| Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition | |
|---|---|
| Leader | Joint leadership of Dave Nellist and Bob Crow.[1] |
| Founded | 2010 |
| Ideology | Trade Unionism, Democratic Socialism, |
| Political position | Far Left |
| National affiliation | Socialist Party, Socialist Workers Party, Socialist Resistance, Solidarity |
| Local government[2][3] |
2 / 21,871
|
| Website | |
| http://www.tusc.org.uk/ | |
| Politics of the United Kingdom Political parties Elections |
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Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) is a socialist electoral alliance launched in Britain for the 2010 General Election.
The coalition was negotiated between groups which had taken part in the No2EU coalition that fought the June 2009 European elections. Prominent participating groups include the Socialist Party, Socialist Workers Party, Solidarity, and others; it has been endorsed by Bob Crow, General Secretary of the RMT, Brian Caton, General Secretary of the POA, Janice Godrich, President of the PCS, Chris Baugh, Assistant General Secretary of the PCS and eight members of the UNISON National Executive Council. Dave Nellist stood as a candidate for the coalition in the constituency of Coventry North East. Among the other candidates were Jackie Gunsell in Colne Valley constituency, Keith Gibson in Hull West and Hessle, Dave Hill in Brighton Kemptown, Ian Page in Lewisham Deptford, Rob Williams in Swansea West and Tim Cutter in Southampton Itchen.
Contents |
No to EU – Yes to Democracy had been intended as a one-time electoral alliance. The Socialist Party, which had previous participated in the Socialist Alliance and Welsh Socialist Alliance and which backs the Campaign for a New Workers' Party, saw No2EU as "an important first step towards independent working class political representation"[4] was eager to continue cooperation with other left wing groups, building on ties it had forged during the European election. The Socialist Party spoke highly of the success of Die Linke in Germany, the New Anticapitalist Party in France and Coalition of the Radical Left in Greece.[5][6][7]
In July 2009, the Communist Party of Britain released a statement[8] expressing willingness to continue the No2EU programme and support left-wing alliance candidates in some constituencies, but also called for a vote for Labour Party candidates in others. However, on 17 January the Executive Committee of the CPB declined to formally participate in the coalition.[9]
Negotiations to found the coalition continued over several months after the EU election. One proposed name for the coalition was "Trade Unionists and Green Socialists Alliance".[4] The RMT, which had formally supported No2EU, decided in January 2010 not to similarly back TUSC, but allowed individual branches to support it.[10] On 12 January 2010, the coalition was announced[11] and subsequently, the RMT National Council of Executives supported 20 TUSC candidates on receipt of local RMT branch requests.[12]
Some political groups such as the Alliance for Workers Liberty and the Weekly Worker newspaper have argued that the coalition was formed in secret and without democratic input.[13]
Meanwhile, just after the European Elections, the SWP, which had not taken part in No2EU but which had itself been part of the Socialist Alliance and Respect, published its "Open Letter to the Left",[14] in which it called for "a united fightback to save jobs and services".
Socialist Resistance, the British section of the Fourth International, has also joined the coalition.[15]
TUSC is a coalition, not a political party, with a federal structure. All candidates supporting the coalition must support a core declaration of principles, but beyond this each candidate is free to campaign on the platform of their own political party.[10]
TUSC/STUSC had announced the following list of parliamentary candidates for the 2010 general election, including ten in Scotland.[16] They received a total of 15,573 votes, or 0.1% of the popular vote.
