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Communist Party of Great Britain

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This article is about the organisation active from 1920 to 1991. For other British communist organisations, seeCommunist Party of Great Britain (disambiguation).

Communist Party of Great Britain
AbbreviationCPGB
General Secretary
Founded31 July 1920[1]
Dissolved23 November 1991[2]
Merger of
Succeeded by
HeadquartersMarx House,Covent Garden, London[5][6]
Newspaper
Student wingCommunist Students
Youth wingYoung Communist League(YCL)[7]
Membership
  • 60,000 (at peak; 1945)[8]
  • 4,742 (at dissolution; 1991)[9]
Ideology
Political positionFar-left
International affiliationComintern
Channel Islands AffiliatesJersey Communist Party
Communist Party of Guernsey

TheCommunist Party of Great Britain(CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smallerMarxistgroups.[10]Many miners joined the CPGB in the1926 general strike.In 1930, the CPGB founded theDaily Worker(renamed theMorning Starin 1966). In 1936, members of the party were present at theBattle of Cable Street,helping organise resistance against theBritish Union of Fascists.In theSpanish Civil War,the CPGB worked with the USSR to create theBritish Battalionof theInternational Brigades,[11]which party activistBill Alexandercommanded.[12]

InWorld War II,the CPGB followed theCominternposition, opposing or supporting the war in line with the involvement of the USSR.[13]By the end of World War II, CPGB membership had nearly tripled and the party reached the height of its popularity. Many key CPGB members served as leaders of Britain's trade union movement, including most notablyJessie Eden,David Ivon Jones,Abraham Lazarus,Ken Gill,Clem Beckett,GCT Giles,Mike Hicks,andThora Silverthorne.

The CPGB's position on racial equality and anti-colonialism attracted many black activists to the party, includingTrevor Carter,Charlie Hutchison,Dorothy Kuya,Billy Strachan,Peter Blackman,George Powe,Henry Gunter,Len Johnson,andClaudia Jones,who founded London'sNotting Hill Carnival.In 1956, the CPGB experienced a significant loss of members due to its support of theSoviet military intervention in Hungary.In the 1960s, CPGB activists supported Vietnamese communists fighting in theVietnam War.In 1984, the leader of the CPGB's youth wing,Mark Ashton,foundedLesbians and Gays Support the Miners.

From 1956 until the late 1970s, the party was funded by theSoviet Union.[10][14]After thedissolution of the Soviet Unionin 1991, the party'sEurocommunistleadership disbanded the party, establishing theDemocratic Left.In 1988 the anti-Eurocommunist faction launched theCommunist Party of Britain,which still exists today.

History

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Formation

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The Communist Party of Great Britain was founded in 1920 after theThird Internationaldecided that greater attempts should be made to establish communist parties across the world. The CPGB was formed by the merger of several smallerMarxistparties, including theBritish Socialist Party,theCommunist Unity Groupof theSocialist Labour Partyand theSouth Wales Socialist Society.[15]The party also gained the support of the Guild Communists faction of theNational Guilds League,assortedshop stewards' and workers' committees, socialist clubs and individuals and many former members of theHands Off Russiacampaign. Several branches and many individual members of theIndependent Labour Partyalso affiliated. As a member of the British Socialist Party, theMember of ParliamentCecil L'Estrange Malonejoined the CPGB. A few days after the founding conference the new party published the first issue of its weekly newspaper, which was calledthe Communistand edited byRaymond Postgate.[16]

In January 1921, the CPGB was refounded after the majorities ofSylvia Pankhurst's group theCommunist Party (British Section of the Third International),and the ScottishCommunist Labour Partyagreed to unity. The party benefited from a period of increased political radicalism in Britain just after theFirst World Warand theRussian Revolution of October 1917,and was also represented in Britain by theRed Clydesidemovement.[17][18]

During the negotiations leading to the initiation of the party, a number of issues were hotly contested. Among the most contentious were the questions of "parliamentarism"and the attitude of the Communist Party to theLabour Party."Parliamentarism" referred to a strategy of contesting elections and working through existing parliaments. It was a strategy associated with the parties of theSecond Internationaland it was partly for this reason that it was opposed by those who wanted to break withSocial Democracy.Critics contended that parliamentarism had caused the old parties to become devoted to reformism because it had encouraged them to place more importance on winning votes than on working forsocialism,that it encouraged opportunists and place-seekers into the ranks of the movement and that it constituted an acceptance of the legitimacy of the existing governing institutions ofcapitalism.Similarly, affiliation to the Labour Party was opposed on the grounds that communists should not work with 'reformist' Social Democratic parties. TheseLeft Communistpositions enjoyed considerable support, being supported by Sylvia Pankhurst andWillie Gallacheramong others. However, theRussian Communist Partytook the opposing view. In 1920,Vladimir Leninargued in his essay"Left Wing" Communism: An Infantile Disorderthat the CPs should work with reformist trade unions and social democratic parties because these were the existing organisations of the working class. Lenin argued that if such organisations gained power, they would demonstrate that they were not really on the side of the working class, thus workers would become disillusioned and come over to supporting the Communist Party. Lenin's opinion prevailed eventually.

Initially, therefore, the CPGB attempted to work within the Labour Party, which at this time operated mainly as a federation ofleft-wingbodies, only having allowed individual membership since 1918. However, despite the support ofJames Maxton,theIndependent Labour Partyleader, the Labour Party decided against the affiliation of the Communist Party. Even while pursuing affiliation and seeking to influence Labour Party members, however, the CPGB promoted candidates of its own at parliamentary elections.

Following the refusal of their affiliation, the CPGB encouraged its members to join the Labour Party individually and to seek Labour Party endorsement or help for any candidatures. Several Communists thus became Labour Party candidates, and in the1922 general election,Shapurji SaklatvalaandWalton Newboldwere both elected. As late as 1923 theNational Executive Committee of the Labour Partyendorsed Communist parliamentary candidates, and 38 Communists attended the 1923Labour Party Conference.[19]

1920s and 1930s

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In 1923, the party renamed its newspaper as theWorkers Weekly.[16]In 1923, the Workers' Weekly published a letter byJ. R. CampbellurgingBritish Armysoldiers not to fire on striking workers. TheLabour governmentof Prime MinisterRamsay MacDonaldprosecuted him under the Incitement to Disaffection Act but withdrew the charges upon review. This led to theLiberal Partyintroducing a motion to establish an inquiry into the Labour government, which led to its resignation.[20]

The affair of the forgedZinoviev Letteroccurred during the subsequentgeneral electionlate October 1924. Intended to suggest that the Communist Party in Britain was engaged in subversive activities among theBritish Armed Forcesand elsewhere, the forgery's aim was to promote the electoral chances of theConservative Partyin the general election of 29 October; it was probably the work ofSIS(MI6) orWhite Russian counter-revolutionaries.[21][22]

After Labour lost to the Conservative Party in the election, it blamed the Zinoviev Letter for its defeat.[20]In the aftermath of the Campbell Case and the Zinoviev letter, Labour expelled Communist Party members and banned them from running as its parliamentary candidates in the future. After the1926 British general strike,it also disbanded 26Constituency Labour Partieswhich resisted the ruling or were otherwise deemed too sympathetic to the Communist Party.[19]

Throughout the 1920s and most of the 1930s, the CPGB decided to maintain the doctrine that a communist party should consist of revolutionary cadres and not be open to all applicants. The CPGB as the British section of theCommunist Internationalwas committed to implementing the decisions of the higher body to which it was subordinate.

