Independent Working Class Association - Revision history

imported>EmilePersaud: Past tense.

2025-12-12T00:18:09Z

Past tense.

← Previous revision		Revision as of 00:18, 12 December 2025
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	\| leader = ''None''		\| leader = ''None''
	\| foundation = 1995		\| foundation = 1995
	\| ideology = [[Workerism]]		\| dissolved = 2020
			\| ideology = [[Workerism]]<br> [[Anti-multiculturalism]]<br>[[Anti-Fascism]]
	\| split = [[Red Action]] <br> [[Anti-Fascist Action]]		\| split = [[Red Action]] <br> [[Anti-Fascist Action]]
	\| international =		\| international =
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	}}		}}

	The '''Independent Working Class Association''' (IWCA) is a minor political party in the United Kingdom that aims to promote the political and economic interests of the [[working class]], regardless of the consequences to existing political and economic structures.<ref>[https://www.iwca.info/about.htm Independent Working Class Association – national website]</ref> It has been most successful in the [[Blackbird Leys]] and [[Wood Farm, Oxfordshire\|Wood Farm]] estates of Oxford and had a councillor on [[Oxford City Council]] until 2012, but was ultimately deregistered with the [[Electoral Commission (UK)\|Electoral Commission]] in November 2020.<ref name=":0" />		The '''Independent Working Class Association''' (IWCA) was a minor political party in the United Kingdom that aims to promote the political and economic interests of the [[working class]], regardless of the consequences to existing political and economic structures.<ref>[https://www.iwca.info/about.htm Independent Working Class Association – national website]</ref> It has been most successful in the [[Blackbird Leys]] and [[Wood Farm, Oxfordshire\|Wood Farm]] estates of Oxford and had a councillor on [[Oxford City Council]] until 2012, but was ultimately deregistered with the [[Electoral Commission (UK)\|Electoral Commission]] in November 2020.<ref name=":0" />

	==Founding==		==Founding==
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	From 1998, the IWCA formed groups in [[Birmingham]], [[Oxford]], Glasgow, the London boroughs of [[London Borough of Islington\|Islington]] and [[London Borough of Hackney\|Hackney]], and a few other areas. In 2003, it launched as a national organisation.<ref>[http://www.iwca.info/news/news0003.htm IWCA National Launch] {{webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041229171149/http://www.iwca.info/news/news0003.htm \|date=29 December 2004 }}</ref>		From 1998, the IWCA formed groups in [[Birmingham]], [[Oxford]], Glasgow, the London boroughs of [[London Borough of Islington\|Islington]] and [[London Borough of Hackney\|Hackney]], and a few other areas. In 2003, it launched as a national organisation.<ref>[http://www.iwca.info/news/news0003.htm IWCA National Launch] {{webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041229171149/http://www.iwca.info/news/news0003.htm \|date=29 December 2004 }}</ref>

	The IWCA slogan is "working class rule in working class areas",<ref>{{cite web \|url=http://www.iwca.info/?p=10239 \|title=The working class as the ruling class \|last=O'Shea \|first=Gary \|date=28 October 2014 \|website=Independent Working Class Association\|access-date=2 March 2017}}</ref> and its policies are based on door-to-door surveying of people and asking them what are the problems where they live, then trying to work out ways of resolving them. In Birmingham and Oxford this meant working with local people on issues of [[anti-social behaviour]], and in Hackney around, for example, school closures.		The IWCA slogan is "working class rule in working class areas",<ref>{{cite web \|url=http://www.iwca.info/?p=10239 \|title=The working class as the ruling class \|last=O'Shea \|first=Gary \|date=28 October 2014 \|website=Independent Working Class Association \|access-date=2 March 2017 \|archive-date=4 January 2017 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170104055153/http://www.iwca.info/?p=10239 \|url-status=dead }}</ref> and its policies are based on door-to-door surveying of people and asking them what are the problems where they live, then trying to work out ways of resolving them. In Birmingham and Oxford this meant working with local people on issues of [[anti-social behaviour]], and in Hackney around, for example, school closures.

