The British Far Left (part 1): Socialist Workers Party

Name: Socialist Workers Party

Website: www.swp.org.uk

Wikipedia entry: Socialist Workers Party (Britain)

Origin: Founded in 1950 as the Socialist Review Group, by supporters of Tony Cliff who had been active in the Revolutionary Communist Party and had mostly been expelled from The Club. Later became the International Socialists, and finally the Socialist Workers Party in 1977.

Political position: Revolutionary socialist; broadly Trotskyist; historical links with Third Camp.

Major figures: Tony Cliff (leading figure until his death in 2000), Alex Callinicos (professor at King's College London), Lindsey German (convenor of the Stop the War Coalition), Paul Foot (journalist, died 2004).

Celebrity members: Former members include comedian Mark Steel, sociologist Laurie Taylor, beer writer Roger Protz and journalists Christopher and Peter Hitchens, Julie Burchill and Garry Bushell.

Membership: Claims membership of anywhere up to 7,000; active membership far less - perhaps 1,000 - 2,000.

Main locations: Hackney, Manchester, Sheffield

Publications: Socialist Worker (weekly), Socialist Review (monthly), International Socialism (quarterly).

Influence: Leading role in the Stop the War Coalition. Influential in European Social Forum; formerly leading role in RESPECT. Set up the Anti-Nazi League and Love Music Hate Racism.

International links: Leads the International Socialist Tendency

Electoral record: Stood candidates in a handful of late-1970s by-elections, with poor results. Began standing candidates again in 1999, initially in the Scottish Parliament election, then as part of the Socialist Alliance, then as part of RESPECT. The RESPECT candidate who polled best were not SWP members, but Lindsey German did well in West Ham in 2005, and there were a handful of SWP members elected as councillors. The split in RESPECT led them to form the Left List, which again polled poorly and has been largely abandoned.

Recent direction: After initial reluctance, became active in the Socialist Alliance in the late 1990s. Assumed leading role in anti-war movement in early 2000s, and tried to build on this by setting up RESPECT with George Galloway and a few anti-war activists, mostly socialists and Muslims. This foundered in the late 2000s, with the SWP splitting away. Membership has declined considerably since the mid-1990s.

Common criticisms: The SWP are often accused of being inconsistent, moving from one front to another, depending on where they see an opening. Many socialist groups have criticised them for working with Galloway and some centrist or right-wing figures. The group is also widely accused of inflating membership numbers.

Future prospects: With the recent split from RESPECT, the SWP needs to find a new direction. This will add to a long list of past directions, none of which have arrested the long-term drop in membership. Still, the SWP remain the largest far-left group in Britain and are likely to maintain reasonable visibility and some influence as a result of this.