The Labour Solidarity Campaign was a British political organisation associated with the Labour Party, founded in February 1981. Born out of the right wing of the Labour Party's struggles with its left wing, it saw itself as protecting the mainstream democratic tradition within the Labour Party, to ensure an electable future party of government while countering undemocratic forces of the far left. It was seen as a successor to

the Manifesto Group The Manifesto Group was a British parliamentary alliance of Labour MPs led by Dickson Mabon (who preferred to be known as Dick Mabon), who were opposed to what they perceived to be the leftward drift of the Labour Party in the 1970s. History In ...

. Its name was based on that of the Polish independent trade union. It was a reaction both to the Labour Party conference in January 1981 which changed the system for electing the Labour Party leader, and to the

Limehouse Declaration The Limehouse Declaration was a statement issued on 25 January 1981 by four senior United Kingdom, British Labour Party (UK), Labour politicians, all Member of Parliament, MPs or former MPs and Cabinet Ministers: Roy Jenkins, David Owen, Bill Rod ...

which led to 28 Labour MPs eventually joining the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

. Initial leading members included John Smith, Roy Hattersley, Peter Shore, Ken Woolmer, and Austin Mitchell, and over 100 Labour MPs attended its launch meeting. The campaign successfully enabled the close re-election of

Denis Healey Denis Winston Healey, Baron Healey (30 August 1917 – 3 October 2015) was a British Labour Party politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1974 to 1979 and as Secretary of State for Defence from 1964 to 1970; he remains the lo ...

as Labour's deputy leader. While frequently successful in getting its supporters elected to the Shadow Cabinet, it was less successful in constituency elections to the Labour Party's National Executive Committee. It campaigned on the issue of "one member, one vote" for the constituency section for elections of the Labour leadership, achieved after its dissolution. After the

1987 United Kingdom general election The 1987 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 11 June 1987, to elect 650 members to the House of Commons. The election was the third consecutive general election victory for the Conservative Party, who won a majority of 102 se ...

, it became clear that Labour Solidarity's direct influence in parliament had weakened and that its supporters would need to work with the moderating Kinnockite soft-left to pursue their objectives. It dissolved itself in 1988, with many of its themes being taken up by a rejuvenated

Labour First Labour First is a British political organisation associated with the Labour Party. It was originally founded in 1980 but refounded in 1988. Born out of the political right wing of the Labour Party's struggles with its left wing, it sees itself as ...

campaign.The Fightback of the Traditional Right in the Labour Party 1979 to 1987
pages 163-220, Dianne Hayter, 2004

References

Groups of British MPs Organisations associated with the Labour Party (UK) Political advocacy groups in the United Kingdom Labour Party (UK) factions 1981 establishments in the United Kingdom 1988 disestablishments in the United Kingdom {{UK-poli-stub