The Socialist Union was a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 political party

Political party

A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...

 active from February 1886 to 1888.

The group was formed by socialists around C. L. Fitzgerald who left the Social Democratic Federation

Social Democratic Federation

The Social Democratic Federation was established as Britain's first organised socialist political party by H. M. Hyndman, and had its first meeting on June 7, 1881. Those joining the SDF included William Morris, George Lansbury and Eleanor Marx. However, Friedrich Engels, Karl Marx's long-term...

 (SDF) in protest at SDF leader H. M. Hyndman's acceptance of money which Maltman Barry

Maltman Barry

Michael Maltman Barry , often known as Maltman Barry, was a Scottish political activist who described himself as a Marxist but stood in elections for the Conservative Party....

 had obtained from the Conservative Party

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...

, in order to campaign against 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...

. The group published a newspaper, The Socialist. It succeeded in gaining the support of the Bristol Socialist Society

Bristol Socialist Society

The Bristol Socialist Society was a political organisation in South West England.The group originated in 1885 as a local affiliate of the Social Democratic Federation. However, in 1886, it instead affiliated to the Socialist Union...

, but elsewhere, membership was small.

The group disbanded in 1887. James MacDonald

James MacDonald (trade unionist)

-Life:Born in Edinburgh, MacDonald trained as a tailor and moved to London in 1881. He joined the Central Marylebone Democratic Association and the Manhood Suffrage League, but it was reading Friedrich Engels' articles in the Labour Standard that convinced him of socialism. As a result, he joined...

, a prominent leader, rejoined the SDF, after Hyndman promised never again to accept money from bourgeois politicians. Other notable members of the group included future Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald

Ramsay MacDonald

James Ramsay MacDonald, PC, FRS was a British politician who was the first ever Labour Prime Minister, leading a minority government for two terms....

.