Respect Renewal was a faction that existed during the 2007-8 split within Respect – The Unity Coalition a UK political party.

Respect Renewal was led by Linda Smith, the National Chair, Leader and Nominating Officer of Respect, and was formed in November 2007. Its supporters included 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...

 MP, Ken Loach

Ken Loach

Kenneth "Ken" Loach is a Palme D'Or winning English film and television director.He is known for his naturalistic, social realist directing style and for his socialist beliefs, which are evident in his film treatment of social issues such as homelessness , labour rights and child abuse at the...

, Victoria Brittain, Salma Yaqoob

Salma Yaqoob

Salma Yaqoob is the leader, and former vice-chair, of the Respect Party and a former Birmingham City Councillor. She is also the head of the Birmingham Stop the War Coalition and a spokesperson for Birmingham Central Mosque....

 and Nick Wrack.

History

In September 2007, Galloway wrote a letter to Respect's national council members saying that the party was "too disorganised" and "faced oblivion" unless it reformed its internal party management. This was the beginning of a dispute within Respect between Galloway and his supporters and the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) on the other side.

On 3 November 2007, Galloway's side announced plans to hold the Respect Renewal conference on 17 November, the same day as the planned national conference of Respect. The Respect Renewal conference was an open event and organisers claim 350 people attended, comparable with the Respect national conference, although the figure has been disputed. This split continued with both Respect Renewal and the SWP-led faction claiming to be the real Respect. Respect Renewal, through Linda Smith, had control over the use of the Respect name in elections, while the SWP-led faction used the electoral label Left List

Left List

Left Alternative was a UK political party resulting from the split within Respect – The Unity Coalition in late 2007. It operated in England and Wales. It was backed by the Socialist Workers Party...

, but did control the original Respect website's URL. Both the Respect Renewal faction, as 'Respect (George Galloway)', and Left List stood in the 2008 London Assembly elections

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...

. Neither party won a seat or did as well as Respect did in the 2004 elections

London Assembly election, 2004

An election to the Assembly of London took place on 10 June 2004, along with the London mayoral election, 2004.The Assembly is elected by the Additional Member System. There are fourteen directly elected constituencies, nine of which were won by the Conservatives and five by the Labour Party...

, but 'Respect (George Galloway)' outpolled Left List.

The split was finally resolved in October 2008, when the Left List ended its claim on the Respect name.

Criticisms of Respect Renewal

The SWP has attributed the split within Respect to a shift to the right by George Galloway and his allies, motivated by electoralism (placing election-winning above other principles). This, say the SWP leadership, led to attacks on the SWP as the most prominent left group in Respect. This interpretation of events is countered by Respect Renewal, which criticises the SWP for opportunism and lack of democracy.

External links

• Respect website, controlled by the opposing Left List
  Left List
  Left Alternative was a UK political party resulting from the split within Respect – The Unity Coalition in late 2007. It operated in England and Wales. It was backed by the Socialist Workers Party...
  
  faction of Respect