Communist League | |
|---|---|
| Leader | Collective leadership (Central Committee) |
| Founded | 1988 |
| Headquarters | London |
| Newspaper | The Militant |
| Ideology | Communism Euroscepticism Castroism |
| Political position | Far-left |
| International affiliation | Pathfinder tendency |
TheCommunist League is a British political party that was formed by a group of members expelled in 1988 fromSocialist Action. Those members had joined the AmericanSocialist Workers Party'sPathfinder tendency. It maintained a bookshop in London, originally inThe Cut, then Bethnal Green Road. It now operates a web/mail order service from Seven Sisters for Pathfinder publications. The League's members sellThe Militant, the paper of the American Socialist Workers Party. The group claims that many of its members work in the meat-packing industry.[1]
Two Communist League candidates stood in the2005 general election; one ran inBethnal Green and Bow polling 38 votes, the seat which was gained byGeorge Galloway forRespect. In the2008 London Assembly election, Julie Crawford stood in theCity and East constituency and polled 701 votes, 0.3% of the popular vote, coming 12th and last among the candidates.[2] In the2010 general election, the Communist League stood Caroline Bellamy inEdinburgh South West (48 votes)[3] and Paul Davies inHackney South and Shoreditch (110 votes).[4][5] Peter Clifford stood inManchester Central in 2012,[6] gaining 64 votes. In the2012 London Assembly election, Paul Davies stood in theCity and East constituency and increased the vote to 1,108 (0.6) coming last out of eight candidates.
For the2015 general elections, the Communist League stood two parliamentary candidates – in London and Manchester – and two other candidates for Manchester City Council.[7]
Peter Clifford withdrew his candidacy in theGreater Manchester mayoral election, due to take place 4 May 2017, citing the cost of the deposit.[8] He stood instead in the2017 general election for the constituency ofManchester Gorton, gaining 27 votes, equating to approximately 0.1% of the vote.[9][10] Andrés Mendoza also stood as a Communist League candidate in theIslington North constituency for the 2017 election, receiving 7 votes.[11]
In the2019 general election, Caroline Bellamy stood in the Manchester constituency ofWythenshawe & Sale East, winning 58 votes[12]
The Communist League announced in February 2021 that it was standing Pamela Holmes as a candidate in the2021 London Assembly election, Peter Clifford in the2021 Greater Manchester mayoral election and Andrés Mendoza in the2021 London mayoral election.[13]
Mendoza was not, however, included in the final list of mayoral candidates, suggesting the Communist League had withdrawn from the 2021 London Mayoral race.[14] Similarly, Cifford was not included in the list of candidates declared for the Greater Manchester mayoral election by the time nominations had closed.[15]