Red Front (UK)

Red Front was a socialist electoral coalition in the United Kingdom which stood fourteen candidates in the 1987 general election.[1]

Its main component was the Revolutionary Communist Party of Frank Furedi, while it also attracted the support of the tiny Revolutionary Democratic Group, Red Action and a few independents. The RCP was hugely optimistic about its potential and spoke of it in time replacing the Labour Party as the main left wing force in British politics.[citation needed] However, Red Front candidates shared only 3,177 votes in total and as a result it was abandoned shortly after the election.

Election results

General election 11 June 1987

Constituency Candidate Votes % Position
Birmingham Sparkbrook Pervaiz Khan 229 0.7 5
Bristol South Carol Margaret Meghji 149 0.3 5
Glasgow Central Derek Owen 126 0.4 7
Hackney North and Stoke Newington Yasmini Train Anwar 228 0.6 5
Hammersmith P. John Francis Fitzpatrick 125 0.4 5
Holborn and St. Pancras Michael James Gavan 300 0.7 4
Knowsley North David Hallsworth 538 1.4 4
Manchester Gorton Miss Pam Lawrence 253 0.6 4
Manchester Wythenshawe Miss Susan Connelly 216 0.5 4
Newcastle upon Tyne Central Kirk Williams 111 0.2 5
Nottingham East Kenan Malik 212 0.5 4
Pontefract and Castleford Daniel McFarlane Lees 295 0.6 4
Sheffield Central Ceri Teresa Dingle 278 0.7 4
Vauxhall Kunle Oluremi 117 0.3 6

Bibliography

  • Revolutionary Communist Party (1 February 1987). The Red Front: A Platform for Working Class Unity. London: Junius Publications. ISBN 978-0948392061.
  • Smith, Evan (21 November 2022). "A Platform for Working Class Unity? The Revolutionary Communist Party's The Red Front and the pre-history of Living Marxism/Spiked Online in the 1980s". Contemporary British History. 37. Informa UK Limited: 89–127. doi:10.1080/13619462.2022.2142780. ISSN 1361-9462. S2CID 253791729.

References

  1. ^ "Election 87: 2,327 seek your vote". The Times. 9 June 1987.
Stub icon 1 Stub icon 2

This article about a political party in the United Kingdom is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.