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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Communist Party of Great Britain
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The United Kingdom, home at various times to *Marx and *Engels, had early links with communism; but it was not until 1920 that a British Communist Party was formed. It had an early success, with two members in parliament by 1922, but the momentum was not maintained. In the 1945–50 parliament there were again two Communists, but they were to be the last in the House; one of them, William Gallacher (1881–1965), had held a seat in Fife since 1935. The Communists continued to fight general elections but usually every candidate lost the deposit.
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In 1991 the majority of the party (which by then had a membership of only about 5000) voted to change the name to the Democratic Left. At the same time there was an official admission that in the 1960s and 1970s large annual payments had been received from Moscow to foster industrial unrest.
A minority decided in 1991 to continue as the Communist Party of Great Britain and in 1992 they revived the Daily Worker. This had been launched in 1930 as the party's newspaper, but its name was changed in 1966 to the Morning Star.
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