Socialism in Scotland: Lessons from the rise and fall of the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP)

For a while the SSP was the bright new beacon of hope … Until hubris humbled it.

Apr 23, 2024

This is part three in the Learning Our History project which is examining past and current efforts to build a socialist party.

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Introduction

We won’t know the final totals for some months. But as many as 125-150 candidates calling themselves “independent socialists” or representing smallish left-wing parties — indeed some so tiny you may never have heard of them before — may campaign to become your MP at the next general election.

It is quite an unprecedented electoral phenomenon in the UK.

Yes, there certainly does exist a sizeable “left of Labour” body politic across the land. This group feels, with very good reason, that no existing party speaks for us. And if you cannot join ‘em, field an electoral candidate against them, goes the logic.

Twenty years ago, there was a party in Scotland that many felt spoke for us. It was called the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP). Although it still exists, the SSP’s days in the sun are long gone.

The Left Lane (TLL) recently interviewed writer, academic and socialist Gregor Gall about the lessons to be learned from the history of the SSP. Gall was an active member of the SSP and, in 2012, wrote a biography of its high-profile leader Tommy Sheridan (who is pictured above when he was arrested in 2001 at a demonstration outside the UK’s Trident nuclear subs base at Faslane on the Clyde.)

Looking Ahead to 2024 Election

We are publishing this interview because we are looking ahead to the 2024 general election and to the longer term struggle for socialism. We also want to help build an alternative to Labour which has never been a socialist party.

The British left, instead of talking trash about how these “indy”/ small party candidates might win five or more seats in Parliament in the upcoming election and how they will be “pushing” Labour and the Tories “all the way”, perhaps might spend a few minutes learning a bit more about both the highs and lows of the SSP. In 2024, who wants or needs another rout of the left?

- Alan Story

1) The Left Lane (TLL) Let’s start on a positive note Gregor. When you were recently chatting to the Learning Our History (LOH) group about the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP), you said that “despite the problems it faced 20 years ago, the SSP was a very advanced political formation and, to my mind, the most successful left wing / socialist party in Britain in the post war (post World War 2) period … I would go back to that in a heartbeat.” Tell us more good news about the SSP.

Gregor Gall (GG) The SSP in May 2003 not only had 6 Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) elected as a result of gaining 130,000 votes but also had around 3,000 members – that is the equivalent of 30,000 in England. It began to make a considerable impact and was able to start to marry work in the Parliament with extra-parliamentary campaigning on issues such as free school meals, abolishing the council tax, and free prescriptions. In Scotland, because of the SSP, socialism was no longer such a dirty or despised term amongst many working-class and middle-class people.

Timeline and Key Actors in SSP / Sheridan Story

Feb 1996 - Scottish Socialist Alliance (SSA) unites several groups, the largest of which is Scottish Militant Labour (SML)
Sep 1998 - SSA decides to launch the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP)
Feb 1999 - SSP is launched
May 1999 – SSP convenor Tommy Sheridan is elected to Scottish Parliament
2001 - SML dissolves and reconstitutes as International Socialist Movement (ISM)
May 2003 - Six SSP members elected to Scottish Parliament
Oct 2004 - News of the World publishes story about un-named swinging MSP
Nov 2004 - Sheridan asked to step down as convenor of SSP
Aug 2006 - Sheridan wins defamation case against News of the World
Sep 2006 - Sheridan splits from the SSP and launches Solidarity
May 2007 - No socialist candidates elected to Scottish Parliament
Dec. 2010 - Sheridan convicted of perjury and later begins prison sentence.

2) TLL: How a party gets launched is often very important in creating its longer-term trajectory and whether it makes any impact on the wider political culture. When and how was the SSP launched? What was the impact of this set of circumstances on the type of party the SSP became at its peak, including its class basis?

GG: The SSP was launched on 21 February 1999 following a decision by its predecessor, the Scottish Socialist Alliance (SSA), to do so in September 1998. The rationale for doing so was becoming clear. Independent socialists could be elected to the returning Scottish Parliament of 6 May 1999 because proportional representation voting was being used for the 56 regional (list) seats.