	==Electoral performance==		==Electoral performance==
	IWCA got some of the best results ever in UK politics of independent radical candidates,{{citation needed\|date=January 2016}} and several elected in Oxford. In the [[2002 Oxford City Council election]]s the IWCA achieved the election of a local [[councillor]], Stuart Craft, with more than 40% of the vote in Northfield Brook ward.<ref name="IWCA election results, May 2002">[http://www.redactionarchive.org/2012/03/news-may-2002.html IWCA election results, May 2002]</ref><ref name="slur">"[http://archive.thisisoxfordshire.co.uk/2006/1/5/90385.html Leaflet slur costs £15,000] {{webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070210232212/http://archive.thisisoxfordshire.co.uk/2006/1/5/90385.html \|date=10 February 2007 }}", thisisoxfordshire, 5 January 2006</ref> Three more candidates received over 20% of the vote in the local elections in London, in Heaton and [[Gooshays]] wards in [[London Borough of Havering\|Havering]], [[Clerkenwell]] ward in Islington and [[Haggerston]] ward in Hackney.<ref name="IWCA election results, May 2002"/><ref>{{cite news\|url=http://www.cpgb.org.uk/article.php?article_id=90510\|title=Chasing votes: two wrong approaches\|date=30 January 2003\|work=Weekly Worker\|publisher=CPGB\|access-date=28 April 2010\|url-status=dead\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608062208/http://www.cpgb.org.uk/article.php?article_id=90510\|archive-date=8 June 2011\|df=dmy-all}}</ref> They won 22% in Bunhill ward in London in a by-election in 2003.<ref name="pepper">[http://www.redpepper.org.uk/article635.html A class act in Oxford]", ''[[Red Pepper (magazine)\|Red Pepper]]''</ref><ref name="overshadows">{{cite news\|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2003/jan/24/thefarright.uk\|title=BNP victory overshadows council polls\|publisher=[[guardian.co.uk]]\|access-date=4 August 2011\|location=London\|date=24 January 2003}}</ref>		IWCA got some of the best results ever in UK politics of independent radical candidates,{{citation needed\|date=January 2016}} and several elected in Oxford. In the [[2002 Oxford City Council election]]s the IWCA achieved the election of a local [[councillor]], Stuart Craft, with more than 40% of the vote in Northfield Brook ward.<ref name="IWCA election results, May 2002">[http://www.redactionarchive.org/2012/03/news-may-2002.html IWCA election results, May 2002]</ref><ref name="slur">"[http://archive.thisisoxfordshire.co.uk/2006/1/5/90385.html Leaflet slur costs £15,000] {{webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070210232212/http://archive.thisisoxfordshire.co.uk/2006/1/5/90385.html \|date=10 February 2007 }}", thisisoxfordshire, 5 January 2006</ref> Three more candidates received over 20% of the vote in the local elections in London, in Heaton and [[Gooshays]] wards in [[London Borough of Havering\|Havering]], [[Clerkenwell]] ward in Islington and [[Haggerston]] ward in Hackney.<ref name="IWCA election results, May 2002"/><ref>{{cite news\|url=http://www.cpgb.org.uk/article.php?article_id=90510\|title=Chasing votes: two wrong approaches\|date=30 January 2003\|work=Weekly Worker\|publisher=CPGB\|access-date=28 April 2010\|url-status=dead\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608062208/http://www.cpgb.org.uk/article.php?article_id=90510\|archive-date=8 June 2011\|df=dmy-all}}</ref> They won 22% in Bunhill ward in London in a by-election in 2003.<ref name="pepper">[http://www.redpepper.org.uk/article635.html A class act in Oxford]", ''[[Red Pepper (magazine)\|Red Pepper]]''</ref><ref name="overshadows">{{cite news\|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2003/jan/24/thefarright.uk\|title=BNP victory overshadows council polls\|publisher=[[guardian.co.uk]]\|access-date=4 August 2011\|location=London\|date=24 January 2003}}</ref>

	The IWCA was able to raise the £20,000 required for participation in the [[2004 London mayoral election]] and nominated Lorna Reid,<ref>[http://www.iwca.info/news/news0022.htm In The Footsteps of Heroes] {{webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060818040745/http://www.iwca.info/news/news0022.htm \|date=18 August 2006 }}</ref> a resident and advice worker on the [[Highbury]] [[council estate]]. Her campaign focused on opposing [[anti-social behaviour]] by funding youth facilities and cleaning up estates, establish community restorative justice schemes, local drugs detox centres and progressive local taxation.<ref>[~~http~~://~~politics~~.~~guardian~~.~~co.uk~~/gla/page/0,,850659,00.html London mayoral candidates 2004], ''[[Guardian Unlimited]]''</ref> Reid came ninth with 9,542 (0.5%) of the first preference votes and 39,678 (2.1%) of the second preferences.<ref>[http://www.kingston.gov.uk/council_and_democracy/elections/results/gla_mayoral.htm GLA Mayoral Results] {{webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051101210705/http://www.kingston.gov.uk/council_and_democracy/elections/results/gla_mayoral.htm \|date=1 November 2005 }}, [[Royal Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames]]</ref>		The IWCA was able to raise the £20,000 required for participation in the [[2004 London mayoral election]] and nominated Lorna Reid,<ref>[http://www.iwca.info/news/news0022.htm In The Footsteps of Heroes] {{webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060818040745/http://www.iwca.info/news/news0022.htm \|date=18 August 2006 }}</ref> a resident and advice worker on the [[Highbury]] [[council estate]]. Her campaign focused on opposing [[anti-social behaviour]] by funding youth facilities and cleaning up estates, establish community restorative justice schemes, local drugs detox centres and progressive local taxation.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/politics/gla/page/0,,850659,00.html London mayoral candidates 2004], ''[[Guardian Unlimited]]''</ref> Reid came ninth with 9,542 (0.5%) of the first preference votes and 39,678 (2.1%) of the second preferences.<ref>[http://www.kingston.gov.uk/council_and_democracy/elections/results/gla_mayoral.htm GLA Mayoral Results] {{webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051101210705/http://www.kingston.gov.uk/council_and_democracy/elections/results/gla_mayoral.htm \|date=1 November 2005 }}, [[Royal Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames]]</ref>

