The Broad Left was a political faction within the National Union of Students of the United Kingdom (NUS) during the 1970s. It consisted of a working relationship between the Labour Party

Labour Party (UK)

The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

, the Liberal Party

Liberal Party (UK)

The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...

, Plaid Cymru, the Communist Party of Great Britain

Communist Party of Great Britain

The Communist Party of Great Britain was the largest communist party in Great Britain, although it never became a mass party like those in France and Italy. It existed from 1920 to 1991.-Formation:...

 (CPGB), and other, non-aligned, supporters in order to work as a single voting bloc against the Conservative

Conservative Party (UK)

The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

 and some Trotskyist student groups. It held the union presidency from 1973 to 1982.

The Broad Left movement should not be confused with the Student Broad Left

Student Broad Left

Student Broad Left is a factional grouping operating within the National Union of Students of the United Kingdom.The group was formed in 1997 as a split from the Campaign for Free Education and first contested NUS elections in 1998...

 movement, also an NUS faction.

Notable members

Those elected to the NUS executive on the Broad Left ticket include the following:

• David Aaronovitch
  David Aaronovitch
  David Aaronovitch is a British author, broadcaster, and journalist. He is a regular columnist for The Times, and author of Paddling to Jerusalem: An Aquatic Tour of Our Small Country and Voodoo Histories: the role of Conspiracy Theory in Modern History...
  
   (CPGB; NUS President, 1980-82)
• Charles Clarke
  Charles Clarke
  Charles Rodway Clarke is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Norwich South from 1997 until 2010, and served as Home Secretary from December 2004 until May 2006.-Early life:...
  
   (Labour; NUS President, 1975-77)
• Trevor Phillips
  Trevor Phillips
  Trevor Phillips OBE chairs the Equality and Human Rights Commission and is a former television executive and presenter...
  
   (Non-aligned Broad Left; NUS President, 1978-80)
• Sue Slipman
  Sue Slipman
  Sue Slipman OBE was President of the National Union of Students of the United Kingdom between 1977 and 1978. She later joined the National Union of Public Employees...
  
  (CPGB; NUS President, 1977-78)