[1][2] The term is also a noun and modifier taken to mean the far-left[1] and the left-wing political movements and ideas outside the mainstream centre-left.
The hard left was historically focused on the trade union movement and international issues, and organised around figures like Frank Walker, Arthur Gietzelt, and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
[7] The soft left presented a "more pragmatic" vision of the left and used rank-and-file members to gain power through branch stacking, and organised around politicians Peter Baldwin and Jack Ferguson.
[10][11] Politicians commonly described as being on the hard left of the Labour Party at the time included Tony Benn, Derek Hatton, Ken Livingstone,[12] Dennis Skinner,[13] and Eric Heffer.
[14] The term has since then often been used pejoratively by Labour's political opponents, for example, during the Conservative Party's election campaigns of the early 1990s, and by the media.