This proved to be a mixed blessing in theGeneral Strike of 1926immediately prior to which much of the central leadership of the CPGB was imprisoned. Twelve were charged with "seditious conspiracy".Five were jailed for a year and the others for six months. Another major problem for the party was its policy of abnegating its own role and calling upon theGeneral Council of the Trades Union Congressto play a revolutionary role.

Nonetheless, during the strike itself and during the long drawn-out agony of the following Miners' Strike the members of the CPGB were to the fore in defending the strike and in attempting to develop solidarity with the miners. The result was that membership of the party in mining areas increased greatly through 1926 and 1927. Much of these gains would be lost during theThird Periodbut the influence was developed in certain areas that would continue until the party's demise decades later.

The CPGB did succeed in creating a layer of militants very committed to the party and its policies, although this support was concentrated in particular trades, specifically in heavy engineering, textiles and mining, and in addition, tended to be concentrated regionally too in the coalfields, certain industrial cities such asGlasgowand in JewishEast London.Indeed,Maerdyin theRhonddaValley along withChopwellin Tyne and Wear were two of a number of communities known asLittle Moscowfor their Communist tendencies.

During the 1920s, the CPGB clandestinely worked to train the future leaders of India's first communist party.[23]Some of the key activists charged with this task,Philip SprattandBen Bradley,were later arrested and convicted as a part of theMeerut Conspiracy Case.[23]Their trial helped to raise British public awareness ofBritish colonialism in India,and caused massive public outrage over their treatment. At the same time, Asian and African delegates to the Comintern such asHo Chi Minh,M. N. Roy,andSen Katayamacriticized the GBCP for neglecting colonial issues in India andIreland.[24]

But this support built during the party's first years was imperilled during the Third Period from 1929 to 1932, the Third Period being the so-called period of renewed revolutionary advance as it was dubbed by the (nowStalinised) leadership of theComintern.The result of this "class against class" policy was that the Social Democratic and Labourite parties were seen as just as much a threat as thefascistparties and were therefore described as beingsocial-fascist.Any kind of alliance with "social-fascists" was obviously to be prohibited.

The Third Period also meant that the CPGB sought to develop revolutionary trade unions in rivalry to the establishedTrades Union Congressaffiliated unions. They met with an almost total lack of success although a tiny handful of "red" unions were formed, amongst them a miners union in Scotland and tailoring union in East London.Arthur Horner,the Communist leader of the Welsh miners, fought off attempts to found a similar union on his patch.

But even if the Third Period was by all conventional standards a total political failure it was the 'heroic' period of British communism and one of its campaigns did have impact beyond its ranks. This was theNational Unemployed Workers' Movementled byWal Hannington.Increasing unemployment had caused a substantial increase in the number of CP members, especially those drawn from engineering, lacking work. This cadre of which Hannington andHarry MacShanein Scotland were emblematic, found a purpose in building the NUWM which resulted in a number of marches on theunemployment issueduring the 1930s. Although born in the Third Period during theGreat Depression,the NUWM was a major campaigning body throughout thePopular Frontperiod too, only being dissolved in 1941.

The CPGB's General Secretary,Harry Pollitt,gives a speech to a large crowd outside theBritish Museumin support for theAid to Russia Fund,1941

After the victory ofAdolf HitlerinGermany,the Third Period was dropped by all Communist Parties as they switched to the policy of thePopular Front.This policy argued that as fascism was the main danger to the workers' movement, it needed to ally itself with all anti-fascist forces including right-wing democratic parties. In Britain, this policy expressed itself in the efforts of the CPGB to forge an alliance with the Labour Party and even with forces to the right of Labour.

In the1935 general electionWillie Gallacher was elected as the Communist Party's firstMPin six years, and their first MP elected against Labour opposition. Gallacher sat forWest FifeinScotland,a coal mining region in which it had considerable support. During the 1930s the CPGB opposed theNational Government'sEuropean policyofappeasementtowardsNazi GermanyandFascist Italy.On thestreetsthe party members played a leading role in the struggle against theBritish Union of Fascists,led bySir Oswald MosleywhoseBlackshirtstried to emulate the Nazis inanti-Semiticactions in London and other major British cities.[25]The Communist Party's Oxford branch under the leadership ofAbraham Lazarusmanaged to successfully contain and defeat the rise of fascism in the city of Oxford, forcing the Blackshirts to retreat from the town and into the relative safety of Oxford University after theBattle of Carfax.

1939–1945: Second World War

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CPGB poster supporting the British war effort against Nazi Germany during WWII

With the beginning of theSecond World Warin 1939, the CPGB initially continued to support the struggle on two fronts (against Chamberlain at home and Nazi fascism abroad). Following theMolotov–Ribbentrop nonaggression pacton 23 August between the Soviet Union and Germany, the Comintern changed its position, describing the war as the product of imperialism on both sides, in which the working class had no side to take.[26]The CPGB central committee followed the directive, changing to an anti-war stance. This change was opposed byHarry PollittandJ. R. Campbell,the editor of theDaily Worker,and both were relieved of their duties in October 1939.[27]Pollitt was replaced byPalme Dutt.From 1939 until 1941 the CPGB was very active in supporting strikes and in denouncing the government for its pursuit of the war.

However, when in 1941 theSoviet Union was invaded by Germany,the CPGB came out in support of the war on the grounds of defense of the Soviet Union against fascism. Pollitt was restored to his former position as Party Secretary. The party then launched a campaign for a Second Front in order to support the USSR and speed the defeat of theAxis powers.In industry, they now opposedstrike actionand supported the Joint Production Committees,[28]which aimed to increase productivity, and supported theNational Governmentthat was led byWinston Churchill(Conservative) andClement Attlee(Labour). At the same time, given the influence of Rajani Palme Dutt in the Party, the issue ofIndian independenceand theindependence of colonieswas emphasised.[29]

In the1945 general election,the Communist Party received 103,000 votes, and two Communists were elected asmembers of parliament:Willie Gallacher was returned, andPhil Piratinwas newly elected[30]as the MP forMile EndinLondon's East End.Harry Pollitt failed by only 972 votes to take theRhondda Eastconstituency. Both Communist MPs, however, lost their seats in the1950 general election.The Party was keen to demonstrate its loyalty to Britain's industrial competitiveness as a stepping point towards socialism. At the 19th Congress, Harry Pollitt asked rhetorically, "Why do we need to increase production?" He answered: "To pay for what we are compelled to import. To retain our independence as a nation."[31]

The party's membership peaked during 1943, reaching around 60,000.[30]Despite boasting some leading intellectuals, especially among theCommunist Party Historians Group,the party was still tiny compared to its continental European counterparts. TheFrench Communist Partyfor instance had 800,000 members, and theItalian Communist Partyhad 1.7 million members, beforeBenito Mussolinioutlawed it in 1926.[30]The Party tried, unsuccessfully, to affiliate to the Labour Party in 1935, 1943 and 1946.[32]

Harry Pollittgives a speech to workers in Whitehall, London, 1941

1946–1956: Start of the Cold War

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In 1951, the party issued a programme,The British Road to Socialism(officially adopted at the 22nd Congress in April 1952), which explicitly advocated the possibility of a peaceful transition to socialism – but only after it had been personally approved byJoseph Stalinhimself, according to some historians.[33]The BRS would remain the programme of the CPGB until its dissolution in 1991 albeit in amended form and today is the programme of the breakawayCommunist Party of Britain.

