Socialist Labour Party (UK)
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- This article is about the Socialist Labour Party founded by Arthur Scargill in 1996. See also Socialist Labour Party (1903-1980) for the defunct UK De Leonist party.
The Socialist Labour Party (SLP) is a small left-wing political party in the United Kingdom.
The SLP is led by former trade union leader Arthur Scargill, who formed it in 1996. The party was formed as a left-wing splinter in reaction to Tony Blair's re-positioning of the British Labour Party to the centre ground of politics. The party advocates traditionally Socialist policies, such as state ownership of industry and high taxation to fund public services.
At the 2001 general election the party took about 3% of the vote in seats it stood in. It did not contest the 2004 European Elections; its candidate for the Leicester South by-election gained less than 1% of the vote.
The party seems to be on the wane somewhat, garnering less votes than it used to. That said, they did manage to get their highest percentage share in any individual parliamentary constituency at the 2005 general election when they took 14.2% of the votes cast in Glasgow North East. However, the absence of a Labour Party candidate (they had stood aside to let the Speaker of the House of Commons, Michael Martin have a clear run) probably assisted them somewhat in this seat, and the result is probably no more than an aberration.
External links
- Socialist Labour Party (http://www.socialist-labour-party.org.uk)
- SLP Youth (http://www.slpyouth.org)