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at inflated valuations, the interest on which was paid from the profits of state-run industries; ministers refused to answer questions in parliament on operational matters, meaning that the management of nationalised industries were not subject to meaningful democratic control; worker representation
401:
Though the party was initially chaired by
Priestley, he stepped down after just a few months, unable to reconcile himself with the politics of Acland – who as a sitting MP he viewed as exerting undue influence. Wintringham was the natural successor but deferred to Acland, despite very real political
373:
with this support in 1942, the
Committee, a social movement, proposed becoming a political party through a merger with Forward March, though many preferred movement status. Through pressure from Priestley and Wintringham, 'Party' was never formally part of Common Wealth's name. The group was led by
540:
conference in 1946, the party split. Two-thirds, including the original leadership, defected to Labour but were unable to persuade the remainder to disband. Tom and Kitty
Wintringham left and Tom joined the Labour Party, though kept friendly with CW members and kept an active interest the party and
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managerial class, accompanied by the withdrawal of shareholders from active running of big businesses, was creating a split between the (legal) proprietors of organisations and a class of non-proprietorial professionals who were responsible for the day-to-day management of those organisations. CW
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These differences, which led to
Priestley stepping down from the leadership and his gradual withdrawal from the party (though he continued to support and endorse individual candidates), were a source of continued tension between former 1941 Committee and Nine Point Group members on one side and
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make contributions to party thought. CW enthusiastically adopted the 'executive-sensory nexus' model of organisation, derived from left/right brain theory. Under this, the
Executive Committee, responsible for current decision-making, is shadowed by a scrutiny panel, known in CW as the Sensory
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at board level was either token or non-existent and often justified by stereotyping that workers did not yet have the skills required (unconvincing in CW's view given the record of the co-operative movement, the trade unions, and the Labour Party itself), and; a growing cult of "experts" (i.e.
378:, J.B. Priestley, and Tom Wintringham. Its programme of common ownership echoed that of the Labour Party but had more idealistic perspective, later termed "libertarian socialist". It came to reject the State-dominated form of socialism adopted by Labour under the influence of
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Committee, whose role is monitoring and review, research and longer-term development. CW's interest in optimising social organisation consistent with its principles also led it to develop close links with the School of
Integrative Social Research at
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In the postwar period, CW was active in some domestic and international campaigns; it developed worldwide contacts. For Israel and the less-than-state of
Palestine, it advocated two internationally recognised states. At home, it helped to form the
705:'s programme had not been approved by voters; this confirmed the theory that power, in "socialised" economies as much as market ones, was in the hands of a largely unaccountable managerial class, which served the
595:. Executive Committee members played an active, at times leading, role in these movements, especially during the 1980s. Others were active in nascent environmentalism, including its then main political party, the
475:, who agreed that their MP vacancies should be filled unopposed. Common Wealth intervention allowed a radicalising electorate to return socialist candidates in Conservative seats: in
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established with other parties in the wartime coalition, key figures in the 1941 Committee began sponsoring independent candidates in by-elections under the banner of the
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and former
Liberals who believed that the party had no direction. It aimed to be more appealing to Labour's potential voters than those leaning towards Conservatism.
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has stumbled across (or has needed to make use of) a small part, or perhaps one should say one particular aspect of, what will ultimately be required of humanity.
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the community as a whole which must decide whether or not a man shall be employed upon our resources, and how and when and in what manner he shall work ...
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568:(ICOM) and co-campaigned for small parties to be allowed to make party political broadcasts. Through the latter campaign it developed close links with
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until she died in 1963. Many of the new leadership then elected had joined when in the armed forces among which prominent figures of the
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used this to develop a modified
Marxist analysis — this saw managerialism as a historical stage between capitalism and socialism.
751:, CW was critical of its inclusion of dictatorships from various part of the political spectrum. Some members of CW were active in
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Lovell, Kristopher (2017). "The 'Common Wealth Circus': Popular
Politics and the Popular Press in Wartime Britain, 1941–1945".
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In 1992, surviving members and political associates met in London for a 50th anniversary lunch. Weeks later, the death of
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460:) for their support for the war, and Smith's election in 1944 strengthened the party's syndicalist, libertarian vision.
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were also promoted by CW, which publicised successful real-world examples, such as the chemical manufacturer
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This article is about a left-wing party during WWII. For the inter-war land and taxation reform party, see
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traditions. A party proposal became that personal income, by taxation, should have an upper limit.
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the development of its theory and stance until his death, Kitty remained informally involved with
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against that party's candidate by 869 votes; on the sixteenth and twenty-third against others in
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These differences in approach within Common Wealth were highlighted in a 1944 booklet by Tom and
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The inability to maintain a Parliamentary presence created a crisis for Common Wealth. At the
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Detail of the party's formation and by-elections can be found in a biography of Wintringham,
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663:, was replacing the archetypal forms of capitalism. This idea was drawn from works such as
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Common Wealth stood for three principles: Common Ownership, Morality in Politics and Vital
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Other influences during this era included humanistic psychology. Noted psychologists Dr
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Common Wealth's later political philosophy was heavily influenced by a notion that a new
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520:. In November 1944, he left the party and joined Labour in May of the next year. In the
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at arm's length; most private ownership was continuing; shares were being replaced by
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In February 1943, the party contested and lost four by-elections: on the tenth in
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The war administration was an all-party coalition government incorporating the
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to become party chairman, the two having been brought together for the journal
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They shall not pass!: the British battalion at Jarama: the Spanish Civil War
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amounted to the first winning candidate returned to the Commons, by winning
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701:(1948). In essence, this critique suggested that: many features of the
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against the Conservative by 5,000 votes; the next day, Wintringham in
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were CW members, and via Hemming and Wintringham so did their friend
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291:) until 1946. Thereafter CW continued to function, essentially as a
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The active collaboration led to the joint publication in 1956 of
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he had claimed that in Britain under a Forward March government:
347:, along with independents such as the industrialist and designer
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618:. The early history was the subject of the doctoral thesis of
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Primary source contemporary chronologies are in periodicals
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Acland himself had a less easy-going approach. In his book
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This article is about the political party. For the book by
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During the 1950s, the party made preparations to contest
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Forward Marchers and Christian Socialists on the other.
