TUSC
|
Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition
|
|
|---|---|
TUSC logo
|
|
| Abbreviation | TUSC |
| Leader | Dave Nellist |
| Founded | 2010 |
| Ideology |
Trade unionism Socialism Euroscepticism |
| Political position | Left-wing to Far-left |
| Colors |
Pink, brown and red |
| Members |
Socialist Party Socialist Party Scotland Solidarity Socialist Workers Party |
| House of Commons |
0 / 650
|
| House of Lords |
0 / 809
|
| European Parliament |
0 / 73
|
| Local government |
0 / 21,871
|
| Website | |
| www.tusc.org.uk | |
Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) is a socialist electoral alliance that originally launched in Britain for the 2010 General Election. The alliance has been characterised as left-wing by some elements of the media and hard left or far-left by others.
Prominent trade union support comes from the RMT union. TUSC's co-founder was former RMT general secretary Bob Crow. Leading members of the PCS, NUT, FBU and POA unions are on the steering committee. The most prominent participating groups are the Socialist Party, and Solidarity. In the 2015 General Election, TUSC stood 135 parliamentary candidates across England, Wales and Scotland, and 619 in the local elections. As of 2016, TUSC had three affiliated city councillors in Southampton, and a parish councillor in Warrington.
At the March 2009 Socialist Party congress, RMT executive members Alex Gordon and Brian Denny addressed Socialist Party delegates in an official capacity, outlining the RMT's proposal for workers slates in the European elections in June. At a later congress session this initiative was formally agreed by congress delegates, and No to EU – Yes to Democracy (NO2EU) was formed. NO2EU, an electoral alliance, headed by Bob Crow, between the RMT, the Communist Party of Britain and the Socialist Party, subsequently led to the formation of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition. The Socialist Party, which had previously participated in the Socialist Alliance and Welsh Socialist Alliance and backed the Campaign for a New Workers' Party, termed No2EU "an important first step towards independent working class political representation", despite criticisms of the name and other minor issues. The Socialist Party stated it "would prefer a name that includes 'socialism', for marked ideological contrast to New Labour, and also one that makes it clear that the coalition is a working class alternative." Nevertheless, the Socialist Party noted the success of Die Linke in Germany, the New Anticapitalist Party in France and Coalition of the Radical Left in Greece, and emphasized the need for a "genuine socialist alternative" in the European elections.
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