	In the [[2004 United Kingdom local elections\|local elections]] that took place on the same day, the IWCA picked up two more seats on Oxford City Council.<ref>[~~http~~://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/oxfordshire/3794261.stm Labour loses Oxford City Council], ''[[BBC News]]'', 11 June 2004</ref> Maurice Leen contested the seat of [[Oxford East (UK Parliament constituency)\|Oxford East]] for the IWCA in the [[2005 United Kingdom general election\|2005 UK general election]],<ref>{{cite web\|url=http://www.iwca-oxford.org.uk/news/news0004.htm\|title=We live here too!\|date=20 January 2005\|work=Oxford Independent Working Class Association\|access-date=28 April 2010\|url-status=dead\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110612075557/http://www.iwca-oxford.org.uk/news/news0004.htm\|archive-date=12 June 2011\|df=dmy-all}}</ref> receiving 892 votes (2.1%).<ref>{{cite news\|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/constituency/1211/oxford-east\|title=Constituency profile: Oxford East\|work=The Guardian\|access-date=28 April 2010\|location=London}}</ref>		In the [[2004 United Kingdom local elections\|local elections]] that took place on the same day, the IWCA picked up two more seats on Oxford City Council.<ref>[https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/oxfordshire/3794261.stm Labour loses Oxford City Council], ''[[BBC News]]'', 11 June 2004</ref> Maurice Leen contested the seat of [[Oxford East (UK Parliament constituency)\|Oxford East]] for the IWCA in the [[2005 United Kingdom general election\|2005 UK general election]],<ref>{{cite web\|url=http://www.iwca-oxford.org.uk/news/news0004.htm\|title=We live here too!\|date=20 January 2005\|work=Oxford Independent Working Class Association\|access-date=28 April 2010\|url-status=dead\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110612075557/http://www.iwca-oxford.org.uk/news/news0004.htm\|archive-date=12 June 2011\|df=dmy-all}}</ref> receiving 892 votes (2.1%).<ref>{{cite news\|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/constituency/1211/oxford-east\|title=Constituency profile: Oxford East\|work=The Guardian\|access-date=28 April 2010\|location=London}}</ref>