But behind this lay another series of factors such as the implantation of Scottish Militant Labour (SML) into working-class communities as a result of leading and organising the anti-poll tax campaign, SML’s willingness to work with others on the left, and its electoral success at the council level in Glasgow. The wider context was that a radical left electoral challenge to Labour and the SNP started to be a credible one with ‘New Labour’ no longer even being social democratic and the SNP being cautious about devolution.

The class composition of the SSP membership was a mixture of working-class and middle-class people, varying from cleaners, carers and caterers to lecturers and teachers. But more importantly, there was a mix of ‘old hands’ and ‘newcomers’ so that it was not just a case of bringing together existing activists.

The credibility of the SSP brought in hundreds of new members and re-activated many who had previously been in Labour and the SNP, but had left those parties disillusioned with their right-ward shifts.

Splitting the British Working Class?

3) TLL: Some on the left in England argue that to create a separate socialist party in Scotland “splits the working class” to use an oft-repeated phrase. What do you think of this view? Did the leaders of what was to become the SSP start out with the intention of becoming a Scottish party?

GG: The SSP may never have been established but for the actions of Arthur Scargill as leader of the newly formed Socialist Labour Party (SLP) in 1996. Those that were about to form the SSA met with Scargill to say they would be keen to join the SLP en masse. But a necessary condition would be autonomy for the Scottish section of the SLP. Why? Because of the increasing importance of the ‘national question’ in Scotland in the 1980s as a result of the ravages of Thatcherism.

Scargill refused. The route to creating the SSA and then SSP was sealed.

The accusation of ‘splitting’ the working-class can only be materially meaningful if the working-class is fighting back and division would lead to its defeat. This was not the case after the miners’ strike of 1984-1985. In this situation, a breakthrough for independent socialists in Scotland in the SSP could help provide a living, successful example for those in England and Wales of how socialists can start to win mass support for socialist ideas.

The six SSP Members of the Scottish Parliament larking about in 2003 after they were elected.

4) TLL: At least in one view, the zenith of the SSP’s history occurred in 2003 when it elected six members to the Scottish Parliament / Holyrood. How was it able to pull out this electoral feat? How important was Scotland’s proportional representation voting system in facilitating this accomplishment?

GG: But for a few thousand votes, it could have been 9 SSP MSPs; that is one for each of the eight regional lists plus another in the Glasgow list seat (where SSP leader Tommy Sheridan was re-elected and Rosie Kane was elected). The election of Sheridan in May 1999 meant he was continually used by the SSP to speak at public meetings and in the media.

He also demonstrated that he could get legislation passed by working with other left MSPs in the case of the abolition of warrant sales carried out by bailiffs. This meant that the SSP was credible enough to be able to take advantage of the revulsion against ‘new’ Labour and Blairism — especially over the coming Iraq war — as well as the SNP being in the doldrums after Alex Salmond resigned as its leader. Of course, proportional representation was critical in allowing the expression of all this.

What Types of Campaigning?

5) TLL: But I know that the SSP did more campaigning than merely electoral campaigning. Can you tell us about other types of campaigning the SSP engaged in and how it linked up with work done inside Holyrood by the six SSP MSPs?

GG: The SSP was borne out of campaigning against the poll tax, water charges, nuclear weapons, road building and the like so it was not conceived of as a parliamentary project. The strategy was that extra-parliamentary campaigning — especially using official parliamentary petitions — could be used to support bills tabled in parliament over issues such as free school meals, abolishing the council tax and free prescriptions. Out of this the SSP would be seen to be tackling issues of poverty amongst the working-class.

Some may call this reformist and/or economistic but it was a strategy of seeking reforms to build the SSP as the standard-bearer of socialism. It came out of the understanding of the SML that socialism could not just be proclaimed as the salvation without this being materially meaningful in the here and now.

