Who We Are – The Socialist Party of Great Britain
Source: https://www.worldsocialism.org/spgb/who-we-are
Archived: 2026-04-23 17:14
Who We Are – The Socialist Party of Great Britain
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The Socialist Party is like no other political party in Britain. It is made up of people who have joined together because we want to get rid of the profit system and establish real socialism.
Our aim is to encourage others to become socialist and act for themselves, organizing democratically and without leaders, to bring about the kind of society that we advocate.
We are solely concerned with building a movement of socialists for socialism. We are not a reformist party with a programme of policies to patch up capitalism.
What we stand for
is an introduction to the Party’s ideas.
The End and the Means
details the Socialist Party view on the role of ‘the party’.
Why we are different
The SPGB and our companion parties in the World Socialist Movement say that:
socialism will be a moneyless, stateless worldwide society of common ownership and democratic control of the means of wealth production and distribution
there is no need for a ‘transition period’
socialism cannot be established by gradual implementation
reforms of capitalism can never lead to socialism
socialism must be established by a large conscious majority, preferably via a parliamentary mandate,
socialism cannot be established by some minority vanguard or leadership group
socialists should oppose all capitalist wars. Only socialism will end war
the former USSR, China, Cuba and other so-called “socialist countries” were never socialist, but instead, state capitalist
Other groups may use the terms ‘socialist’ or ‘communist’
There are some groups, for example left communists and some anarchists, who agree with some of the above but not all.
Many groups advocate reforms to capitalism such as universal basic income, squeezing the rich etc that are touted as improving life for the majority.
Fixes that don’t work
explains why these reforms cannot change capitalism.
In Britain what’s called the Left is generally made up of groups which don’t have socialism as we describe it as an immediate (or even distant) goal, and instead aim at a ‘dictatorship of the proletariat’ with themselves in charge. These are the groups which follow Lenin and/or Trotsky. Below we list some of the biggest differences.
SPGB (WSM) advocate…
They advocate…
A worldwide, classless, moneyless post-capitalist system
A state-capitalist system where people still work for wages
Full inclusive democracy without leaders
A leadership that makes the decisions
Socialism as an immediate goal, not reforms
A programme of reforms to capitalism
What we do
Our aim is to build a movement working towards a socialist society. We publish literature, we hold meetings and debates online and throughout the country, we write to the press and state our case wherever possible on the media. We run weekend educational conferences, we produce audios and pamphlets, we hand out leaflets, we contest elections, and we discuss our ideas with people wherever we can. We organise ourselves democratically, with party work being carried out cooperatively and voluntarily.
We are unique
The Socialist Party has been unique in Britain throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries for:
Consistently advocating world socialism – a fully democratic society based upon co-operation and production for use.
Opposing every single war
Opposing every single government
Being a democratic and leaderless organization
The next step
The more people who join the Socialist Party the more we will be able to get our ideas across, the more experiences we will be able to draw on and greater will be the new ideas for building the movement which you will be able to bring to us.
The Socialist Party is an organisation of equals. There is no leader and there are no followers. So, if you are going to join we want you to be sure that you agree fully with what we stand for and that we are satisfied that you understand the case for socialism.
If you want to know more about the Socialist Party, its ideas and activities, please
contact us.
What we stand for
Live Forum Topics
Our 2026 local election campaign in London
The Reformation and the Rise of the Nation State
White House sends delegation to deliver war ultimatum to Cuba
Artificial Intelligence and “Consciousness”
Trump as president again?
Review of the book ‘Make Capitalism History’
Capitalism´s future and Iran
Russian Tensions
April 2026 Socialist Standard No. 1460
Socialism or Your Money Back Blog
George and the dragon
Socialist Sonnet No. 232
Lose leaders
Guns or Butter
Today's take-away
Africa’s Socialist Banner
Africa: A Marxian Analysis
Southern Africa - severe drought warning
Kenya: Soaking the Poor
Zimbabwe: Shock horror, government losing out on taxes.
IMF still forcing austerity on Africans
Mouvement Socialiste Mondial
Les troubles en Iran (1980)
L'Iran dans la ligne de mire
Les principes du socialisme
« Taxer les riches » ?
« Un autre monde est possible » (1998)
Movimento Socialista Mondiale
Stranieri nel nostro mondo d'origine
Violenza e guerra: sono inevitabili? Una visione a lungo termine
Che cosa significa “post-scarsità”?