	At the [[2006 United Kingdom local elections\|2006 local elections]], they stood six candidates<ref>{{cite news\|url=http://archive.oxfordmail.net/2006/4/26/94140.html\|title=Oxford City Council candidates\|date=26 April 2006\|work=Oxford Times\|access-date=28 April 2010\|url-status=dead\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100612190431/http://archive.oxfordmail.net/2006/4/26/94140.html\|archive-date=12 June 2010\|df=dmy-all}}</ref> and gained a further seat from Labour, taking their total to four.<ref>[~~http~~://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/oxfordshire/4975112.stm Labour suffers Oxfordshire losses], ''[[BBC News]]'', 5 May 2006</ref> However, they lost two of their Oxford council seats to Labour in [[2008 United Kingdom local elections\|May 2008]].<ref>{{Cite web \| url=http://www.iwca.info/?p=10108 \|title = The threat of a good example « IWCA national website}}</ref><ref>{{cite news\|url=https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/2242099.election_full_picture_in_oxford/\|title=Election: Full picture in Oxford\|last=Horne\|first=David\|date=2 May 2008\|work=Oxford Mail\|access-date=28 April 2010}}</ref> One of their councillors, Jane Lacey, stood down in 2010 to continue as a community campaigner, saying that she was disillusioned by the politics of the council.<ref>{{cite news\|url=https://www.thisisoxfordshire.co.uk/news/8120610.LOCAL_ELECTIONS__Parties_battle_to_take_control_of_city_council/\|title=LOCAL ELECTIONS: Parties battle to take control of city council\|date=26 April 2010\|work=Oxford Mail\|access-date=28 April 2010}}</ref>		At the [[2006 United Kingdom local elections\|2006 local elections]], they stood six candidates<ref>{{cite news\|url=http://archive.oxfordmail.net/2006/4/26/94140.html\|title=Oxford City Council candidates\|date=26 April 2006\|work=Oxford Times\|access-date=28 April 2010\|url-status=dead\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100612190431/http://archive.oxfordmail.net/2006/4/26/94140.html\|archive-date=12 June 2010\|df=dmy-all}}</ref> and gained a further seat from Labour, taking their total to four.<ref>[https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/oxfordshire/4975112.stm Labour suffers Oxfordshire losses], ''[[BBC News]]'', 5 May 2006</ref> However, they lost two of their Oxford council seats to Labour in [[2008 United Kingdom local elections\|May 2008]].<ref>{{Cite web \| url=http://www.iwca.info/?p=10108 \| title=The threat of a good example « IWCA national website \| access-date=14 June 2008 \| archive-date=20 June 2008 \| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080620080133/http://www.iwca.info/?p=10108 \| url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news\|url=https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/2242099.election_full_picture_in_oxford/\|title=Election: Full picture in Oxford\|last=Horne\|first=David\|date=2 May 2008\|work=Oxford Mail\|access-date=28 April 2010}}</ref> One of their councillors, Jane Lacey, stood down in 2010 to continue as a community campaigner, saying that she was disillusioned by the politics of the council.<ref>{{cite news\|url=https://www.thisisoxfordshire.co.uk/news/8120610.LOCAL_ELECTIONS__Parties_battle_to_take_control_of_city_council/\|title=LOCAL ELECTIONS: Parties battle to take control of city council\|date=26 April 2010\|work=Oxford Mail\|access-date=28 April 2010}}</ref>