John Metcalfe's parliamentary campaign in Carlisle. He received 376 votes (0.9%)
| Constituency | Candidate | Affiliation | Result - votes | Result - % | Loss/gain |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coventry North East | Dave Nellist | Socialist Party (ran as Socialist Alternative) | 1,592 | 3.7% | -1.2%[17] |
| Tottenham | Jenny Sutton | UCU (ran as TUSC) | 1,057 | 2.6% | +2.6% |
| Colne Valley | Jackie Grunsell | Socialist Party (ran as TUSC) | 741 | 1.3% | +1.3% |
| Salford & Eccles | David Henry | Green Left (ran as TUSC) | 730 | 1.8% | +1.8% |
| Coventry South | Judy Griffiths | Socialist Party (ran as Socialist Alternative) | 691 | 1.5% | -1.2%[17] |
| Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough | Maxine Bowler | Socialist Workers Party (ran as TUSC) | 656 | 1.7% | n/a |
| Lewisham Deptford | Ian Page | Socialist Party (ran as Socialist Alternative) | 645 | 1.6% | -0.6%[17] |
| Bootle | Pete Glover | Socialist Party (ran as TUSC) | 472 | 1.1% | -1.5%[17] |
| Coventry North West | Nikki Downes | Socialist Party (ran as Socialist Alternative) | 370 | 0.8% | -0.7%[17] |
| Cambridge City | Martin Booth | Cambridge Socialists (ran as TUSC) | 362 | 0.7% | +0.7% |
| Manchester Gorton | Karen Reissmann | Socialist Workers Party (ran as TUSC) | 337 | 0.9% | +0.9% |
| Huddersfield | Paul Cooney | (ran as TUSC) | 319 | 0.8% | +0.8% |
| Walthamstow | Nancy Taaffe | Socialist Party (ran as TUSC) | 279 | 0.7% | -1.4%[17] |
| Wythenshawe and Sale East | Lynn Worthington | Socialist Party (ran as TUSC) | 268 | 0.7% | -0.3%[17] |
| Greenwich and Woolwich | Onay Kasab | Socialist Party (ran as TUSC) | 267 | 0.6% | +0.6% |
| Gateshead | Elaine Brunskill | Socialist Party (ran as TUSC) | 266 | 0.7% | n/a |
| Wellingborough and Rushden | Cllr Paul Crofts | Wellingborough Socialists (ran as TUSC) | 249 | 0.5% | +0.5% |
| Bristol South | Tom Baldwin | Socialist Party (ran as TUSC) | 206 | 0.4% | +0.4% |
| Liverpool Walton | Daren Ireland | RMT (ran as TUSC) | 195 | 0.6% | +0.6% |
| Brighton Kemptown | Dave Hill | Socialist Resistance (ran as TUSC) | 194 | 0.5% | +0.2%[17] |
| Bristol East | Rachel Lynch | Socialist Party (ran as TUSC) | 184 | 0.4% | +0.4% |
| Swansea West | Rob Williams | Socialist Party (ran as TUSC) | 179 | 0.5% | -0.4%[17] |
| Spelthorne | Paul Couchman | Socialist Party (ran as TUSC) | 176 | 0.4% | +0.4% |
| Southampton Itchen | Tim Cutter | Socialist Party (ran as TUSC) | 168 | 0.4% | +0.4% |
| Cardiff Central | Ross Saunders | Socialist Party (ran as TUSC) | 162 | 0.4% | +0.4% |
| Leicester West | Steve Score | Socialist Party (ran as TUSC) | 157 | 0.4% | -1.3%[17] |
| Portsmouth North | Mick Tosh | RMT (ran as TUSC) | 154 | 0.3% | +0.3% |
| Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle | Keith Gibson | Socialist Party (ran as TUSC) | 150 | 0.5% | +0.5% |
| Stoke-on-Trent Central | Matthew Wright | Socialist Party (ran as TUSC) | 133 | 0.4% | -0.5%[17] |
| Redcar | Hannah Walter | Socialist Party (ran as TUSC) | 127 | 0.3% | +0.3% |
| Constituency | Candidate | Affiliation | Votes -cast | Result - % | Loss/gain |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glasgow South West | Tommy Sheridan | Solidarity (ran as Solidarity - TUSC) | 931 | 2.9% | -2.5%[18] |
| Motherwell and Wishaw | Ray Gunnion | CWI/Solidarity (ran as TUSC) | 609 | 1.6% | -1.1%[18] |
| Dundee West | Jim McFarlane | CWI/Solidarity (ran as TUSC) | 357 | 1.0% | -1.7%[19] |
| Glasgow South | Brian Smith | CWI/Solidarity (ran as TUSC) | 351 | 0.9% | -2.5%[18] |
| Glasgow North | Angela McCormick | SWP/Solidarity (ran as TUSC) | 287 | 1.0% | -2.8%[18] |
| Edinburgh East | Gary Clark | CWI/Solidarity (ran as TUSC) | 274 | 0.7% | -1.5%[18] |
| Edinburgh North and Leith | Willie Black | SWP/Solidarity (ran as TUSC) | 233 | 0.5% | -1.4%[18] |
| Glasgow North East | Graham Campbell | SWP/Solidarity (ran as TUSC) | 187 | 0.6% | -4.3%[19] |
| Midlothian | Willie Duncan | Solidarity (ran as TUSC) | 166 | 0.4% | -1.5%[18] |
| Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey | George McDonald | Solidarity (ran as Solidarity - TUSC) | 135 | 0.3% | -0.7%[19] |
TUSC's average vote nationwide was around 371 (1.0%), no deposits were returned.
As a relatively new entity, electoral success was not high up on the list of the coalition's priorities. TUSC was only registered with the Electoral Commission in January 2010,[20] leaving little time to organise a more comprehensive challenge.
Another widely accepted factor was a perceived "Squeeze" [21] which generated disappointing results for the vast majority of smaller parties.
"Fear of a Tory government galvanised people to vote Labour, and we were squeezed. People were too afraid to demand something better for fear of getting something worse." Tottenham candidate Jenny Sutton claimed. [22]
TUSC stood 180 candidates in the May 2011 council elections.[23]