Red Clydeside: A history of the labour movement in Glasgow 1910-1932

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Manifesto of Scottish Workers Republican Party, 1925

Manifesto of the Scottish Workers Republican Party issued by the Executive Committee of the SWRP in 1925. The SWRP was founded by John Maclean in 1923 and advocated an independent Scotland in the form of a communist republic.

Maclean's call for a Communist Republic of Scotland was based on the belief that traditional Scottish society was structured along the lines of "Celtic communism". He argued that "the communism of the clans must be re-established on a modern basis" and raised the slogan "back to communism and forward to communism".

Although standing in several Glasgow municipal by-elections in 1923, the party was weak in Glasgow and effectively non-existent outside of the city. Maclean's advocacy of an independent Scotland in the form of a communist republic found little support amongst the working classes in Glasgow.

Source: Gallacher Memorial Library, Glasgow Caledonian University Special Collections and Archives