The reason Gordon McLennan remained GS for such a long time is quite simple, he remained the unity candidate and came from and epitomized the centre-right grouping in the CPGB which was the largest single grouping (not a faction as such) and probably represented the political centre of gravity in the CPGB over that period.

If he was to be replaced, who would have been credible alternatives? I can’t really think of any from that broad amorphous centre right grouping on the EC and in the wider party.

Re-reading his speeches and contributions quite recently I am struck by how energetic they are, how deep and challenging some of the analyses were (I don’t know whether he produced his own or were written from him).

The CPGB in that period would hardly have accepted an out-and-out Euro as GS and I am sure the Euro faction would not have been able to agree who should go forward. It would have been impossible for any one of them to lead the CPGB due to their relatively small base in the Party and they would in effect be trying to lead it from the hard right, and against the broad instincts of the amorphous majority.

The centre left around Chater and Costello were put out of the running for the leadership after their defeats at the 1983 Congress and subsequently the 1985, and of course a number of them were expelled and removed in this period anyway.

Equally, the left/Marxist Leninist trends in the CPGB were even smaller than the Euro factions and also could not have led the CPGB from the hard left without major disruption and dissatisfaction from the great majority of the membership who were to the right of them.

I think overall McLennan was a good GS who worked very hard to try and ensure the CPGB remained relevant and broadly united on the basis of a broad interpretation of the BRS. Unfortunately, the corrosion which had been infecting and eating away at the CPGB membership for decades had gone very deep and it was unable to react or respond effectively to the sharply changing situations and challenges domestically and internationally, especially over the 1980s.

Despite some best efforts, it was left floundering, well behind all sorts of curves, and demoralized members drifted away in the thousands.

I was very struck by documents from both the 1983 and 1985 Congresses which highlighted the dire level of Marxist study and education in the Party and demanding this be rectified. This is surely part of the explanation for the decline.

If party members are not thoroughly equipped with the Marxist approach in analyzing and understanding the world around them and linking this with strategy, tactics, actions and interventions, not surprising they felt adrift, fairly useless and wasting their time in a so-called Communist Party which did not take Marxism very seriously,