	In 2008, the [[Thurrock]] branch of the IWCA contested the seat of [[Stanford-le-Hope\|Stanford]] East and Corringham Town ward and came last with 98 votes, down from last with 144 votes in 2007 and behind the [[British National Party\|BNP]]'s 344 votes.<ref>[http://www.thurrock.gov.uk/democracy/content.php?page=wrd Thurrock council election results] {{webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090220100800/http://thurrock.gov.uk/democracy/content.php?page=wrd \|date=20 February 2009 }}</ref>		In 2008, the [[Thurrock]] branch of the IWCA contested the seat of [[Stanford-le-Hope\|Stanford]] East and Corringham Town ward and came last with 98 votes, down from last with 144 votes in 2007 and behind the [[British National Party\|BNP]]'s 344 votes.<ref>[http://www.thurrock.gov.uk/democracy/content.php?page=wrd Thurrock council election results] {{webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090220100800/http://thurrock.gov.uk/democracy/content.php?page=wrd \|date=20 February 2009 }}</ref>
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	==Campaigns==		==Campaigns==
	The IWCA ~~has~~ adopted tactics of [[Community organizing\|community action]] to tackle [[anti-social behaviour]], which ~~has~~ led to it being accused of [[vigilantism]].<ref name="pepper"/> In contrast to many other left-wing groups, the IWCA actively ~~campaigns~~ on crime ~~affecting~~ working-class people and a lack of services.<ref name=law>{{cite book\|last=Watt\|first=Bob\|title=UK election law: a critical examination\|publisher=Routledge Cavendish\|year=2006\|series=Contemporary issues in public policy\|isbn=1-85941-916-X\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k9L-13geilMC&pg=PA204}}</ref> It ~~campaigns~~ on issues of local concern such as [[council housing]] stock transfers, muggings<ref>{{cite news\|url=http://archive.oxfordmail.net/2008/8/19/256693.html\|title=Our park a no-go area after muggings\|date=19 August 2008\|work=Oxford Mail\|access-date=28 April 2010}}{{dead link\|date=November 2017 \|bot=InternetArchiveBot \|fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite news\|url=http://www.schnews.org.uk/archive/news428.htm\|title=Yobsmacked\|date=24 October 2003\|work=[[SchNEWS]]\|access-date=28 April 2010\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031116014145/http://www.schnews.org.uk/archive/news428.htm\|archive-date=16 November 2003\|url-status=dead\|df=dmy-all}}</ref> and inner-city regeneration,<ref>[https://www.workersliberty.org/node/116 What should the Socialist Alliance say about crime?], [[Workers Liberty]]</ref> and against social harm due to [[drug abuse]].<ref>{{cite news\|url=http://archive.oxfordmail.net/2006/8/4/101157.html\|title=Cannabis plants no more offensive than tomato plants, says judge\|date=4 August 2006\|work=Oxford Times\|access-date=28 April 2010}}{{dead link\|date=November 2017 \|bot=InternetArchiveBot \|fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The group ~~has~~ also argued that many racial issues ~~are~~ symptoms of the wider issue of social deprivation~~, and for taking a stance~~ against what it ~~describes~~ as [[multiculturalism]] ~~in the belief~~ that it ~~encourages~~ [[Racial segregation\|segregation]].<ref name="pepper" /><ref>{{cite news\|url=http://archive.theoxfordtimes.net/2005/2/7/5488.html\|title=Labour accusations shameful and untrue (letter)\|last=Craft\|first=Stuart\|date=7 February 2005\|work=Oxford Times\|access-date=28 April 2010\|url-status=dead\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100711081450/http://archive.theoxfordtimes.net/2005/2/7/5488.html\|archive-date=11 July 2010\|df=dmy-all}}</ref>		The IWCA had adopted tactics of [[Community organizing\|community action]] to tackle [[anti-social behaviour]], which had led to it being accused of [[vigilantism]].<ref name="pepper"/> In contrast to many other left-wing groups, the IWCA actively campaigned on crime which affected working-class people and a lack of services.<ref name=law>{{cite book\|last=Watt\|first=Bob\|title=UK election law: a critical examination\|publisher=Routledge Cavendish\|year=2006\|series=Contemporary issues in public policy\|isbn=1-85941-916-X\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k9L-13geilMC&pg=PA204}}</ref> It campaigned on issues of local concern such as [[council housing]] stock transfers, muggings<ref>{{cite news\|url=http://archive.oxfordmail.net/2008/8/19/256693.html\|title=Our park a no-go area after muggings\|date=19 August 2008\|work=Oxford Mail\|access-date=28 April 2010}}{{dead link\|date=November 2017 \|bot=InternetArchiveBot \|fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite news\|url=http://www.schnews.org.uk/archive/news428.htm\|title=Yobsmacked\|date=24 October 2003\|work=[[SchNEWS]]\|access-date=28 April 2010\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031116014145/http://www.schnews.org.uk/archive/news428.htm\|archive-date=16 November 2003\|url-status=dead\|df=dmy-all}}</ref> and inner-city regeneration,<ref>[https://www.workersliberty.org/node/116 What should the Socialist Alliance say about crime?], [[Workers Liberty]]</ref> and against social harm due to [[drug abuse]].<ref>{{cite news\|url=http://archive.oxfordmail.net/2006/8/4/101157.html\|title=Cannabis plants no more offensive than tomato plants, says judge\|date=4 August 2006\|work=Oxford Times\|access-date=28 April 2010}}{{dead link\|date=November 2017 \|bot=InternetArchiveBot \|fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The group also argued that many racial issues were symptoms of the wider issue of social deprivation. It was against what it described as [[multiculturalism]], believing that it encouraged [[Racial segregation\|segregation]].<ref name="pepper" /><ref>{{cite news\|url=http://archive.theoxfordtimes.net/2005/2/7/5488.html\|title=Labour accusations shameful and untrue (letter)\|last=Craft\|first=Stuart\|date=7 February 2005\|work=Oxford Times\|access-date=28 April 2010\|url-status=dead\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100711081450/http://archive.theoxfordtimes.net/2005/2/7/5488.html\|archive-date=11 July 2010\|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

	== Cultural Impact ==		== Cultural Impact ==

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{{redirect|IWCA}}
{{EngvarB|date=May 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2017}}
{{Infobox political party
| country = the United Kingdom
| name = Independent Working Class Association
| logo = [[File:Independent Working Class Association 2.png|150px|Logo of the Independent Working Class Association]]
| colorcode = {{party color|Independent Working Class Association}}
| slogan = Working-class rule for working-class areas
| leader = ''None''
| foundation = 1995
| ideology = [[Workerism]]
| split = [[Red Action]] <br> [[Anti-Fascist Action]]
| international =
| headquarters =
| colours = Blue
| website = [http://www.iwca.info/ http://www.iwca.info/]
}}

The '''Independent Working Class Association''' (IWCA) is a minor political party in the United Kingdom that aims to promote the political and economic interests of the [[working class]], regardless of the consequences to existing political and economic structures.<ref>[https://www.iwca.info/about.htm Independent Working Class Association – national website]</ref> It has been most successful in the [[Blackbird Leys]] and [[Wood Farm, Oxfordshire|Wood Farm]] estates of Oxford and had a councillor on [[Oxford City Council]] until 2012, but was ultimately deregistered with the [[Electoral Commission (UK)|Electoral Commission]] in November 2020.<ref name=":0" />