From the war years to 1956 the CPGB was at the height of its influence in the labour movement with many union officials who were members. Not only did it have immense influence in theNational Union of Mineworkersbut it was extremely influential in theElectrical Trade Unionand in theAmalgamated Union of Engineering Workers,a key blue-collar union. In addition, much of the Labour Party left was strongly influenced by the party. Dissidents were few, perhaps the most notable beingEric Heffer,the future Labour MP who left the party in the late 1940s.[citation needed]

In 1954, the party solidified its opposition toBritish racial segregation,with the publication ofA Man's a Man: A Study of the Colour Bar in Birmingham.[34][35]Although the Communists had always opposed bothracial segregationand British colonialism, this publication made clearer the party's position, and also had an enduring influence on British anti-racist politics outside the party.[35]

Thedeath of Stalinin 1953, and theuprising in East Germanythe same year had little direct influence on the CPGB, but they were harbingers of what was to come. Of more importance wasNikita Khrushchev's "Secret Speech"at the20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union,in which he denounced Stalin. According toGeorge Matthews,Khrushchev made a deal with the CPGB to provide a secret annual donation to the party of more than £100,000 in used notes.[36]ThePoznań protests of 1956disrupted not only the CPGB, but many other Communist Parties as well. The CPGB was to experience its greatest ever loss of membership as a result of theWarsaw Pact's crushing of the1956 Hungarian Revolution.[37]"[T]he events of 1956... saw the loss of between one-quarter and one-third of Party members, including many leading intellectuals. "[30]This event was initially covered in the CPGB-sponsoredDaily Worker,by correspondentPeter Fryer,but as events unfolded the stories were spiked. On his return to Britain Fryer resigned from theDaily Workerand was expelled from the party.[30]

1957 to 1970s: Decline of the party

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William Alexander,representing to Politburo of the CPGB receives applause from the Presidium of the Fifth Congress of theSocialist Unity Party of Germany,East Berlin,16 July 1958.

After the calamitous events of 1956, the party increasingly functioned as a pressure group, seeking to use its well-organised base in the trade union movement to push the Labour Party leftwards. Trade unionists in the party in 1968 includedJohn Tocher,George Wake, Dick Etheridge and Cyril Morton (AEU);Mick McGahey,Arthur True and Sammy Moore (NUM);Lou Lewis(UCATT) and Max Morris (NUT).Ken Gillbecame the party's first elected officer (Deputy General Secretary of DATA, laterTASS) in 1968 and former party memberHugh Scanlonwas elected president of the AEU with Broad Left support – defeatingReg Birch,the Maoist ex-party candidate. The Broad Left went on to help electRay Buckton(ASLEF),Ken Cameron(FBU),Alan Sapper(ACTT) andJack Jones(TGWU) in 1969. Gerry Pocock, Assistant Industrial Organiser described the industrial department as "a party within a party", andMarxism TodayeditorJames Klugmannwould routinely defer to Industrial OrganiserBert Ramelsonon matters of policy.[38]

The party's orientation, though, was to the left union officers, not the rank and file. Historian Geoff Andrews explains "it was the role of the shop stewards in organising the Broad Lefts and influencing trade union leaders that were the key rather than organising the rank and file in defiance of leaderships", and so the party withdrew from rank-and-file organisations like theBuilding Workers' Charterand attacked "Trotskyist"tactics at thePilkington Glassdispute in 1970.[39]

Still the party's efforts to establish an electoral base repeatedly failed. They retained a handful of seats in local councils scattered around Britain, but the CPGB's only representative in Parliament was in theHouse of Lords,gained whenWogan Philipps,the son of a ship-owner and a long-standing member of the CPGB inherited the title ofLord Milfordwhenhis fatherdied in 1963.[citation needed]

TheDaily Workerwas renamed theMorning Starin 1966. At the same time, the party became increasingly polarised between those who sought to maintain close relations with the Soviet Union and those who sought to convert the party into a force independent of Moscow.[citation needed]

TheSino-Soviet splitin 1961 led to divisions within many Communist Parties but there was little pro-Beijing sympathy in the relatively small British Party. Perhaps the best known of the tiny minority of CPGB members who opposed the Moscow line was Michael McCreery, who formed theCommittee to Defeat Revisionism, for Communist Unity.This tiny group left the CPGB by 1963. McCreery himself died inNew Zealandin 1965. Later a more significant group formed aroundReg Birch,an engineering union official, established theCommunist Party of Britain (Marxist-Leninist).Initially, this group supported the position of theChinese Communist Partyduring the Sino-Soviet split.[citation needed]

Divisions in the CPGB concerning the autonomy of the party from Moscow reached a crisis in 1968 when Warsaw Pact forcesinvaded Czechoslovakia.The CPGB, with memories of 1956 in mind, responded with some very mild criticism of Moscow, refusing to call it an invasion, preferring "intervention". Three days after the invasion,John Gollansaid "we completely understand the concern of the Soviet Union about the security of the socialist camp... we speak as true friends of the Soviet Union ".[40]

Even this response provoked a small localised split by the so-calledAppeal Groupwhich was in many respects a precursor of the 1977 split which formed theNew Communist Party.From this time onwards, the most traditionally-minded elements in the CPGB were referred to as 'Tankies' by their internal opponents, due to their support of the Warsaw Pact forces. Others within the party leaned increasingly towards the position ofEurocommunism,which was the leading tendency within the important Communist parties of Italy and, later, Spain.[citation needed]

In the late-1960s, and probably much earlier,MI5had hidden surveillance microphones in the CPGB's headquarters, which MI5 regarded as "very productive".[41]

The last strong electoral performance of the CPGB was in theFebruary 1974 General ElectioninDunbartonshire Central,where candidateJimmy Reidwon almost 6,000 votes. However, this strong result was primarily a personal vote for Reid, who was a prominent localtrade unionleader and gained much support because of his prominent role in theUpper Clyde Shipbuilders work-in,which had taken place a few years earlier and was seen as having saved local jobs. Nationally the party's vote continued its decline: according to a contemporary joke, the CPGB at this time pursuedthe British Road to Lost Deposits.

