Home > Socialist Party of Great Britain

The Socialist Party of Great Britain, also known as the SPGB, is a small Marxist party, which is emphatically not Leninist. It should not be confused with the Socialist Party of England and Wales, a relatively new Trotskyist party which advertises itself under the name "Socialist Party".

The SPGB believes that the only way socialism (its term for a society without property, money, classes, or the state - what is more commonly called either communism by most Marxists or anarchy) will come about is for a majority of people, on a worldwide basis, to come to believe in the superiority of this social system. Hence, they favour winning power through elections, although in the current situation their main function is as a propaganda group to try to raise consciousness. In contrast to Leninists, they believe that it is possible to make the transition from capitalism to the complete abolition of the state immediately that the majority decide to do it.

Although the SPGB claim to follow Marx's precepts, they reject the label Marxist, since they claim to follow Marx's precepts simply because they are correct, not because Marx was a special individual. However, almost all Marxists who do accept the term to describe themselves have similar views about Marx.

The party is one of the oldest political parties in the UKBrief history and overview Prior to the mid- 19th century British politics was dominated by the Whigs and the Tories. These were not political parties in the modern sense but somewhat loose alliances of interests and infividuals. The Whigs were associated, founded in 19041904 is a leap year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). Events January 7 The distress signal " CQD" is established only to be replaced two years later by " SOS. February 7 A fire in Baltimore, Maryland destroys over 1,500 buildings in 30 as a split from the Social Democratic FederationThis article is about the British political party. For the American party, see Social Democratic Federation (US The Social Democratic Federation (SDF was established as Britain's first organised socialist political party by H. Hyndman, and had its first m. It was condemned by Lenin for refusing to join the Third InternationalMoscow and Petrograd (now Saint Petersburg) in May 1919. The slogan at the top says "proletarians of all countries, unite!" The Comintern (from Com munist Intern ational), also known as the Third International was an international Communist organization f. It consistently argues against vanguardismIn the context of revolutionary struggle, vanguardism is a strategy whereby an organization (usually a political party) attempts to place itself at the center of the movement, and steer it in a direction consistent with its ideology. Often, following the, and denies the possibility of reforming capitalismCapitalism generally refers to a combination of economic practices that became institutionalized in Europe between the 16th and 19th centuries. Exactly which historic and current practices are considered part of "capitalism" varies among users of the term in the interests of the working classThe term working class is used to denote a social class. The definition of the term "working class" is controversial, and depends on the politics and period of the person making the definition and on the society being discussed. For example, pre-war Briti. It refuses to engage in direct action or to co-operate with political parties that do not share its object and declaration of principles. The SPGB and its companion parties in other states constitute the World Socialist Movement.

The party rejects the idea that "socialism has existed before and has failed", holding tenaciously to the view that those countries which claimed to have established socialism had in fact merely established " state capitalism". They believe that socialism cannot exist in one country, but only on a global scale and that socialism will only come about when a majority of people want it and are prepared to organise politically to establish it.

One of the reasons the party split from the SDF was over the issue of leadership. Since its establishment in 1904, the Socialist Party has existed without any leader or hierarchy.

In 1991, the Camden and North West London branches were expelled from the SPGB after a party-wide referendum found them to be engaged in consistent undemocratic behaviour. The two branches never accepted the expulsion and continue to operate under the SPGB name.

The SPGB has published a monthly paper, the Socialist Standard, without interruption since 1904.