Revolution and Parliament - by Will Dry

Revolution and Parliament - by Will Dry

In 1920, J. Ramsay MacDonald wrote ‘Parliament and Revolution’ to champion the parliamentary road and bury the revolutionary one. That same year, the Communist Party formed, embracing a strategy that included electoral struggle.
MacDonald’s journey saw him lead the first Labour government in 1924, only to abandon socialism by 1931 to head a Conservative-led national government. This historical pivot echoes today, with the two-party system broken and Labour having abandoned socialism.

What opportunities exist for left electoral intervention? Author Will Dry, a veteran campaigner who convenes the Communist Party’s Electoral Commission, tackles this question. He issues a provocative call for the Left to contest every seat, presenting an alternative to capitalism’s “greed, waste and misery.” He poses a stark choice: “organise for power or watch the far right and the billionaire class tighten their grip.”
This timely appeal is for revolutionaries who intend to fight, even when victory seems hopeless. ‘Revolution and Parliament’ is essential, entertaining, and thought-provoking reading.

Costs £22.5 Number of pages 157.

Contents include:
1. Against abstention: the cost of silence
2. Marx and Engels: revolutionary parliamentarism
3. Lenin and the Bolshevik method
4. CPGB practice 1920–60
5. From decline to renewal 1960–2025
6. International insights
7. Reformism: the road to nowhere
8. Electoral alliances and pacts:
when to stand together, when to stand firm
9. Seven strategies for a revolutionary electoral front
10. Confronting excuses and evasions