According to historian Geoff Andrews, "The mid-1970s sawGramscians"(otherwise known asEuro-Communists) "take leading positions within the party".[42]Dave Cookbecame National Organiser in 1975 andSue Slipmanwas appointed to the executive committee and to theMarxism Todayeditorial board. Jon Bloomfield, former Student Organiser became the West Midlands District Secretary.Pete Carterprominent inUCATT,had been gaining influence since the late 60s and was appointed National Industrial Organiser in 1982.[43]Beatrix Campbell(a contributor, with Slipman, toRed Rag) and Judith Hunt became active in the National Women's Advisory Committee.Martin Jacques,on the executive committee since 1967, replacedJames Klugmannas editor ofMarxism Todayin 1977. Its turn to Eurocommunism was prefigured by what Andrews describes as Sarah Benton's "radical and heretical" stint as editor of the fortnightly reviewComment.[44]Critics from the past, likeEric Hobsbawmand Monty Johnstone, also gained influence.

The Euro-Communists in the party apparatus were starting to challenge the authority of the trade union organisers. At the 1975 Congress, economist Dave Purdy proposed that "the labour movement should declare its willingness to accept voluntary pay restraint as a contribution to the success of the programme and a way of easing the transition to a socialist economy"[45]– a challenge to the Industrial Department's policy of "free collective bargaining". An argument he reiterated in print inThe Levellerin 1979.[46]

The growing crisis in the party also affected the credibility of its leadership, as formerly senior and influential members left its ranks. In 1976, three of its top engineering cadres resigned.Jimmy Reid,Cyril Morton andJohn Tocherhad all been members of the Political Committee, playing a crucial role in determining the direction of the party. Like another engineer, Bernard Panter, who left a few months before them, they jumped a sinking ship.

According tothe Party's official historian,this period was marked by a growing division between the practitioners ofculturalpolitics – heavily inspired by the writings ofAntonio Gramsciand party's powerful industrial department which advocated a policy ofmilitant labourism.[citation needed]

The cultural politics wing had dominated the party's youth wing in the 1960s and was also powerful in the student section. As such many of its members were academics or professional intellectuals (or in the view of their opponents, out of touch and middle class). They were influenced by the environmental and especially thefeministmovement.

The other wing was powerful in senior levels of the trade union movement (though few actually reached the very top in the unions) and despite the party's decline in numbers were able to drive theTUC'spolicy of opposing theIndustrial Relations Act.In the view of their opponents on the cultural or Eurocommunist wing,theywere out of touch with the real changes in working people's lives and attitudes.

As the seventies progressed and as industrial militancy declined in the face of high unemployment, the tensions in the party rose even as its membership continued to decline.

1977–1991: Infighting and dissolution

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By 1977, debate around the new draft of theBritish Road to Socialismbrought the party to breaking point. Many of the anti-Eurocommunists decided that they needed to form their own anti-revisionist Communist party. Some speculated at the time that they would receive the backing of Moscow, but such support appears not to have materialised. TheNew Communist Party of Britainwas formed under the leadership ofSid French,who was the secretary of the important Surrey District CP, which had a strong base in engineering.

Another grouping, led by Fergus Nicholson, remained in the party and launched the paperStraight Left.This served as an outlet for their views as well as an organising tool in their work within the Labour Party. Nicholson had earlier taken part in establishing a faction known as "Clause Four" withinLabour's student movement.Nicholson wrote as "Harry Steel", a combination of the names of Stalin ( "man of steel" in Russian) and Harry Pollitt. The group aroundStraight Leftexerted considerable influence in the trade union movement,CND,theAnti-Apartheid Movementand amongst some Labour MPs.

Under the influence ofEric Hobsbawmon the opposing wing of the party,Martin Jacquesbecame the editor of the party's theoretical journalMarxism Todayand rapidly made it a significant publication for Eurocommunist opinions in the party, and eventually for revisionist tendencies in the widerliberal-left,in particular for thesoft leftaroundNeil Kinnockin the Labour Party. Although the circulation of the magazine rose it was still a drain on the finances of the small party.

As early as 1983, Martin Jacques "thought the CP was unreformable... but stayed in because he needed its subsidy to continue publishingMarxism Today."Jacques' conviction that the party was finished" came as a nasty shock to some of his comrades "like Nina Temple, who" as unhappy as Jacques himself, stayed on only out of loyalty to Jacques. "[47]

In 1984, a long-simmering dispute between the majority of the leadership and an anti-Eurocommunist faction (associated with party industrial and trade union activists) flared up when the London District Congress was closed down for insisting on giving full rights to comrades who had been suspended by the executive committee. After the General Secretary closed the Congress a number of members remained in the room (inCounty HallinSouth London) and held what was, in effect, the founding meeting of a breakaway party, although the formal split did not come until four years later. Members of the minority faction set about founding a network ofMorning Starreaders' groups and similar bodies, calling themselves theCommunist Campaign Group.In 1988, these elements formally split from the CPGB to organise a new party known as the Communist Party of Britain. This was considered by many in the anti-Eurocommunist faction, including national executive members likeBarry Williams,to be the death of the 'Party'.

In 1991, when theSoviet Union collapsed,the Eurocommunist-dominated leadership of the CPGB, led byNina Temple,decided to disband the party, and establish theDemocratic Left,a left-leaning politicalthink tankrather than a political party.[10]The Democratic Left itself dissolved in 1999 and was replaced by theNew Politics Network,which in turn merged withCharter 88in 2007.[10]This merger formedUnlock Democracy,which was involved in thecampaign for a yes votein the2011 Alternative Vote referendum.[10]

Some Scottish members formed theCommunist Party of Scotland,while others formedDemocratic Left Scotlandand Democratic Left Wales Chwith Ddemocrataidd. Supporters ofThe Leninistwho had rejoined the CPGB in the early 1980s declared their intention to reforge the Party and held an emergency conference at which they claimed the name of the party. They are now known as theCommunist Party of Great Britain (Provisional Central Committee)and they publish theWeekly Worker.But the Communist Party of Britain is the designated 'Communist Party' in the UK by theElectoral Commission.In 2008 members of theParty of the European Left,which contains several former communist parties in Europe, established a non-electoral British section.[48]

Size and electoral information

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The party began with 4000 members at its founding congress. It experienced a brief surge around the1926 general strike,doubling its membership from 5,000 to over 10,000. This surge was short-lived, however, as membership eventually sank down to 2,350 by 1930.[49]The party reached its peak in 1942 at 56,000 members. This reflected the popularity of the party in the active phase of the Second World War. In the post-war period, the membership began declining, culminating in the sudden loss of around 6,000 members in 1957, around the aftermath of theSoviet intervention in Hungary.From that point, the party gradually recovered into the early 1960s; however, it began slowly shrinking again in 1965. The downward trend continued until the leadership pushed for the dissolution of the party in 1991. The final congress recorded an overall figure of 4,742 members.

Membership numbers 1920–1991. See or editsource data.