452:, after quitting their respective Marxist parties (the
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http://www.bookrags.com/tandf/commonwealth-party-tf/
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run camps for shirkers on very tolerable conditions.
66:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
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1222:Socialism and Religion: Roads to Common Wealth
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634:Socialism and Religion: Roads to Common Wealth
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310:by the alliance of two left-wing groups: the
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689:This, per Common Wealth, characterised the
978:No Unemployment Under Common ownership (8)
572:(sharing a syndicalist tradition) and the
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1284:1942 establishments in the United Kingdom
1100:. Botley, Oxford, UK: Osprey Pub., 2011.
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283:with parliamentary representation in the
138:Political party in the United Kingdom
126:Learn how and when to remove this message
1299:Political parties disestablished in 1993
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422:Acland went on to say of these camps:
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369:Following the electoral success of
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306:was founded on 26 July 1942 in
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328:and Spanish Civil War veteran
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1309:Syndicalist political parties
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981:We Answer Your Questions (10)
969:Notes on Common Ownership (3)
966:Why We Fight By-Elections (1)
961:Pamphlets – First series 1943
614:The archives are kept by the
287:from 1942 (the middle of the
1061:National Library of Scotland
747:Although sympathetic to the
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583:. This advocated very great
18:Commonwealth Land Party (UK)
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673:(1941). Burnham (a former
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509:by more than 2,000 votes.
402:differences between them.
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1053:Large library collections
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742:Economy of SFR Yugoslavia
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458:Independent Labour Party
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1014:Town and Country Review
845:Independent Progressive
574:Scottish National Party
547:Cairo Forces Parliament
440:Fellowship or Morality?
358:. Disagreeing with the
324:and its 'star' writers
233:Political position
1005:Magazines and Journals
993:Common Wealth and the
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334:Forward March movement
173:26 July 1942
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341:Member of Parliament
60:improve this article
29:Common Wealth (book)
1279:Common Wealth Party
950:The Nine Point Plan
926:Forward March books
593:Wessex Regionalists
514:John Eric Loverseed
270:Common Wealth Party
226:Left-libertarianism
146:Common Wealth Party
1122:My Modern Movement
1118:Robert Dudley Best
1022:Common Wealth News
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675:Trotskyist Marxist
657:mode of production
604:W.J. 'Buck' Taylor
349:Robert Dudley Best
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53:verification
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932:Unser Kampf
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782:Oxfordshire
716:technocracy
659:, known as
570:Plaid Cymru
444:C. A. Smith
392:syndicalist
384:Sidney Webb
371:Tom Driberg
272:(CW) was a
222:Syndicalism
1273:Categories
1081:References
1032:1989-1990
1028:1950-1988
1012:1942-1947
903:Chelmsford
837:Bridgwater
815:Barnstaple
738:Josep Tito
734:Yugoslavia
711:loan stock
512:In April,
485:Chelmsford
177:1942-07-26
86:newspapers
1175:158931370
1108:(p. 227).
859:Eddisbury
643:and then
518:Eddisbury
477:Eddisbury
438:entitled
356:Democracy
343:(MP) Sir
274:socialist
258:Elections
238:Left-wing
214:Socialism
185:Dissolved
1069:See also
1036:Archives
1020:1944-49
1016:1943-44
683:salaried
558:de facto
538:Hastings
456:and the
380:Beatrice
209:Ideology
881:Skipton
767:and Dr
507:Watford
492:Ashford
481:Skipton
336:led by
279:in the
175: (
170:Founded
100:scholar
1173:
1104:
804:Later
736:under
554:Oxford
471:, and
469:Labour
320:owner
102:
95:
88:
81:
73:
27:, see
1171:S2CID
1024:1949
985:India
740:(see
107:JSTOR
93:books
1209:and
1102:ISBN
1010:Left
997:(13)
987:(11)
801:Term
795:Name
505:and
483:and
449:Left
394:and
382:and
268:The
188:1993
79:news
1163:doi
744:).
732:in
667:'s
62:by
1275::
1224:,
1205:,
1190:,
1169:.
1159:23
1157:.
1143:^
1129:^
1120:,
1089:^
784:.
780:,
755:.
647:.
636:.
625:.
620:Dr
599:.
576:.
549:.
487:.
479:,
467:,
390:,
366:.
165:CW
1228:.
1177:.
1165::
199:,
179:)
129:)
123:(
118:)
114:(
104:·
97:·
90:·
83:·
56:.
31:.
20:.
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