Soft left

For the Australian political tendency, see Ferguson Left.

The soft left was the more centrist faction of the British Labour Party's left wing in the 1980s. They were first seen as being distinct when left wingers such as Neil Kinnock abstained from voting for Tony Benn in the election for the deputy leadership of the Labour Party in 1981. The term came to be used in contrast to hard left.

The parliamentary group associated with the soft left was the Tribune Group and the major factional organisation became the Labour Co-ordinating Committee. The Labour Co-ordinating Committee broke from the hard left Rank and File Mobilising Committee to align with the labour right in 1983.

Figures identified with the soft left included David Blunkett, Robin Cook, Bryan Gould, and Clare Short. Decades later, Neal Lawson, chair of the think tank Compass, identified the organisation as a successor to the soft left. The phrase was also used to describe the views of former leader Ed Miliband and those politically close to him.

Further reading

• What is the Democratic Left?
• John Carvel and Patrick Wintour. Kinnock wins accord on defence switch Guardian May 10, 1989
• Field Guide to the American Left

See also

• Militant tendency
• Tribune (magazine)
• Democratic socialism
• Anti-Stalinist left
• Social Democratic Party (UK)
• Centre-left