General election results

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Main article:Communist Party of Great Britain election results
House of Commons of the United Kingdom
Election year # of total votes % of overall vote # of seats won
1922[50] 30,684Increase 0.2%Increase 1Increase
1923[51] 34,258Increase 0.2%Steady 0Decrease
1924[52] 51,176Increase 0.2%Steady 1Increase
1929[53] 47,554Decrease 0.2%Steady 0Decrease
1931[54] 69,692Increase 0.3%Increase 0Steady
1935[54] 27,177Decrease 0.1%Decrease 1Increase
1945[54] 97,945Increase 0.4%Increase 2Increase
1950[54] 91,765Decrease 0.3%Decrease 0Decrease
1951[54] 21,640Decrease 0.1%Decrease 0Steady
1955[54] 33,144Increase 0.1%Steady 0Steady
1959[54] 30,896Decrease 0.1%Steady 0Steady
1964[54] 46,442Increase 0.2%Increase 0Steady
1966[54] 62,092Increase 0.2%Increase 0Steady
1970[54] 37,970Decrease 0.1%Decrease 0Steady
1974 (Feb.)[54] 32,743Decrease 0.1%Steady 0Steady
1974 (Oct.)[54] 17,426Decrease 0.1%Steady 0Steady
1979[54] 16,858Decrease 0.1%Steady 0Steady
1983[54] 11,606Decrease 0.0%Decrease 0Steady
1987[54] 6,078Decrease 0.0%Steady 0Steady

General secretaries

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General Secretary
(Birth–Death) 		Took office Left office Prime Minister
(term)
Albert Inkpin
(1884–1944) 		31 July 1920 July 1928[c] Lloyd George
1916–22
Law
1922–23
Baldwin
1923–24
MacDonald
1924
Baldwin
1924–29
J. R. Campbell
(1894–1969) 		February 1929[d] May 1929
Harry Pollitt
(1890–1960)
(1st time) 		July 1929[e] October 1939 MacDonald
1929–35
Baldwin
1935–37
Chamberlain
1937–40
Rajani Palme Dutt
(1896–1974) 		October 1939 June 1941
Churchill
1940–45
Harry Pollitt
(1890–1960)
(2nd time) 		June 1941 13 May 1956
Attlee
1945–51
Churchill
1951–55
Eden
1955–57
John Gollan
(1911–1977) 		13 May 1956 11 March 1975
Macmillan
1957–63
Douglas-Home
1963-4
Wilson
1964–70
Heath
1970–74
Wilson
1974–76
Gordon McLennan
(1924–2011) 		11 March 1975 13/14 January 1990
Callaghan
1976–79
Thatcher
1979–90
Nina Temple
(1956–) 		13/14 January 1990 23 November 1991
Major
1990–97

Congresses

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The congresses appointed/elected theExecutive Committee.[55]

Year Name Location Dates Executive Committee
1920 Foundation Congress Cannon Street Hotel, London
International Socialist Club, London 		31 July – 1 August
1921 2nd Congress Victory Hotel, Leeds 29–30 January
1921 3rd Congress Manchester 23–24 April
1922 4th Congress St Pancras Town Hall,London 18–19 March
1922 5th Congress Battersea Town Hall,London 7–8 October
1924 6th Congress Caxton Hall, Salford 16–18 May
1925 7th Congress St Mungo Hall, Glasgow 30 May – 1 June
1926 8th Congress Battersea Town Hall,London 16–17 October
1927 9th Congress Caxton Hall, Salford 8–10 October
1929 10th Congress Bermondsey Town Hall,London 19–22 January
1929 11th Congress Leeds 30 November – 3 December
1932 12th Congress Battersea Town Hall,London 12–15 November
1935 13th Congress Manchester 2–5 February
1937 14th Congress Battersea Town Hall,London 29–31 May
1938 15th Congress Birmingham Town Hall,Birmingham 16–19 September
1943 16th Congress London 3–4 October
1944 17th Congress Shoreditch Town Hall,London 28–29 October
1945 18th Congress Seymour Hall, London 24–26 November
1947 19th Congress Seymour Hall, London 22–24 February
1948 20th Congress Seymour Hall, London 21–23 February
1949 21st Congress Liverpool 26–28 November
1952 22nd Congress Battersea Town Hall,London 11–14 April
1954 23rd Congress Battersea Town Hall,London 16–19 April
1956 24th Congress Battersea Town Hall,London 30 March – 2 April
1957 25th Congress Hammersmith Town Hall,London 19–22 April
1959 26th Congress St Pancras Town Hall,London 27–30 March
1961 27th Congress St Pancras Town Hall,London 31 March – 3 April
1963 28th Congress St Pancras Town Hall,London 12–15 April
1965 29th Congress Camden Town Hall,London 27–30 November
1967 30th Congress Camden Town Hall,London 25–28 November
1969 31st Congress Camden Town Hall,London 15–18 November
1971 32nd Congress Camden Town Hall,London 13–16 November
1973 33rd Congress Camden Town Hall,London 10–12 November
1975 34th Congress Camden Town Hall,London 15–18 November
1977 35th Congress 12–15 November
1979 36th Congress St Pancras Assembly Room, London 10–13 November
1981 37th Congress Camden Centre, London 14–17 November
1983 38th Congress 12–15 November
1985 39th Congress 18–20 May
1987 40th Congress 14–17 November
1989 41st Congress 25–28 November
1990 42nd Congress 8–9 December
1991 43rd Congress Congress House, London 22–24 November

Notable members

[edit]

Origins of the term "Tankie"

[edit]
Main article:Tankie
Red ArmyT-55tanks inBudapest,1956.

"Tankie"is apejorativeterm referring to those members of the Communist Party of Great Britain who followed theKremlinline,agreeing with the crushing of the revolution inHungaryand later thePrague Springby Soviettanks;or more broadly, those who followed a traditional pro-Soviet position.[59][60]

The term originated as a phrase for British hardline members of the Communist Party. Journalist Peter Paterson askedAmalgamated Engineering UnionofficialReg Birchabout his election to the CPGB Executive after the Hungarian invasion:

When I asked him how he could possibly have sided with the "tankies", so called because of the use of Russian tanks to quell the revolt, he said "they wanted a trade unionist who could stomach Hungary, and I fitted the bill."[61][f]

The support of the invasion of Hungary was disastrous for the party's credibility.[59]The CPGB opposed the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, though a hardline faction supported it. The party's newspaper, theMorning Star,was banned in the Warsaw Pact countries during that time, as the paper opposed the invasion.[citation needed]

The term is currently used in a somewhat broader sense inInternet slangto refer to any practitioner offar-left politics,especiallyMarxism–LeninismorMaoism,and particularly those who refute the accusations ofauthoritarianismand human rights abuses of certain Marxist states, such as the former Soviet Union, China, Cuba and Vietnam.[62][63]

See also

[edit]

Further reading

[edit]

