Labour Party Young Socialists

The Labour Party Young Socialists (LPYS) were established by the British Labour Party following the collapse of the earlier Young Socialists following the expulsion of the entryist Socialist Labour League (which became the Workers Revolutionary Party) in 1961.

Related Topics:
British Labour Party - Young Socialists - Entryist - Socialist Labour League - Workers Revolutionary Party - 1961

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By 1969 the LPYS was in the grip of the Troyskyist Revolutionary Socialist League (more commonly known as the 'Militant Tendency' after its weekly paper Militant).

Related Topics:
1969 - Revolutionary Socialist League

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As the Labour Party as a whole moved to the left in the 1970s the party's ruling National Executive Committee were disinclined to take any action against RSL entryism and actually engineered a change in the party's rules to give the LPYS a place on the NEC and eventually employed an RSL-supporting Youth Officer as a member of party staff.

Related Topics:
1970s - National Executive Committee

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However the party's other youth section - the National Organisation of Labour Students (NOLS) resisted all attempts to succomb to RSL takeover and went on provide a generation of party activists and politicians' staff who were ruthless in their opposition to Trotskyism and determined to get the RSL out of Labour and the LPYS wound up.

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When Neil Kinnock became Labour leader in 1983 the battle steeped up and after 1985 Kinnock made it clear he was determined to expell the RSL.

Related Topics:
Neil Kinnock - 1983 - 1985

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In 1987 the LPYS national conference was marred by violence and that year the party conference voted to replace it with a new, much looser organised, Young Labour.

Related Topics:
1987 - Young Labour

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