==Founding==
The IWCA was formed in 1995 by several organisations but primarily [[Red Action]] and [[Anti-Fascist Action]].<ref>[http://www.redactionarchive.org/2012/03/declaration-of-independence.html A DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE], [[Red Action]]</ref> Initial sponsors included Communist Action Group, Colin Roach Centre, Open Polemic, Partisan, Red Action, the [[Revolutionary Communist Group (UK)|Revolutionary Communist Group]] and Socialist Parent.<ref>[https://afaarchive.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/the-icwa.pdf IWCA leaflet, 1995]</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Barberis|first=Peter|author2=John McHugh |author3=Mike Tyldesley |title=Encyclopedia of British and Irish Political Organizations: Parties, Groups and Movements of the 20th Century|publisher=Continuum International Publishing Group|year=2005 |isbn=0-8264-5814-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qps14mSlghcC&pg=PA150}}</ref> The founding groups argued that the likely election of a [[New Labour]] government would entrench the legacy of [[Thatcherism]] and further diminish the political influence of the working class.<ref>[https://libcom.org/history/1985-2001-anti-fascist-action-afa 1985–2001: Anti-Fascist Action (AFA)], libcom.org</ref> The IWCA describes its ideology as stemming from the trade union [[Collectivism and individualism|collectivism]] of the 1970s.<ref name=law/> It has received support from some anarchists,<ref>{{cite book|last=Franks|first=Benjamin|title=Rebel alliances: the means and ends of contemporary British anarchisms|publisher=AK|year=2006|isbn=1-904859-40-2}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|date=Winter 1997–1998|title=Organising for change within the Community|journal=Organise!|publisher=Anarchist Federation|volume=47|url=http://www.afed.org.uk/org/issue47/communit.html|access-date=28 April 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726054909/http://www.afed.org.uk/org/issue47/communit.html|archive-date=26 July 2011|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> but it criticises the contemporary [[History of the socialist movement in the United Kingdom|socialist movement]],<ref name=pepper/> describing it as "hopelessly middle class – and obsessed with [[Identity Politics]]".<ref>Introduction to ''Beating the Fascists'' 2010, by Sean Birchall. Freedom Publishers</ref>

{{quotebox|align=right|width=25%|quote="We don't really recognise the term left anymore, because looking around I don't see any of the people that profess to be left or socialist as actually pro-working class."|source=Stuart Craft<ref name=pepper/>}}

From 1998, the IWCA formed groups in [[Birmingham]], [[Oxford]], Glasgow, the London boroughs of [[London Borough of Islington|Islington]] and [[London Borough of Hackney|Hackney]], and a few other areas. In 2003, it launched as a national organisation.<ref>[http://www.iwca.info/news/news0003.htm IWCA National Launch] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041229171149/http://www.iwca.info/news/news0003.htm |date=29 December 2004 }}</ref>

The IWCA slogan is "working class rule in working class areas",<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iwca.info/?p=10239 |title=The working class as the ruling class |last=O'Shea |first=Gary |date=28 October 2014 |website=Independent Working Class Association|access-date=2 March 2017}}</ref> and its policies are based on door-to-door surveying of people and asking them what are the problems where they live, then trying to work out ways of resolving them. In Birmingham and Oxford this meant working with local people on issues of [[anti-social behaviour]], and in Hackney around, for example, school closures.

==Electoral performance==
IWCA got some of the best results ever in UK politics of independent radical candidates,{{citation needed|date=January 2016}} and several elected in Oxford. In the [[2002 Oxford City Council election]]s the IWCA achieved the election of a local [[councillor]], Stuart Craft, with more than 40% of the vote in Northfield Brook ward.<ref name="IWCA election results, May 2002">[http://www.redactionarchive.org/2012/03/news-may-2002.html IWCA election results, May 2002]</ref><ref name="slur">"[http://archive.thisisoxfordshire.co.uk/2006/1/5/90385.html Leaflet slur costs £15,000] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070210232212/http://archive.thisisoxfordshire.co.uk/2006/1/5/90385.html |date=10 February 2007 }}", thisisoxfordshire, 5 January 2006</ref> Three more candidates received over 20% of the vote in the local elections in London, in Heaton and [[Gooshays]] wards in [[London Borough of Havering|Havering]], [[Clerkenwell]] ward in Islington and [[Haggerston]] ward in Hackney.<ref name="IWCA election results, May 2002"/><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cpgb.org.uk/article.php?article_id=90510|title=Chasing votes: two wrong approaches|date=30 January 2003|work=Weekly Worker|publisher=CPGB|access-date=28 April 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608062208/http://www.cpgb.org.uk/article.php?article_id=90510|archive-date=8 June 2011|df=dmy-all}}</ref> They won 22% in Bunhill ward in London in a by-election in 2003.<ref name="pepper">[http://www.redpepper.org.uk/article635.html A class act in Oxford]", ''[[Red Pepper (magazine)|Red Pepper]]''</ref><ref name="overshadows">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2003/jan/24/thefarright.uk|title=BNP victory overshadows council polls|publisher=[[guardian.co.uk]]|access-date=4 August 2011|location=London|date=24 January 2003}}</ref>