Secondary sources

[edit]
  • Geoff AndrewsEndgames and New Times: The Final Years of British Communism, 1964–1991.London: Lawrence and Wishart, 2004.
  • Geoff Andrews, Nina Fishman & Kevin Morgan,Opening the Books: Essays on the Cultural and Social History of the British Communist Party.Palgrave,1995.
  • John Attfield & Stephen Williams,1939: The Communist Party and the War.London: Lawrence and Wishart, 1984.
  • Francis Beckett,Enemy Within: Rise and Fall of the British Communist Party.London: John Murray, 1995.
  • Thomas Bell,The British Communist Party: a Short History.London: Lawrence and Wishart, 1937.
  • Robert Black,Stalinism in Britain: A Trotskyist Analysis.London: New Park Publications, 1970.
  • Sam BornsteinandAl Richardson,Two Steps Back: Communists and the Wider Labour Movement, 1939–1945.London: Socialist Platform, 1982.
  • Philip Bounds,British Communism and the Politics of Literature, 1928–1939.London: Merlin Press, 2012.
  • Noreen Branson,History of the Communist Party of Great Britain, 1927–1941.London: Lawrence and Wishart, 1985.
  • Noreen Branson,History of the Communist Party of Great Britain, 1941–1951.London: Lawrence and Wishart, 1997.
  • Daniel F. Calhoun,The United Front: The TUC and the Russians, 1923–1928.Cambridge University Press, 1976.
  • John Callaghan and Ben Harker,British Communism: A Documentary History.Manchester University Press, 2011.
  • John Callaghan,Cold War, Crisis and Conflict: The CPGB 1951–68.London: Lawrence and Wishart, 2003.
  • John Callaghan,Rajani Palme Dutt:A Study in British Stalinism.London: Lawrence and Wishart, 1993.
  • Raymond Challinor,The Origins of British Bolshevism.Croom Helm, 1977.
  • Dave Cope,Bibliography of the Communist Party of Great Britain.London: Lawrence & Wishart, 2016.
  • Andy Croft(ed.)A Weapon in the Struggle: The Cultural History of the Communist Party in Britain.London: Pluto Press, 1998.
  • Andy Croft (ed.)After the Party: Reflections on Life Since the CPGB.London: Lawrence and Wishart, 2012.
  • Richard Croucher,Engineers At War.Merlin Press, 1982.
  • Ralph Darlington,The Political Trajectory ofJ. T. Murphy.Liverpool University Press, 1998.
  • Bob (C. H.) Darke,The Communist Technique in Britain.London: Penguin, 1951.
  • Hugo Dewar,Communist Politics in Britain: The CPGB from its Origin to the Second World War.London: Pluto Press, 1976.
  • James Eadon andDave Renton,The Communist Party of Great Britain since 1920.Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2002.
  • Nina Fishman,Arthur Horner:A Political Biography. Volume 1 1894–1944 & Volume 2 1944–1968.London: Lawrence and Wishart, 2010.
  • Nina Fishman & Kevin Morgan (eds.)The British Communist Party and the Trade Unions 1933–1945.Hants: Scolar Press, 1995.
  • Nina Fishman, "The British Road is Resurfaced for New Times: From the British Communist Party to the Democratic Left." in Bull, Martin J. & Heywood, Paul M. (eds.),West European Communist Parties after the Revolutions of 1989.Palgrave, 1994.
  • Paul Flewers and John McIlroy (eds.)1956: John Saville, E. P.Thompson & The Reasoner.London: Merlin Press, 2016.
  • Hywel Francis,Miners Against Fascism.London: Lawrence and Wishart, 1984.
  • Jim Fyrth (ed.),Britain, Fascism and the Popular Front.London: Lawrence and Wishart, 1985.
  • John Green,Britain's Communists: The Untold Story.Artery Publications, 2014.
  • James Hinton,The First Shop Stewards' Movement.Allen & Unwin, 1973.
  • James Hinton & Richard Hyman,Trade Unions and Revolution: Industrial Politics of the Early British Communist Party.London: Pluto Press, 1975.
  • James Jupp,The Radical Left in Britain, 1931–1941.London: Frank Cass, 1982.
  • Peter Kerrigan.The Communist Party.London, 1944.
  • Francis King & George Matthews (eds.),About Turn: The British Communist Party and the Second World War: The Verbatim Record of the Central Committee Meetings of 25 September and 2–3 October 1939.London: Lawrence and Wishart, 1990.
  • James Klugmann,History of the Communist Party of Great Britain, Volume One: Formation and Early Years, 1919–1924.London: Lawrence and Wishart, 1968.
  • James Klugmann,History of the Communist Party of Great Britain, Volume Two: The General Strike, 1925–1926.London: Lawrence and Wishart, 1969.
  • Keith Laybourn,Marxism in Britain: Dissent, Decline and Re-emergence 1945-c.2000.Oxon: Routledge, 2006.
  • Keith Laybourn & Dylan Murphy,Under the Red Flag: The History of Communism in Britain.Stroud: Sutton Publishing, 1999.
  • Thomas Linehan,Communism in Britain, 1920–39: From the Cradle to the Grave.Manchester University Press, 2007.
  • L. J. Macfarlane,The British Communist Party: Its Origin and Development until 1929.London: MacGibbon and Kee, 1966.
  • Stuart Macintyre,Little Moscows:Communism and Working-Class Militancy in Inter-war Britain.London: Croom Helm, 1980.
  • John Mahon,Harry Pollitt:A Biography.London: Lawrence & Wishart, 1976.
  • Kevin Marsh and Robert Griffiths,Granite and Honey: the Story ofPhil Piratin,Communist MP.Manifesto Press, 2012.
  • Roderick Martin,Communism and the British Trade Unions, 1924–1933: A Study of the National Minority Movement.London: Clarendon Press, 1969.
  • John McIlroy and Alan Campbell, 'The early British Communist leaders, 1920–1923: a prosopographical exploration', Labor History (2020): DOI: 10.1080/0023656X.2020.1818711
  • John McIlroy and Alan Campbell, 'The leadership of British Communism, 1923–1928: pages from a prosopographical project', Labor History, vol. 62, no. 3 (2021), pp. 207-253.
  • John McIlroy and Alan Campbell, 'The "core" leaders of the Communist Party of Great Britain, 1923–1928: their past, present and future', Labor History, vol. 62, no. 4 (2021), pp. 371-412.
  • John McIlroy and Alan Campbell, ' "Class Against Class": The leadership of the Communist Party of Great Britain during the Comintern's Third Period', Labor History, vol. 63, no. 2 (2022), pp. 145-189.
  • John McIlroy and Alan Campbell, 'Histories of the British Communist Party: a user's guide', Labour History Review, vol. 68, no. 1 (2003), pp. 33–60.
  • John McIlroy, Kevin Morgan & Alan Campbell (eds),Party People, Communist Lives: Explorations in Biography,London: Lawrence and Wishart, 2001.
  • Kevin Morgan,Against Fascism and War: Ruptures and Continuities in British Communist Politics 1935–41.Manchester University Press, 1989.
  • Kevin Morgan,Bolshevism and the British Left, Part 1: Labour Legends and Russian Gold.London: Lawrence and Wishart, 2006.
  • Kevin Morgan,Bolshevism, Syndicalism and the General Strike: The Lost Internationalist World ofA. A. Purcell.London: Lawrence and Wishart, 2013.
  • Kevin Morgan, Gidon Cohen & Andrew Flinn,Communists and British Society 1920–1991: People of a Special Mould.London: Rivers Oram Press, 2003.
  • Kevin Morgan,Harry Pollitt,Manchester University Press, 1993.
  • Andrew Murray,The Communist Party of Great Britain: A Historical Analysis to 1941.Liverpool: Communist Liaison, 1995.
  • Kenneth Newton,The Sociology of British Communism.Allen Lane, 1969.
  • F. S. Northedge & Audrey Wells,British and Soviet Communism: The Impact of a Revolution.London: Macmillan, 1982.
  • Lawrence Parker,The Kick Inside: Revolutionary Opposition in the CPGB, 1945–1991.November Publications, 2012.
  • Brian Pearceand Michael Woodhouse,(Essays on the) History of Communism in Britain.1969; Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1975; London: Bookmarks, 1995.
  • Henry Pelling,The British Communist Party: A Historical Profile.London: Adam and Charles Black, 1958.
  • Herbert Pimlott,"From 'Old Left' to 'New Labour'? Eric Hobsbawm and the Rhetoric of 'Realistic Marxism',"Labour/Le Travail,vol. 56 (2005), pp. 175–197.
  • Denis Pritt,The Labour Government 1945–1951(1963) detailed coverage by an MP with a pro-Communist perspectiveonline
  • Neil C. Rafeek,Communist Women in Scotland: Red Clydeside from the Russian Revolution to the End of the Soviet Union.New York: I. B.Tauris, 2008.
  • Neil Redfern,Class or Nation: Communists, Imperialism and Two World Wars.London: Tauris Academic Studies, 2005.
  • Raphael Samuel,The Lost World of British Communism.London: Verso, 2006.
  • Seifert, R. & Sibley, T.Revolutionary Communist At Work: A Political Biography ofBert Ramelson.London: Lawrence & Wishart, 2012.
  • Evan Smith,British Communism and the Politics of Race.Haymarket Books, 2018.
  • Evan Smith & Matthew Worley,Against the Grain: The British Far Left from 1956.Manchester University Press, 2014.
  • Evan Smith & Matthew Worley,Waiting for the Revolution: The British Far Left from 1956.Manchester University Press, 2017.
  • Mike Squires,Saklatvala:A Political Biography.London: Lawrence and Wishart, 1990.
  • Willie Thompson,The Good Old Cause: British Communism, 1920–1991.London: Pluto Press, 1992.
  • Andrew Thorpe, "The Communist International and the British Communist Party." in Tim Rees and Andrew Thorpe (eds.),International Communism and the Communist International, 1919–43.Manchester University Press, 1998.
  • Andrew Thorpe,The British Communist Party and Moscow, 1920–1943.Manchester University Press, 2000.
  • Nigel West,Mask: MI5's Penetration of the Communist Party of Great Britain.Routledge, 2012.
  • Neal Wood,Communism and British Intellectuals.New York: Columbia University Press, 1959.
  • Matthew Worley,Class Against Class: The Communist Party in Britain Between the Wars.New York: I. B. Tauris, 2002.

