IN 1977 the 35th congress of the Communist Party was the subject of a fly-on-the-wall documentary produced by Granada TV. It was screened in three parts on national television the following year and revealed a party torn apart by ideological divisions about the party programme. It exposed vitriolic hostility in some quarters towards the Soviet Union as it approached the 60th anniversary of the October Revolution.

There is little chance that such disunity will be on display at the upcoming 57th congress of the Communist Party in early November 2023.  

The executive committee’s resolution “For a united front against monopoly capitalism and war” sets out the party’s position on a wide range of international questions, notably the long-running conflict in Ukraine and the emergence of the new cold war against China.