The IWCA was able to raise the £20,000 required for participation in the [[2004 London mayoral election]] and nominated Lorna Reid,<ref>[http://www.iwca.info/news/news0022.htm In The Footsteps of Heroes] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060818040745/http://www.iwca.info/news/news0022.htm |date=18 August 2006 }}</ref> a resident and advice worker on the [[Highbury]] [[council estate]]. Her campaign focused on opposing [[anti-social behaviour]] by funding youth facilities and cleaning up estates, establish community restorative justice schemes, local drugs detox centres and progressive local taxation.<ref>[http://politics.guardian.co.uk/gla/page/0,,850659,00.html London mayoral candidates 2004], ''[[Guardian Unlimited]]''</ref> Reid came ninth with 9,542 (0.5%) of the first preference votes and 39,678 (2.1%) of the second preferences.<ref>[http://www.kingston.gov.uk/council_and_democracy/elections/results/gla_mayoral.htm GLA Mayoral Results] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051101210705/http://www.kingston.gov.uk/council_and_democracy/elections/results/gla_mayoral.htm |date=1 November 2005 }}, [[Royal Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames]]</ref>

In the [[2004 United Kingdom local elections|local elections]] that took place on the same day, the IWCA picked up two more seats on Oxford City Council.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/oxfordshire/3794261.stm Labour loses Oxford City Council], ''[[BBC News]]'', 11 June 2004</ref> Maurice Leen contested the seat of [[Oxford East (UK Parliament constituency)|Oxford East]] for the IWCA in the [[2005 United Kingdom general election|2005 UK general election]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iwca-oxford.org.uk/news/news0004.htm|title=We live here too!|date=20 January 2005|work=Oxford Independent Working Class Association|access-date=28 April 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110612075557/http://www.iwca-oxford.org.uk/news/news0004.htm|archive-date=12 June 2011|df=dmy-all}}</ref> receiving 892 votes (2.1%).<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/constituency/1211/oxford-east|title=Constituency profile: Oxford East|work=The Guardian|access-date=28 April 2010|location=London}}</ref>

At the [[2006 United Kingdom local elections|2006 local elections]], they stood six candidates<ref>{{cite news|url=http://archive.oxfordmail.net/2006/4/26/94140.html|title=Oxford City Council candidates|date=26 April 2006|work=Oxford Times|access-date=28 April 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100612190431/http://archive.oxfordmail.net/2006/4/26/94140.html|archive-date=12 June 2010|df=dmy-all}}</ref> and gained a further seat from Labour, taking their total to four.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/oxfordshire/4975112.stm Labour suffers Oxfordshire losses], ''[[BBC News]]'', 5 May 2006</ref> However, they lost two of their Oxford council seats to Labour in [[2008 United Kingdom local elections|May 2008]].<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.iwca.info/?p=10108 |title = The threat of a good example « IWCA national website}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/2242099.election_full_picture_in_oxford/|title=Election: Full picture in Oxford|last=Horne|first=David|date=2 May 2008|work=Oxford Mail|access-date=28 April 2010}}</ref> One of their councillors, Jane Lacey, stood down in 2010 to continue as a community campaigner, saying that she was disillusioned by the politics of the council.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thisisoxfordshire.co.uk/news/8120610.LOCAL_ELECTIONS__Parties_battle_to_take_control_of_city_council/|title=LOCAL ELECTIONS: Parties battle to take control of city council|date=26 April 2010|work=Oxford Mail|access-date=28 April 2010}}</ref>

In 2008, the [[Thurrock]] branch of the IWCA contested the seat of [[Stanford-le-Hope|Stanford]] East and Corringham Town ward and came last with 98 votes, down from last with 144 votes in 2007 and behind the [[British National Party|BNP]]'s 344 votes.<ref>[http://www.thurrock.gov.uk/democracy/content.php?page=wrd Thurrock council election results] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090220100800/http://thurrock.gov.uk/democracy/content.php?page=wrd |date=20 February 2009 }}</ref>