Primary sources

[edit]
  • Brian Behan,With Breast Expanded.London: MacGibbon & Kee, 1964.[64]
  • Thomas Bell,Pioneering Days.London: Lawrence and Wishart, 1941.[65]
  • Phil Cohen,Children of the Revolution: Communist Childhood in Cold War Britain.London: Lawrence and Wishart, 1997.
  • Fred Copeman,Reason in Revolt.Blandford Press, 1948.
  • Bob Darke,The Communist Technique in Britain,London: Penguin, 1952.[66]
  • William Gallacher,Revolt on the Clyde: an Autobiography.London: Lawrence and Wishart, 1936.[67]
  • William Gallacher,The Last Memoirs.London: Lawrence & Wishart, 1966.
  • Wal Hannington,Never On Our Knees.London: Lawrence & Wishart, 1967.
  • Wal Hannington,Unemployed Struggles 1919–1936.London: Lawrence & Wishart, 1936.[68]
  • Arthur Horner,Incorrigible Rebel.MacGibbon & Kee, 1960.
  • Douglas Hyde,I Believed: The Autobiography of a Former British Communist.London: Heinemann, 1950.
  • T. A. Jackson,Solo Trumpet.London: Lawrence & Wishart, 1953.
  • Joe Jacobs,Out of the Ghetto.London: Phoenix Books, 1991.
  • Alison Macleod,The Death of Uncle Joe.Merlin Press, 1997.
  • Margaret McCarthy,Generation In Revolt,Heinemann: 1953.
  • Harry McShane& Joan Smith,Harry McShane: No Mean Fighter.London: Pluto Press, 1978.
  • Tom Mann,Tom Mann's Memoirs.Spokesman, 1978 (1923)
  • J. T. Murphy,New Horizons.London: The Bodley Head, 1941.
  • J.T. Murphy,Preparing For Power.Jonathan Cape, 1934 [Reissued Pluto Press: 1972]
  • Will Paynter,My Generation.Allen & Unwin, 1972.
  • Phil Piratin,Our Flag Stays Red.London: Thames Publications, 1948; London: Lawrence and Wishart, 1978, 2006.
  • Harry Pollitt,Serving My Time: An Apprenticeship to Politics.London: Lawrence and Wishart, 1940.
  • Muriel Seltman,What's Left? What's Right?Troubadour, 2010.
  • Frank Watters,Being Frank.Doncaster: Frank Watters, 1992.
  • Fred Westacott,Shaking the Chains.Chesterfield: Joe Clark, 2002
  • Harry Wicks,Keeping My Head: The Memoirs of a British Bolshevik.London: Socialist Platform, 1992.

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^CalledThe Daily Workerfrom 1930 to 1966
  2. ^Theoretical magazine
  3. ^Inkpin was imprisoned twice during his time as General Secretary. From May 1921, when he was placed on a highly restrictive bail, until August 1922, shortly after his release,Fred Peetwas Acting General Secretary. From 22 October 1925, when he was one of twelve leading communists to be arrested, until his release in late September 1926,Bob Stewartwas Acting General Secretary.
  4. ^Although Campbell does not usually appear on lists of General Secretaries of the CPGB, Matthew Worley'sClass Against Class: The Communist Party in Britain Between the Warsdetails how Campbell became the party's leading figure with the title "Political Secretary" in July 1928. This was changed to "General Secretary" in February 1929, then back to "Political Secretary" in May 1929, now subordinate to Pollitt.
  5. ^Pollitt assumed the leading role in the party in May 1929 with the title of "Organisational Secretary"; he became General Secretary in July 1929.
  6. ^Reg Birch's hardline attitudes later led him to split away from the CPGB to form a pro-Albanian Maoist party.