“Il socialismo non può funzionare, i socialisti si dimenticano sempre della natura umana”
Turismo cosmetico
Skip to content
The Socialist Party is like no other political party in Britain. It is made up of people who have joined together because we want to get rid of the profit system and establish real socialism.
Our aim is to encourage others to become socialist and act for themselves, organizing democratically and without leaders, to bring about the kind of society that we advocate.
We are solely concerned with building a movement of socialists for socialism. We are not a reformist party with a programme of policies to patch up capitalism.
What we stand for
is an introduction to the Party’s ideas.
The End and the Means
details the Socialist Party view on the role of ‘the party’.
Why we are different
The SPGB and our companion parties in the World Socialist Movement say that:
socialism will be a moneyless, stateless worldwide society of common ownership and democratic control of the means of wealth production and distribution
there is no need for a ‘transition period’
socialism cannot be established by gradual implementation
reforms of capitalism can never lead to socialism
socialism must be established by a large conscious majority, preferably via a parliamentary mandate,
socialism cannot be established by some minority vanguard or leadership group
socialists should oppose all capitalist wars. Only socialism will end war
the former USSR, China, Cuba and other so-called “socialist countries” were never socialist, but instead, state capitalist
Other groups may use the terms ‘socialist’ or ‘communist’
There are some groups, for example left communists and some anarchists, who agree with some of the above but not all.
Many groups advocate reforms to capitalism such as universal basic income, squeezing the rich etc that are touted as improving life for the majority.
Fixes that don’t work
explains why these reforms cannot change capitalism.
In Britain what’s called the Left is generally made up of groups which don’t have socialism as we describe it as an immediate (or even distant) goal, and instead aim at a ‘dictatorship of the proletariat’ with themselves in charge. These are the groups which follow Lenin and/or Trotsky. Below we list some of the biggest differences.
SPGB (WSM) advocate…
They advocate…
A worldwide, classless, moneyless post-capitalist system
A state-capitalist system where people still work for wages
Full inclusive democracy without leaders
A leadership that makes the decisions
Socialism as an immediate goal, not reforms
A programme of reforms to capitalism
What we do
Our aim is to build a movement working towards a socialist society. We publish literature, we hold meetings and debates online and throughout the country, we write to the press and state our case wherever possible on the media. We run weekend educational conferences, we produce audios and pamphlets, we hand out leaflets, we contest elections, and we discuss our ideas with people wherever we can. We organise ourselves democratically, with party work being carried out cooperatively and voluntarily.
We are unique
The Socialist Party has been unique in Britain throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries for:
Consistently advocating world socialism – a fully democratic society based upon co-operation and production for use.
Opposing every single war
Opposing every single government
Being a democratic and leaderless organization
The next step
The more people who join the Socialist Party the more we will be able to get our ideas across, the more experiences we will be able to draw on and greater will be the new ideas for building the movement which you will be able to bring to us.
The Socialist Party is an organisation of equals. There is no leader and there are no followers. So, if you are going to join we want you to be sure that you agree fully with what we stand for and that we are satisfied that you understand the case for socialism.
If you want to know more about the Socialist Party, its ideas and activities, please
contact us.
What we stand for
Live Forum Topics
Our 2026 local election campaign in London
The Reformation and the Rise of the Nation State
White House sends delegation to deliver war ultimatum to Cuba
Artificial Intelligence and “Consciousness”
Trump as president again?
Review of the book ‘Make Capitalism History’
Capitalism´s future and Iran
Russian Tensions
April 2026 Socialist Standard No. 1460
Socialism or Your Money Back Blog
George and the dragon
Socialist Sonnet No. 232
Lose leaders
Guns or Butter
Today's take-away
Africa’s Socialist Banner
Africa: A Marxian Analysis
Southern Africa - severe drought warning
Kenya: Soaking the Poor
Zimbabwe: Shock horror, government losing out on taxes.
IMF still forcing austerity on Africans
Mouvement Socialiste Mondial
Les troubles en Iran (1980)
L'Iran dans la ligne de mire
Les principes du socialisme
« Taxer les riches » ?
« Un autre monde est possible » (1998)
Movimento Socialista Mondiale
Stranieri nel nostro mondo d'origine
Violenza e guerra: sono inevitabili? Una visione a lungo termine
Che cosa significa “post-scarsità”?
“Il socialismo non può funzionare, i socialisti si dimenticano sempre della natura umana”
Turismo cosmetico