6). TLL: You have written a biography of SSP leader Tommy Sheridan. What talents and abilities did he have as a socialist leader? And what were his weaknesses?

GG: The biography is called “Tommy Sheridan: From hero to zero? A political biography” (Welsh Academic Press, Cardiff, 2012). The title was chosen because Sheridan was called a ‘working-class hero’ by many for a time and then the Daily Record newspaper in 2001 called him a ‘working-class zero’ for advocating the legalisation of cannabis.

But after the revelation about his sex life and his strategy to sue the News of the World (for what were true allegations), the Daily Record label took on a new meaning. The question mark is important because at the time of its publication, a return to mass socialist politics and some form of redemption could not be ruled out. Other than for a short time around the independence referendum in 2014, that has not proved to be the case. Despite standing several times for re-election to the Scottish Parliament, Sheridan has been unsuccessful.

Sheridan: an Authentic Working Class Socialist

His talents were prodigious, namely, being an authentic working class socialist who had led a major successful mass struggle, largely as a result of his ability to connect with people on a collective and individual level. He was a superb public speaker, politically savvy, extremely hard-working, very charismatic and not aloof.

Above all else, he could make his brand of socialism seem like a new and credible ‘common sense’. When in Parliament from 1999-2003, he was able to form alliances with other left politicians to pursue certain proposals and was the first ever MSP to create a new piece of law (on abolishing warrant sales) through a private members’ bill.

Before the implosion of the SSP began on 9 November 2004 – the SSP’s ‘9/11’ – it became clear to some of the other SSP MSPs that Sheridan found it a little difficult to work cooperatively with others (though not his then close collaborators, Alan McCombes and Keith Baldassara). He often took initiatives and then sought support for them rather than vice versa. So there were some qualms about how accountable he was to the SSP. But all these issues pale into insignificance to what came later (see below).

7) TLL: Speaking of weaknesses: You are obviously very familiar with what is known as the Tommy Sheridan “sex scandal.” Can you briefly give us the high points of these events — or perhaps “low points” is more accurate — and explain what were the short- and long-term consequences of this scandal?

GG: Sheridan’s strategy — taking legal action in a civil case for defamation against the News of the World — was built around recognising that what mattered was not the truth, but what a jury could be convinced of in court. Sheridan believed he could, through his powers of oratory, persuasion and by calling his own dependable witnesses, convince a jury that the News of the World had printed lies about him. He was proven correct even if it meant asking his witnesses to lie in court. The newspaper stories about Sheridan were that he had had extra-marital sex and had conducted affairs with various women.

A Ticking Time Bomb

Many in the SSP took the position that they would not lie in court for Sheridan — not because of a moral judgement that lying is wrong per se — but because it was a ticking time bomb that could go off at any time should he win (which many did not think he would).

In other words, subsequent evidence and court action would prove Sheridan and others lied and this would bring down Sheridan and the SSP. Those that lied in court did so because they wanted to save the ‘goose that laid the golden eggs’ so-to-speak. Tommy appealed to their class, anti-Murdoch sentiments to help convince them to do so.

As a result of winning his defamation action in the summer of 2006, he vowed to ‘destroy the scabs who tried to ruin me’ — those were the witnesses who testified against Sheridan — when called to do so by the News of the World. Ultimately as Sheridan could not win the majority of the SSP to his side, he left the SSP and set up a new political party called Solidarity, supported by the Socialist Party Scotland (SPS) and SWP. Both the SPS and SWP acted en masse in deciding that they had passed ‘the test of [class] war’ by backing Sheridan against the class enemy, namely, Murdoch and News International. It is an example of how, in the heat of battle, seemingly simple principles can, in fact, be poorly prosecuted.

No SSP or Solidarity MSPs were re-elected in 2007 – a total wipe out and an undermining of all the progress made so far.

