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Communist Party of Britain

British political party

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 14, 2026
Entity authorityQ1120576
Source-derived summary

The Communist Party of Britain (CPB) is a communist party in Great Britain which emerged from a dispute between Eurocommunists and Marxist-Leninists in the Communist Party of Great Britain in 1988. It follows Marxist–Leninist theory and supports what it regards as existing socialist states. The party has fraternal relationships with the ruling parties in Cuba, China, Laos, and Vietnam. It is affiliated nationally to the Cuba Solidarity Campaign and the Venezuela Solidarity Campaign. It is a member of the International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties, together with 117 other political parties. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the party was one of two original British signatories to the Pyongyang Declaration.

History

Origins

The origins of the CPB go back to the pro-Soviet opposition during in the 1960s, whom criticised the CPGB leadership for not supporting socialist countries, focusing on trade unions too much, and wasting resources on elections which was hurting relations with the Labour left.

In the period leading up to 1988, the Communist Party of Great Britain was in turmoil as the leadership fought the Marxist–Leninist tendencies inside the party.

In September 1982, controversy came from the feature article in the CPGB's theoretical journal, Marxism Today which was controlled by Eurocommunists and Martin Jacques. The feature, written by party member Tony Lane, was critical of the labour movement and trade unions.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Communist Party of Britain” is british political party. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Communist, Party and Britain, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1988, 1982—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1988-04. For this dossier, Communist, Party and Britain is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “british political party” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 14, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1120576. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1988 and 1982.

Critical limits

The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Communist Party of Britain”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Communist Party of Britain primary sources, Communist Party of Britain archive and Communist research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Communist Party of Britain”?
  2. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
  3. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Communist Party of Britain” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.