Party of Britain and Workers' Party of Korea are both members of the International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties, and so have positive relations. Thus, the Young Communist League has fraternal relations with the Socialist Patriotic Youth League. Challenge, the magazine of the YCL, have published articles in support of the DPRK.[42][43]

The party says it supports transgender rights, stating that "The Communist Party supports the right of trans people to live free from discrimination and prejudice", and that "Communists are clear that efforts must continue to improve the resourcing of the current system for transgender people to access services and to transition legally, not just in Scotland but across Britain. Together with the defence and improvement of women’s sex-based services and facilities, this is part of the broader struggle for democratic rights, social justice and socialism."[44]

In a March 2023 statement opposing the Scottish Gender Recognition Reform Bill, the party stated that "The Communist Party is the only political party with a coherent political analysis of sex and gender. Gender as an ideological construct should not be confused or conflated with the material reality of biological sex. Gender is the vehicle through which misogyny is enacted and normalised. Gender identity ideology is well-suited to the needs of the capitalist class, focusing as it does on individual as opposed to collective rights, enabling and supporting the super-exploitation of women."[44]

Logo of the Young Communist League as it appeared in 1923

The YCL is the autonomous youth group of the Communist Party, with its own internal organisation. It carries out work alongside the party, while maintaining its own branches, activities, and events such as an annual summer camp. Young members of the party are automatically enrolled into the youth wing, however membership of both organisations is not synonymous, as it is possible to independently join the YCL without joining the party. The league, like its party, operates on a model of democratic centralism.

The CCPiB is a bureau within the Communist Party which meets with overseas communist parties that have significant memberships in Britain.

These include:

• Communist Party of India (Marxist)
• Communist Party of Bangladesh
• Communist Party of Chile
• Iraqi Communist Party
• Sudanese Communist Party
• Cypriot Progressive Party of Working People
• Tudeh Party of Iran
• Communist Party of Greece
• Communist Party of Spain (Exterior)

The Committee meets regularly to exchange political assessments, to organise joint theoretical discussions and to plan events of international commemoration.

House of Commons of the United Kingdom

Election year	# of candidates	% of overall vote	# of total votes	# of seats won
1997[46]	5	0.0%	639	0
2001[47]	6	0.0%	1,003	0
2005[48]	6	0.0%	1,124	0
2010[49]	6	0.0%	947	0
2015[50]	9	0.0%	1,229	0
2017	Supported Labour[51]
2019	Supported Labour[52]

At the 1997 general election, the party ran five candidates whose combined vote came to 911.[53] At the 2001 general election, the party ran six candidates whose combined vote came to 1,003.[54]

In 2005, the party fielded six candidates whose combined vote came to 1,124.[55][56]

In 2010, the party fielded six candidates whose combined vote came to 947; it also supported John Metcalfe and Avtar Sadiq who stood as part of electoral alliances. Metcalfe stood on behalf of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition in Carlisle[63] and won 365 votes, or 0.9% of the total vote.[64] Sadiq stood on behalf of Unity for Peace and Socialism in Leicester East[65] and won 494 votes, or 1% of the total vote.[66] Unity for Peace and Socialism is a domestic alliance between British domiciled sections of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) of which Sadiq was a member, the Communist Party of Bangladesh and the Communist Party of Greece.

In 2015 the party fielded 9 candidates, whose combined vote came to 1,229.[74] Laura-Jane Rossington stood for the party in Plymouth Sutton and Devonport; at just over 18, she was the youngest candidate to stand in the general election in England.[75]

In the 2017 general election, the party fielded no candidates.[32]

The party runs candidates in elections on the local, national and European level.

In local elections in 2008 the party gained one councillor, Clive Griffiths, a former Labour councillor who joined the party and was re-elected unopposed to Hirwaun and Penderyn Community Council as a communist.[85]

In the 2009 and 2014 European Parliament elections the party supported the No2EU alliance led by the RMT union. The party also ran in the Welsh Assembly elections in 2007[80] and 2011.[83] In the 2011 Scottish Parliament election the party stood Marc Livingstone as a candidate.[86]

In April 2019, the party called for a "People's Boycott" of the 2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom, which was the first time in its history that the CPB had called for a boycott of an election in Britain.[87]

The party stood candidates in the 2022 local elections.

Under the Registration of Political Parties Act 1998, which regulated the use of symbols on ballot slips and electoral material, the Communist Party is the only British political party entitled to use a stand-alone hammer and sickle in such cases. The party tends to use the hammer and dove[88] (adopted when the party was re-established in 1988) in conjunction with the hammer and sickle in publications and on other material, with the hammer and dove normally taking primacy.

From 2006 to 2014 the party held a membership of over 900 members. In 2015 this figure dropped significantly to below 800 members, although it has since recovered with significant growth in the Young Communist League. At the 56th party congress it was reported that the party had grown to over 1.200 members.[89] As of 2022, the party maintains branches in most major cities. General Secretary Robert Griffiths says that CPB is organised in 'just about every part of Britain'.[90]

In July 2023, the party claimed via Twitter that it had a membership number not seen since the 1980s.[91]

The statement of accounts submitted to the Electoral Commission following the 55th congress in 2018 reported a total annual income of £151,045.[2]

In order to join the party, applicants must pay a registration fee of £12. After this they will be contacted by a representative of their local branch to arrange an interview. Applicants must be 16 or over.

The party holds a biennial congress with delegates from districts, nations and branches. The last congress as the Communist Party of Great Britain was the 43rd congress and was held in 1991. The 44th congress, as the Communist Party of Britain, was held in 1997. Since 2000 the congress has been held every two years apart from a special congress held in February 2004. The 29 member governing Executive Committee (EC) of the party is elected at congress.

In November 2004 the party organised Communist University events in Wales and England, these were further developed to form a national three-day event which ran annually from 2005 to 2010. This was accompanied by regional weekend universities in Wales,[100] Scotland and the Midlands. Among the speakers at the Communist University at Ruskin House in November 2006 were Labour MP John McDonnell, RMT general secretary Bob Crow, CND chair Kate Hudson, Communist Party USA vice-president Jarvis Tyner, French Communist Party economist Paul Boccara and Palestine Liberation Organization ambassador Dr Noha Khalef.

In 2011, the national Communist University event was renamed to "21st Century Marxism" and the format was changed slightly from a festival to a conference. The style of the event has changed widely over the years as the organisers experiment with different venues and speakers.

The party's political education strategy also includes trade union and political cadre schools, party-building schools and dayschools.