Socialist Party

The Socialist Party is a Trotskyist, democratic socialist political party in the United Kingdom. It is the largest member of the Committee for a Workers' International. The current secretary is Peter Taaffe.

The party operated as the Militant Tendency within the Labour Party, following a policy of entryism, until the late 1980s, having a prominent role in the coal miners' strike in 1983-4; Labour expelled the leadership of Militant in 1983. After operating for a few years as the Militant Labour Party, the name "Socialist Party" was adopted in 1997.

The Socialist Party has an active membership in the low thousands and backs the International Socialist Resistance and Socialist Students. The party newspaper is the weekly The Socialist, successor to Militant, and theory and analysis is published in the monthly Socialism Today, with most new theory being written by Hannah Sell. The party hosts and organizes the annual "Socialism" conference.

The Socialist Party took part in the Socialist Alliance in the 1990s but left after what it claims was an unfair dominance and meeting-packing by the SWP. When standing on its own in elections, it appears on ballots as Socialist Alternative. Currently the party controls five council seats in England, one under the name "Save Huddersfield NHS"

The party launched the "Youth Fight For Jobs" campaign in early 2009 and shortly thereafter took part in the No2EU electoral platform with the RMT, Communist Party of Britain and Alliance for Green Socialism for the 2009 European Parliament election. The Socialist Party backs the Campaign for a New Workers' Party, an attempt to found a mass socialist party by encouraging trade unions in the United Kingdom from withdrawing their allegiance and money from the Labour Party. Coventry councillor and former MP Dave Nellist chairs the campaign.

The Socialist Party operates only in England and Wales but maintains close ties with the International Socialists in Scotland and the Socialist Party in Ireland.