References

[edit]
  1. ^Simkin, John (August 2014)."The Communist Party of Great Britain".spartacus-educational.com.Spartacus Educational.Retrieved31 August2015.
  2. ^"British communists propose name change".Herald-Journal.23 November 1991.Retrieved9 February2010.
  3. ^Barberis, Peter/McHugh, John/Tyldesley, Mike.Encyclopedia of British and Irish political organizations: parties, groups and movements of the 20th century.New York City/London: Continuum, 2001. 149
  4. ^Collette, Christine/Leybourn, Keith.Modern Britain since 1979 a reader.London/New York City: I.B. Tauris, 2003. p. 2
  5. ^Wheeler, Brian (13 June 2012)."What happened to the Communist Party of Great Britain's millions?".BBC.
  6. ^"The rise and fall of the Communist Party of Great Britain, 1928–1983".rarehistoricalphotos.com.Rare Historical Photos. 20 March 2018.
  7. ^Linehan, Thomas (October 2010).Communism in Britain, 1920–39: From the cradle to the grave.Manchester University Press.doi:10.2307/j.ctt1vwmdq7.ISBN978-0-7190-7140-9.
  8. ^Wheeler, Brian.What happened to the Communist Party of Great Britain's millions?,BBC News,London, published 13 June 2012, retrieved 16 July 2015
  9. ^"1988–97 Re-establishing the Party".Archived fromthe originalon 23 September 2017.Retrieved10 September2015.
  10. ^abcdeBrian Wheeler (13 June 2012)."What happened to the Communist Party of Great Britain's millions?".BBC News.Retrieved15 June2013.
  11. ^Farman, Chris; Rose, Valery; Woolley, Lis (2015).No Other Way: Oxfordshire and the Spanish Civil War 1936–39.London: Oxford International Brigade Memorial Committee. p. 6.ISBN978-1-907464-45-4.
  12. ^Meddick, Simon; Payne, Liz; Katz, Phil (2020).Red Lives: Communists and the Struggle for Socialism.UK: Manifesto Press Cooperative Limited. pp. 1–2.
  13. ^Meddick, Simon; Payne, Liz; Katz, Phil (2020).Red Lives: Communists and the Struggle for Socialism.UK: Manifesto Press Cooperative Limited. pp. 122–124.
  14. ^Whitney, Craig R. (15 November 1991)."British Communists Admit Accepting Soviet 'Aid'".The New York Times.Retrieved17 January2022.
  15. ^James Klugmann,History of the Communist Party of Great Britain, Volume One: Formation and Early Years, 1919–1924.London: Lawrence and Wishart, 1968; pp. 21, 25.
  16. ^abTong, Bing (2020).Journalism and Communication in China and the West.Renmin University Press. p. 34.ISBN978-981-15-7872-4.
  17. ^The Papers of the Communist Party of Great Britain (1920–1994).Held atLabour History Archive and Study CentreArchived12 October 2007 at theWayback Machine.
  18. ^Online abstract and index availableArchived23 May 2007 at theWayback Machine.Extent: 235.5 (841 boxes). Retrieved 14 June 2006.
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  20. ^abThorpe 1997,p. 59-60.
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  22. ^Bennett,A Most Extraordinary and Mysterious Business,pp. 2–3.
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  24. ^Gupta, Sobhanlal Datta (21 September 2017). "Communism and the Crisis of the Colonial System". In Pons, Silvio; Smith, Stephen A. (eds.).The Cambridge History of Communism(1 ed.). Cambridge University Press.doi:10.1017/9781316137024.ISBN978-1-316-13702-4.
  25. ^According to Joe Jacobs, the party centre tried to stop its members taking part in thedefence of Cable Streetfrom the Blackshirts, such that they had to operate under the cover of the 'Ex-Servicemen's Association', and on the day, the party put out a leaflet for another demonstration in Trafalgar Square to draw members away from the East End. Joe Jacobs,Out of the Ghetto,London: Phoenix Books, 1991, p. 238. However, Phil Piratin's personal account suggests the opposite, i.e. the central role of the Communist Party leadership to the anti-fascist actions against the BUF. Phil Piratin,Our Flag stays Red,Lawrence & Wishart, 2006.
  26. ^"Communist Party – HARRY POLLITT – 1890–1960".communist-party.org.uk.
  27. ^Biography of Harry Pollitt by Kevin Morgan, Manchester University Press 1993 pp 108–116
  28. ^The patriotic stance of the CPGB was such that in 1943 at a by-election in Cardiff they actively campaigned for theConservative Partycandidate againstFenner Brockway,theIndependent Labour Partycandidate. Robert Black,Stalinism in Britain: A Trotskyist Analysis.London: New Park Publications, 1970; pp. 170–171. According to Trotskyist Brian Pearce, "during the entire period up to the fall of France the British Communist Party functioned as a propaganda agency for Hitler." B. Farnborough,"Marxists in the Second World War,"Labour Review,Vol. 4 No. 1, April–May 1959, pp. 25–28However, as Trotskyism continued to attack the Soviet Union, aid European social-democracy and support striking militants, the CPGB considered necessary to put up an intense fight to resist the so-called 'Trotskyists agents'.[1]William Wainwright's pamphletClear out Trotsky's Agentswarned: You must train yourself to round up these other more cunning enemies... they are called Trotskyists'. "Resolution of the Central Committee of the R.C.P.", May 1925; Black,Stalinism in Britain,pg. 190.
  29. ^Keith Laybourn,Marxism in Britain: Dissent, Decline and Re-emergence 1945-c.2000,Taylor & Francis, 2006, p. 3.
  30. ^abcdeA.J. Davies,To Build A New Jerusalem.London: Abacus, 1996, p. 179.
  31. ^Nineteenth Congress of the Communist Party of Great Britain, Conference Report, February 1947, p. 18
  32. ^David Butler and Gareth Butler,British Political Facts.10th Edition. Basingstoke, England: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010; pg. 196.
  33. ^Geoff Andrews,Endgames and New Times: The Final Years of British Communism, 1964–1991.London: Lawrence and Wishart, 2004; pg. 90. According to Andrews, "in the 1950s the CPGB'sReuben Falberreceived around £100 000 a year from theCPSU,and into the seventies was still being paid around £15 000 "for pensions", who adds "recipients includedRajani Palme Dutt".Ibid., p. 94.
  34. ^Gunter, Henry (1954).A man's a man: a study of colour bar in Birmingham: and an answer.Birmingham: Communist Party of Great Britain.
  35. ^abMeddick, Simon; Payne, Liz; Katz, Phil (2020).Red Lives: Communists and the Struggle for Socialism.UK: Manifesto Press Cooperative Limited. p. 78.
  36. ^"Obituary: George Matthews".The Guardian.21 December 2016.
  37. ^Herbert Pimlott, "From 'Old Left' to 'New Labour'? Eric Hobsbawm and the Rhetoric of 'Realistic Marxism'",Labour/Le Travail,vol. 56 (2005), pg. 185.
  38. ^Andrews,Endgames and New Times,pg. 107.
  39. ^Andrews,Endgames and New Times,pg. 115.
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  45. ^Andrews,Endgames and New Times,pg. 148.
  46. ^Birchall, Ian(Autumn 1985). Binns, Peter (ed.)."Left Alive or left for dead? The terminal crisis of the British Communist Party".International Socialism.2(30). Socialist Workers Party: 67–89.Dave Purdy went so far as to argue that the CP should not oppose incomes policies in principle: 'The issue for socialists is not whether, but how and on what terms to enter the process of debate and negotiation surrounding policies for pay... The current tendency to climb aboard the bandwagon of disillusionment with the social contract, and to identify progress with every fresh pay dispute, is sadly mistaken. It is leading away from a coherent socialist strategy for Britain. The main reason for this assertion is that the key to contemporary socialist strategy lies in the unification of diverse areas of struggle and the creation of a broad social and political alliance around consensus over at least the main directions of social and economic policy.'
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  59. ^abStephen DriveUnderstanding British Party Politics,p. 154
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  65. ^"Pioneering Days (1941)".1941.
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  67. ^"Revolt on the Clyde".1945.
  68. ^"Unemployed Struggles 1919-1936".1936.
[edit]
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