Co-operation is, and has always been, political. Via the shopping basket or the ballot, the savings account or on the street, co-operators have always shaped and challenged the world in which we live. But there's so much still to do.
The Co-operative Party
For 99 years of our movement’s history, the Co-operative Party has been one of the ways in which co-operatives have sought to influence the World we live in, a source of strength and practical support for retail co-operatives and the wider co-operative movement.
Since helping to found the Party in 1917, the Co-operative Group and its partnership with the Party have been at the heart of those successes. Together, we’ve stood up for our movement, and pursued the Pioneers’ vision of co-operative principles beyond the shopfront and into wider society.
Whether in government or opposition, working alongside 26 different Labour leaders and under 20 Prime Ministers, the Co-operative Party has been a voice for co-operation in the places where the decisions that shape our movement are taken, and laws are made.
Learn more about the Party and what we've achievedCo-operation is a theory of society and, therefore, a legitimate basis for a political party. If there is still any doubt as to the need for political action, this conference will settle that doubt. We have things to safeguard, things to stand for, things to achieve.