The SSP imploded – many members left and were not involved in anything, some left to join Labour, the SNP or Greens. Solidarity never took off, with the SPS and SWP leaving it less than 10 years later. Neither had done much to build Solidarity because both had been more interested in operating within Solidarity to push their own particular politics. Solidarity became moribund and was ultimately wound up, with the remaining activists joining Alex Salmond’s new party Alba. The SSP still exists and campaigns but it is a mere shadow of its former self.

Tommy Sheridan, accompanied by his wife Gail, as he leaves prison in 2011 after serving just over a year for a perjury conviction.

Sheridan Convicted of Perjury

In late 2010, Sheridan was convicted of lying in court four years earlier in the 2006 News of the World defamation case. Later, the rise of the radical case for independence in the run-up to the independence referendum in 2014 did not provide a boon to the SSP or Solidarity. Indeed, over a hundred thousand people joined the pro-independence parties — the SNP, Greens, SSP and Solidarity — after the referendum was defeated. But they did not stay or become active, that being something of a knee-jerk reaction to the defeat.

Sheridan’s Record in Scottish Parliament Elections

The Dangers of Leaderism

8) TLL: Did the SSP suffer from what might be called “leaderism”, that is, an over-reliance on and deference to a single leader? (It is a sometime a serious cancer in left parties such as the Workers Party of Britain where George Galloway acts as the great — and unchallengeable — helmsman.) More generally, how would you assess the level of democracy in the SSP? Did SSP members feel it was “our party”?

GG: In terms of Sheridan, yes and not just in retrospect of the 2006 court case and the subsequent split. There was an unease at the extent to which Sheridan was used to promote the SSP and the role of the media in this with its focus upon Sheridan. Often the attention was more on Sheridan, SSP leader, and his personal life like getting married rather than on the politics of the SSP.

But — in an age before the internet and social media really took off — most saw it as necessary and effective even if they had some worries about its optics. It was hoped by many that the election of other MSPs would balance out the concentration upon Sheridan.

Though there was much attention on Rosie Kane, for example, this only led to more focus upon a few leaders and she was no match for Sheridan as a political leader. It is from here that the imbalance of the SSP’s parliamentary presence and extra-parliamentary presence can be identified. This was not an issue when Sheridan was the sole SSP MSP.

But there was not time to resolve this issue before the Sheridan sex scandal exploded in November 2004. That scandal dominated the SSP’s life until the end of its parliamentary presence in May 2007.

Level of Democracy “Quite High” in SSP

The level of democracy in the SSP was quite high in both formal and real terms. Organised groupings — platforms — of different tendencies were allowed and encouraged; the domination of one organised group evaporated as the majority of the SML (the International Socialist Movement (ISM)) broke down; membership participation could be through branches, regional councils, national council and annual conference and there were self-organised groups as well.

However, as the SML influence broke down with the ISM becoming less coherent and unsure of itself, it ultimately dissolved and splintered and its influence was replaced by another. This was the overly influential SSP parliamentary party — the MSPs and their staffers — and it took on a dominant role in the SSP. This situation was not tackled because by the time it became apparent that it existed, the SSP’s ‘9/11’, the News of the World matter, had happened.

9) TLL: How do you evaluate the SSP’s programme in the 2000 to 2004 era? What were its most important elements? How did it fall on the spectrum or divide between social democracy and socialism, which I appreciate are not always distinct categories?

GG: For the first time in a long time, a socialist party was able to marry reform and revolution, and socialism and social democracy, in quite an effective and successful way, judged by membership numbers and votes polled in elections. That did not mean, however, that the tensions between reformism and revolution, and socialism and social democracy had been resolved though.

A Fear of Causing Division

There was a sense that the SSP leadership was unwilling to explicitly outline its view (or views) on that matter because it would cause division and was not the most pressing matter to hand – before ‘9/11’. It was coming to terms with the impact of having 6 MSPs, how to best use them, getting to grips with the day-to-job of being MSPs, and so on.

