Left Party (Estmere)
Left Party Lincpartẹ Parti de la gauche | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Chairperson | Ted Barnes |
| General Secretary | Devonne Ali |
| Chief Whip | Andrew Cooper |
| Founded | May 1, 2006 |
| Merger of | ESWI SWP |
| Headquarters | Barton House, 33 Minnow Avenue, Morwall |
| Newspaper | The Red Pages |
| Student wing | Left Students |
| Youth wing | Ed Barton Youth |
| Labour wing | FITU |
| Membership (2020) |  97,000 |
| Ideology | Socialism Left-wing populism Euclosceptism Council socialism |
| Political position | Left-wing to far-left |
| International affiliation | Workers' International |
| Euclean Parliament group | GRM |
| Colours | Red |
| Chamber of Commons | 21 / 600
|
| Chamber of Peers | 4 / 300
|
| State legislatures | 89 / 1,500
|
| First Ministers | 0 / 13
|
| Euclean Parliament | 5 / 114
|
| Website | |
| left | |
The Left Party (Swathish: Lincpartẹ, Flurian: Parti de la gauche), sometimes referred to simply as The Left (Swathish: Þe Linc, Flurian: La gauche), is a left-wing to far-left political party in Estmere. Since the 2021 general election, the party has supported the minority government of Zoe Halivar as a confidence and supply partner.
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The party was founded in in 1919 as a part of a split from the old Section, which the splitters viewed as too reformist. The council socialist wing of the old section left under Ed Barton in response to disagreements in regards to the Kirenian Revolution and the party's response to the Great Collapse. Barton believed that the revolution needed support and that the collapse was an opportunity for a revolutionary general strike in Estmere.
The party was influenced by OSAI and SGIO, and the party platform advocated for council socialism and was explicitly anti-capitalist. The party was largely sidelined in parliamentary politics as it was seen as too radical to support any government formation. The party advocated for absolute resistance to the Gaullicans during the Great War, and helped organise the Estmerish resistance. After the Great War it therefore expereinced a revival, but its connection to the Estmerish mutiny soured its appeal among voters. Throughout the post-war period, the party continually stood on a council socialist platform, and while it helped to prop up the government of Vincent Holmes, it largely stayed on the sidelines of parliamentary politics.
In reaction to the potential adoption of the Euclo in Estmere, ESWI adopted a Euclosceptic stance which lead to a revival of the party's fortunes in the 1990s. Despite the country adopting the currency nonetheless, the party emerged as one of the leading Euclosceptic parties alongside Estmere First, and secured a number of defections from the more Euclophilic SDCP. Despite this, the party was eclipsed by the Greens as the main party of the Estmerish left-wing. It saw a rise in its seat share in the 2021 election, and subsequently supported the minority government of Zoe Halivar.
ESWI is considered one of the smaller parties in Estmere, and until recently was the largest party of the radical left, though it has not provided any post-war Prime Ministers. The party has a council socialist, anti-capitalist and soft Euclosceptic platform. Since 2019, the party has been led by Ted Barnes, a former union boss. The party supports two sister parties, BKMI and SRFSWI, in Estmere's overseas territories.