Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition

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

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

Foundation

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]

Positions

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]

Candidates and results

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%)

England & Wales

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%

Scotland

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]

Performance

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]

2011 Local Election

TUSC stood 180 candidates in the May 2011 council elections.[23]

List of organisations in TUSC

References

  1. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/the_daily_politics/8637620.stm
  2. ^ Keith Edkins (30 November 2009). "Local Council Political Compositions". http://www.gwydir.demon.co.uk/uklocalgov/makeup.htm. Retrieved 2 December 2009. 
  3. ^ Nicholas Whyte (10 May 2005). "The 2005 Local Government Elections in Northern Ireland". Northern Ireland Social and Political Archive. http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/flg05.htm. Retrieved 2 December 2009. 
  4. ^ a b http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/articles/8323
  5. ^ http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/international/Europe/France/7413
  6. ^ http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/international/Europe/France/7590
  7. ^ http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/print/4009
  8. ^ http://www.communist-party.org.uk/ec-110709.pdf
  9. ^ http://www.communist-party.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=712:executive-committee-statement-on-elections&catid=69:executive-committee&Itemid=77
  10. ^ a b Clive Heemskerk, "Trade unionist and socialist coalition", The Socialist, 3 February 2010 http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/issue/610/8762
  11. ^ http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/articles/8673
  12. ^ Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition candidates, http://www.tusc.org.uk/candidates.php
  13. ^ http://www.workersliberty.org/story/2010/01/15/son-no2eu-goes-public-tusc
  14. ^ http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=18114
  15. ^ http://www.tusc.org.uk/sponsor.php
  16. ^ http://www.tusc.org.uk/candidates.php
  17. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Compared with Socialist Alternative result 2005
  18. ^ a b c d e f g Compared with Scottish Socialist Party result (different candidate) in 2005
  19. ^ a b c Compared with Scottish Socialist Party result (same candidate) in 2005
  20. ^ [url=http://registers.electoralcommission.org.uk/regulatory-issues/regpoliticalparties.cfm?frmGB=1&frmPartyID=941&frmType=partydetail|title=Electoral Commission: Register of Political Parties]
  21. ^ [url=http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=21185|title=Britain's general election: no winner and no mandate|publisher=Socialist Worker|date=6th May 2010]
  22. ^ "The left in the election: good campaigns but TUSC vote squeezed". Socialist Worker. 11 May 2010. http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=21188. 
  23. ^ "TUSC candidates for May council elections 2011 - regional breakdown". TUSC. http://www.tusc.org.uk/candidates.php. Retrieved 1 May 2011. 

External links