Socialist Unity was a small

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

electoral coalition An electoral alliance (also known as a bipartisan electoral agreement, electoral pact, electoral agreement, electoral coalition or electoral bloc) is an association of political party, political parties or individuals that exists solely to stand ...

in the United Kingdom. It was formed by the

International Marxist Group The International Marxist Group (IMG) was a Trotskyist group in Britain between 1968 and 1982. It was the British Section of the Fourth International. It had around 1,000 members and supporters in the late 1970s. In 1980, it had 682 members; by ...

(IMG) as a response to the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) standing candidates in elections. Sean Matgamna,
The Left and Labour: Lessons from the 1979 General Election ("As We Were Saying")
, Workers Liberty, 8 July 2009 Initially, in 1977, the IMG formed local groups, and then the national Socialist Unity grouping. They suggested an alliance with the SWP, which was rejected. The coalition attracted the support of the Workers League, Big Flame, the Marxist Worker group, and some independent socialists. The Workers League, Marxist Worker and the remnants of the Libertarian Communist Group were absorbed by the IMG and Big Flame around this time. The group stood six candidates in the 1979 UK general election, including

Tariq Ali Tariq Ali (;; born 21 October 1943) is a Pakistani-British political activist, writer, journalist, historian, filmmaker, and public intellectual. He is a member of the editorial committee of the ''New Left Review'' and ''Sin Permiso'', and co ...

. None of the candidates secured a contested seat. The coalition was dropped when the IMG decided to seek to influence the Labour Party instead.

References

Defunct Trotskyist organisations in the United Kingdom International Marxist Group Defunct political party alliances in the United Kingdom Political parties established in 1977 {{UK-party-stub