The Communist League was formed by a group of members expelled in 1988 from Socialist Action

Socialist Action (UK)

Socialist Action is a small Trotskyist group in the United Kingdom. From the mid-1980s Socialist Action became an entryist organisation, attempting to take over other organisations, with members using code names and not revealing their affiliation....

. Those members had joined the American Socialist Workers Party's Pathfinder tendency

Pathfinder tendency

The Pathfinder tendency is the unofficial name of a group of historically Trotskyist organizations that are politically and organizationally allied with the Socialist Workers Party of the United States and its perspective of solidarity with the Cuban Revolution and the Cuban Communist Party.The...

. It maintains a bookshop in London, originally in The Cut

The Cut (London)

The Cut is a street in Lambeth and Southwark, London. It runs between Waterloo Road and Blackfriars Road . At the western end to the south is the well-established Old Vic Theatre and half way along on the north side is the more experimental Young Vic. Opposite the Young Vic is Short Street which...

 but now in Bethnal Green Road.

The League's members sell The Militant

The Militant

The Militant is an international Socialist newsweekly connected to the Socialist Workers Party and the Pathfinder Tendency. It is published in the United States and distributed in other countries such as Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, France, Sweden, Iceland, and New...

, the paper of the American Socialist Workers Party. The League claims many of its members work in the meat-packing industry . Two Communist League candidates stood in the 2005 general election

United Kingdom general election, 2005

The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....

; one ran against George Galloway

George Galloway

George Galloway is a British politician, author, journalist and broadcaster who was a Member of Parliament from 1987 to 2010. He was formerly an MP for the Labour Party, first for Glasgow Hillhead and later for Glasgow Kelvin, before his expulsion from the party in October 2003, the same year...

 in Bethnal Green and Bow polling 38 votes. In the London Assembly election, 2008

London Assembly election, 2008

An election to the Assembly of London took place on 1 May 2008, along with the London mayoral election, 2008. The Conservatives gained 2 seats, Labour gained one seat, the Liberal Democrats lost two seats, and United Kingdom Independence Party or One London as they became were wiped out...

, Julie Crawford stood in the City and East

City and East (London Assembly constituency)

City and East is a constituency represented in the London Assembly. Since its creation in 2000 it has been represented by Labour's John Biggs.-Boundaries:...

 constituency and polled 701 votes, 0.3% of the popular vote, coming 12th and last among the candidates.

In the 2010 General Election, the Communist League stood Caroline Bellamy in Edinburgh South West

Edinburgh South West (UK Parliament constituency)

Edinburgh South West is a Scottish constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom , first used in the 2005 general election. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....

 (48 votes) and Paul Davies in Hackney South and Shoreditch (110 votes).