Changes

==Disaffilliation and drift==

==Disaffilliation and drift==

In 1932 the ILP 'disaffilliated' (broke away) from the Labour Party after arguments about party discipline and whether ILP [[MP]]s would accept the Labour Party whip. Party membership plummeted and continued to decline for decades, and by the late 1930s the ILP retained only 3 MPs, all for [[Glasgow]] constituencies. The remaining party members formed an uneasy coalition of pacifists and revolutionary socialists, hampered by further defections in the 1`930s, debates over whether to reaffilliate to the Labour Party, and an attempted take-over by Trotskyist elements. By 1939, the party had arranged a special conference to reapply for admission to the Labour Party, but this was overtaken by the outbreak of the [[Second World War]].  

In 1932 the ILP 'disaffiliated' (broke away) from the Labour Party after arguments about party discipline and whether ILP [[MP]]s would accept the Labour Party whip. Party membership plummeted and continued to decline for decades, and by the late 1930s the ILP retained only 3 MPs, all for [[Glasgow]] constituencies. The remaining party members formed an uneasy coalition of pacifists and revolutionary socialists, hampered by further defections in the 1`930s, debates over whether to reaffilliate to the Labour Party, and an attempted take-over by Trotskyist elements. By 1939, the party had arranged a special conference to reapply for admission to the Labour Party, but this was overtaken by the outbreak of the [[Second World War]].  

==The Second World War==

==The Second World War==

Labour supported British involvement in the war; the ILP (like the Communist Party of Great Britain until 1941) saw the conflict as one between two imperialist power blocs, and that the main enemy of the British working class was the British ruling class, not Germany. Co-operation with labour was therefore impossible. The war did see a minor upswing in the ILP's fortunes, as it attracted the attention of some left-wing radicals who shared its view of the war; and, as it did not participate in the [[electoral truce]] of 1940-45 (in which the main political parties agreed not to stand against each other in by-elections, the party previously holding a seat to have a 'free run'), it was able to get exaggerated numbers of votes in by-elections. However, it again faced problems caused by Trotskyist infiltration, and in the spring of 1945 a number of Trotskyists, including [[T. Dan Smith]], were purged from its ranks.

Labour supported British involvement in the war; the ILP (like the Communist Party of Great Britain until 1941) saw the conflict as one between two imperialist power blocs, and that the main enemy of the British working class was the British ruling class, not Germany. Co-operation with labour was therefore impossible. The war did see a minor upswing in the ILP's fortunes, as it attracted the attention of some left-wing radicals who shared its view of the war; and, as it did not participate in the [[electoral truce]] of 1940-45 (in which the main political parties agreed not to stand against each other in by-elections, the party previously holding a seat to have a 'free run'), it was able to get exaggerated numbers of votes in by-elections. However, it again faced problems caused by [[Trotskyism|Trotskyist]] infiltration, and in the spring of 1945 a number of Trotskyists, including [[T. Dan Smith]], were purged from its ranks.

==Decline and extinction==

==Decline and extinction==

==ILP members==

==ILP members==

[[Oswald Moseley]]

[[George Orwell]]

*[[Oswald Mosley]]

*[[George Orwell]]

*[[T. Dan Smith]]

[[Category:British Political Parties]]

[[Category:British Political Parties]]