Policymaking and Revolutionary Politics, 1924-1991 - Key Data

The Political Committee of the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was a subsidiary of the Executive Committee. It was responsible for determining the party’s policy positions. Due to the CPGB being unable to maintain a full time Executive Committee, the Political Committee emerged as the de facto leadership body of the party. This collection contains materials from the Political Bureau during the CPGB’s early years of great optimism and hope, to the Political Committee that helped toe-the-line for the Soviet Union during the Cold War and eventually collapsed with it. 

The documents offer a vast and fascinating perspective on the stances that the CPGB took towards ongoing issues in British and international politics. As such, the documents detail political debates including treatment of the Windrush generation of immigrants, Britain’s controversial entry into the European Community, and Soviet intervention in the Eastern bloc. 

The collection is accompanied by three contextual essays written by Professor Kevin Morgan.