The party was initiated by the leftist front Hashd and the Revolutionary Socialists (RS) in response to the country's growing strike movement which preceded the revolution.

WDP spokesperson Kamal Khalil says "Most leftist attempts to form a party include intellectuals as major players and a number of workers as members...

[10] The party's most important principles are "the respect of all Egyptians' religious beliefs and bringing an end to discrimination on the basis of religion, color or sex.

[12] The WDP stands for abolishing privatization and monopoly policies, and redirecting development plans to benefit "underserved social classes".

The WDP sees this as the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces way of discriminating against the poor and labour movement: "This shows that the old mentality is still there and that the government is siding with businessmen rather than workers."