In March 2012 Stuart Craft, the last remaining IWCA local councillor in Oxford, announced to the ''Oxford Mail'' that he would not stand again in the May elections, after ten years as an IWCA councillor. He said, "I couldn't stand on people's doorsteps any more, telling them we were going to change things when that wasn't going to happen."<ref name="‘Class hero’ councillor to quit">{{cite news|last=Pope|first=Rhianne|title='Class hero' councillor to quit|url=https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/archive/2012/02/10/Oxford+news+%28om_oxfordnews%29/9523106.___Class_hero____councillor_to_quit/|access-date=3 March 2013|newspaper=Oxford Mail|date=10 February 2012}}</ref>

The party was deregistered with the [[Electoral Commission (UK)|Electoral Commission]] in November 2020.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://search.electoralcommission.org.uk/English/Registrations/PP204|title=View registration - the Electoral Commission}}</ref>

==History==
In summer 2004, the Hackney branch of the IWCA split away to form Hackney Independent.<ref>[https://www.workersliberty.org/node/4100 'Hackney Independent' in Hoxton by-election], [[Workers Liberty]]</ref>
<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hackneyindependent.org/films/index.php|title=Hackney Independent|access-date=28 April 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080604134911/http://www.hackneyindependent.org/films/index.php|archive-date=4 June 2008|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
In 2006, the Oxford branch of the party won a [[libel]] action against Bill Baker, Deputy Leader of [[Oxford City Council]], who had posted defamatory material alleging the IWCA had links to violent extremists and [[Irish Republicanism|Irish Republican]] groups to homes in Donnington Brook in the run-up to the [[2005 United Kingdom local elections|2005 local elections]]. The IWCA, represented in their suit by [[Carter-Ruck]], said it would use the £15,000 it collected in damages to fund their 2006 campaign.<ref name="slur" />

In 2009 the two IWCA Oxford councillors missed a meeting at which an above-inflation rise in council tax of 4.5% was decided, due to work and family commitments. A tied vote was decided by the casting vote of the Labour Lord Mayor.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/yourtown/oxford/4142979._We_put_family_and_work_ahead_of_city_budget_meeting_/|title=We put family and work ahead of city budget meeting|last=Walker|first=Chris|date=20 February 2009|work=Oxford Mail|access-date=28 April 2010}}</ref>

==Campaigns==
The IWCA has adopted tactics of [[Community organizing|community action]] to tackle [[anti-social behaviour]], which has led to it being accused of [[vigilantism]].<ref name="pepper"/> In contrast to many other left-wing groups, the IWCA actively campaigns on crime affecting working-class people and a lack of services.<ref name=law>{{cite book|last=Watt|first=Bob|title=UK election law: a critical examination|publisher=Routledge Cavendish|year=2006|series=Contemporary issues in public policy|isbn=1-85941-916-X|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k9L-13geilMC&pg=PA204}}</ref> It campaigns on issues of local concern such as [[council housing]] stock transfers, muggings<ref>{{cite news|url=http://archive.oxfordmail.net/2008/8/19/256693.html|title=Our park a no-go area after muggings|date=19 August 2008|work=Oxford Mail|access-date=28 April 2010}}{{dead link|date=November 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.schnews.org.uk/archive/news428.htm|title=Yobsmacked|date=24 October 2003|work=[[SchNEWS]]|access-date=28 April 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031116014145/http://www.schnews.org.uk/archive/news428.htm|archive-date=16 November 2003|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> and inner-city regeneration,<ref>[https://www.workersliberty.org/node/116 What should the Socialist Alliance say about crime?], [[Workers Liberty]]</ref> and against social harm due to [[drug abuse]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://archive.oxfordmail.net/2006/8/4/101157.html|title=Cannabis plants no more offensive than tomato plants, says judge|date=4 August 2006|work=Oxford Times|access-date=28 April 2010}}{{dead link|date=November 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The group has also argued that many racial issues are symptoms of the wider issue of social deprivation, and for taking a stance against what it describes as [[multiculturalism]] in the belief that it encourages [[Racial segregation|segregation]].<ref name="pepper" /><ref>{{cite news|url=http://archive.theoxfordtimes.net/2005/2/7/5488.html|title=Labour accusations shameful and untrue (letter)|last=Craft|first=Stuart|date=7 February 2005|work=Oxford Times|access-date=28 April 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100711081450/http://archive.theoxfordtimes.net/2005/2/7/5488.html|archive-date=11 July 2010|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

== Cultural Impact ==
With its notable electoral results in Oxford in the early to mid-2000s, the IWCA is briefly mentioned in [[Patrick Keiller]]'s 2010 film ''[[Robinson in Ruins]],'' which explores the social, political and natural history of Oxfordshire and its surrounds.

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20230115043614/http://www.iwca.info/ IWCA national website on 15 January 2023]
{{UK far left}}

[[Category:1995 establishments in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Political parties established in 1995]]
[[Category:Political parties in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Politics of Oxford]]
[[Category:Working class in the United Kingdom]]