Labour Party Young Socialists - Early Political Affiliations

Early Political Affiliations

Early in the newly formed Young Socialists a publication called Young Guard and its supporters contended with the Keep Left publication and its supporters who formed the leadership of the Young Socialists. Both groups came from a Trotskyist tradition, but their methods and interpretation of the ideas of Marxism and their application varied very considerably.

Keep Left supported the Socialist Labour League, led by Gerry Healy. However the Socialist Labour League took its supporters out of the Labour Party in 1964-5. It was after the departure of the Socialist Labour League that the Young Socialists were renamed the Labour Party Young Socialists.

The Young Guard was notable because it was a collaboration between the two organisations which were to become the Socialist Workers Party and the Militant Tendency, the two most significant organisations from a Trotskyist tradition in the UK during the late 20th century.

By 1963 the faltering collaborative effort of the Young Guard had ended, and the Militant was set up in 1964. The Young Guard continued for a time by the International Socialists, but was discontinued by 1966, and the precursors of the Socialist Workers Party left the Labour Party and LPYS in 1967-8.

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