Democratic Left was a

post-communist Post-communism is the period of political and economic transformation or transition in post-Soviet states and other formerly communist states located in Central-Eastern Europe and parts of Latin America, Africa, and Asia, in which new governments ...

political organisation in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

during the 1990s, growing out of the

Eurocommunist Eurocommunism was a trend in the 1970s and 1980s within various Western European communist parties, which said they had developed a theory and practice of social transformation more relevant for Western Europe. During the Cold War, they sough ...

strand within 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 CPGB ...

and its magazine ''

Marxism Today ''Marxism Today'', published between 1957 and 1991, was the theoretical magazine of the Communist Party of Great Britain. The magazine was headquartered in London. It was particularly important during the 1980s under the editorship of Martin Jacq ...

'' (which closed around the same time). It was established in 1991 when the CPGB decided to reform itself into a left-leaning reformist political multi-issue grassroots

think-tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...

based on the party's ''Manifesto for New Times''. Its secretary was Nina Temple, the last general secretary of the CPGB. Many members of the CPGB disagreed with this decision and joined 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 su ...

, which had broken away from the CPGB in 1988, while some

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

members formed the

Communist Party of Scotland The Communist Party of Scotland (CPS; ''Pàrtaidh Co-Mhaoineach na h-Alba'') was a communist political party based in Scotland. It was established in January 1992 by former members of the Communist Party of Great Britain who disagreed with the ...

Worldview

Democratic Left stated a belief in a pluralist and socialist society "incompatible with the structures and values of capitalism." Beginning as a political party, it decided not to stand candidates but instead to support

tactical voting Strategic or tactical voting is voting in consideration of possible ballots cast by other voters in order to maximize one's satisfaction with the election's results. Gibbard's theorem shows that no voting system has a single "always-best" stra ...

against the Conservatives at the 1992 general election and soon become a non-party campaigning organisation. DL campaigned on modernising unions, including Unions21; anti-racism and cultural diversity; democratising Britain, including Make Votes Count; social exclusion and poverty, including the Social Exclusion Network;Archived website focusing on coalition building, and operating in effect as a 'socialist anti-Conservative front'. A series of policy magazines titled ''Futures'' were published in 1997 as the group tried to stem falling membership. Members of the Trotskyist-dominated Socialist Alliance tried to join in 1998, but were blocked after legal action was taken, and the decision was taken to stop being "stuck in the swamp of sectarian politics." Democratic Left in England and Wales was dissolved and reformed as the New Times Network in December 1998, open to members of Labour and other political parties. It published a monthly magazine, '' New Times'', and collaborated with the

Fabian Society The Fabian Society () is a History of the socialist movement in the United Kingdom, British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of social democracy and democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist effort in ...

on the 'Getting Real' conference in June 1999. New Times Network became the

New Politics Network The New Politics Network (NPN) was an independent political and campaigning think tank in the United Kingdom, concerned with democratic renewal and popular participation in politics. It was founded as the successor to Democratic Left in 1999, and ...

in December 1999. In Scotland it continues as

Democratic Left Scotland Democratic Left Scotland () is a non-party political organisation, membership of which is open to both those who belong to political parties and those who do not. DLS has members and supporters in the Scottish Green Party, the Scottish National ...

, founded in May 1998.

References

External links

*
Democratic Left
on the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

{{Communist Party of Great Britain 1991 establishments in the United Kingdom 1998 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Communist Party of Great Britain Defunct political parties in the United Kingdom Political and economic think tanks based in the United Kingdom Communist Party of Great Britain breakaway groups Far-left political parties in the United Kingdom

Worldview

See also

References

External links