The Red Front
The Red Front was an ostensibly broad coalition lead by the Revolutionary Communist Party which stood in the 1987 General Election and in some other byelections at the time, such as the Knowsley North by-election on 13 November 1986, in which the RCP candidate Dave Hallsworth gained 2.1% of the vote coming fourth after the conservatives with 644 votes.[1]
Critics
The Red Front was not widely supported on the left. It did however gain the support at least temporarily of two small factions. When it formed the Red Front 'like most fronts [it] had nothing behind [it] except for the tiny Revolutionary Democratic Group (RDG) and the Squaddists of Red Action. The front’s electoral programme consisted of a minimalist series of demands, which did not attack the capitalist system, nor advocate serious reforms'.Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag;
refs with no name must have content
Among its critics the Alliance for Worker's Liberty described their campaign as 'by far the most incredibly stupid prank of all', granting however thaty they were 'more consitent' than the SWP in that they 'opposed a Labour vote'. 'They stood 14 candidates (which must have cost a lot of money), most of whom got around 200 votes - except in Knowsley North where they got 538'.[2]
Notes
- ↑ Britain Votes/Europe Votes By-Election Supplement 1983-, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Research Services 1985)
- ↑ Election '87: A test for the left Workers' Liberty, No. 7, P. 4