There were no organised groupings for social democracy within the SSP although the majority of members probably were for an ‘old Labour’ style social democracy. A minority of members – but maybe even a majority of activists - were from or had been in Trotskyist tendencies. The influential legacy of the SML meant that many activists operated with the implicit notion of a ‘transitional programme’ and method with an implicit revolutionary aim.

On the SSP’s Internal Life

10). TLL: Yes, a party’s programme is important. But activists also join political parties for a number of other reasons, such as solidarity and a better social life than is typically offered under the alienating world of modern capitalism. (Mind you, the internal life of some left parties can also be pretty alienating as well!). You were a member of the SSP for some years. What was its internal life really like?

GG: As ever in branch meetings, regional and national councils and national conferences, there was the mundane and boring business. But even within these fora and certainly outside them — like the informal drinks and socials afterwards — there was a willingness of members who were in no particular platform to genuinely discuss and debate political ideas.

Every year, the SSP organised or helped organise cultural events like the Edinburgh People’s Festival and in recognition of the importance of culture in a Gramscian way, I produced three short books - called The Revolutionary Witticisms of Colin Fox, Carolyn Leckie and Rosie Kane (2004) More Revolutionary Witticisms of Colin Fox, Carolyn Leckie and Rosie Kane (2005), Yet More Revolutionary Witticisms of Colin Fox, Carolyn Leckie and Rosie Kane (2007) — to highlight how humour — humorous quips, sayings and responses — could be used to effectively project socialist ideas. In all, a few thousands of the books were sold.

For those members who did not have a primary loyalty to a faction, especially one that also operated as a party south of the border, there was a high level of attachment to the SSP. Notwithstanding the aforementioned issues before the ‘9/11’, it was seen as their party so that a new group identity had been formed and there was pride in what had been created, namely, a new and successful socialist party.

Current SSP leader Colin Fox who was elected in 2003 for one term as a MSP.

11) TLL: It was a somewhat era different era 20 years ago, but what overall lessons, positive and negative, does the rise and then near collapse of the SSP provide in 2024 for socialists in Scotland and the rest of the UK?

GG: First, that with emerging from a mass, successful social movement and within the context of proportional representation, a credible, sizeable left-of-Labour independent socialist party, with a well-known and regarded leader, can emerge. The background was the ever-present neo-liberalism of Labour and the SNP.

Second, having individual leaders that so dominate a political party is risky to say the least. There are both the obvious upsides and downsides. The radical left has not yet worked out what the correct balance is between having a single charismatic leader that has public recognition and creates mass appeal for the ideas of the party and, on the other hand, putting too many of its eggs in one basket should such a leader become fallible. To collectively curtail the charismatic leader might stall the growth and influence of the party. But not to do so risks an implosion over some kind of infidelity.

The front page of a recent issue of the SSP's tabloid. During its "glory days" two decades ago, SSP leader Tommy Sheridan had a weekly column in the Glasgow-based daily newspaper, the Daily Record.

Critical Self-examination not on Agenda

Third, winning elected representatives such as MSPs can demobilise members. In my branch of Edinburgh North and Leith, attendance fell markedly after the May 2003 breakthrough because many felt that they had done their job of getting MSPs elected and it was now over to the MSPs to do their job. This indicates a poor level of understanding amongst such SSP members about party participation and democracy and what the most effective relationship between parliament and the party could and should be. The SSP did try to address this kind of issue when it relooked at itself after Sheridan left. But, by that time, it was on its way down and so many were unwilling to engage in such a project of critical self-examination.

Fourth, a fruitful fusion of national identity — not nationalism — and radicalism is possible. This was a way of elevating some of the more progressive values found in society in Scotland to a higher level in order to counter the more regressive ones, without going as far as to say these are ‘Scottish values’ or ‘what it means to be Scottish’ as that would facile and exclusionary. One of the ways Sheridan did this was by talking about the kind of Scotland he wanted his daughter to grow up in. While this orientation may be helpful for Wales, it is not for England because of the dominant reactionary character of what it means to be ‘English’ in terms of national identity.

The Left Lane