Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament

• 1. Founding And First Wave

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  In November 1957, J. B. Priestley wrote an article for the New Statesman magazine titled Britain and the Nuclear Bombs. The piece argued that Britain should announce it had done with nuclear warfare and reject all circumstances of its use. This text prompted many letters of support and led to a meeting in Amen Court chaired by Kingsley Martin. The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament was launched at a public gathering on the 17th of February 1958 at Central Hall, Westminster. Five thousand people attended this first event, and a few hundred demonstrated outside Downing Street afterward.

  The movement quickly gained traction among scientists, religious leaders, academics, writers, actors, and musicians. Sponsors included figures like Benjamin Britten, Michael de la Bédoyère, and E. M. Forster. By Easter 1958, CND supported a march from London to the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment at Aldermaston. This route covered 52 miles and became the main focus for supporters' activity. Sixty thousand people participated in the 1959 march, while 150,000 joined the 1961 and 1962 marches.

  A symbol designed by Gerald Holtom in 1958 became the international peace icon. It combined semaphore signals for N and D within a circle. Holtom later described the figure as representing an individual in despair with hands outstretched. The Aldermaston march and the slogan Ban the Bomb became icons of 1960s youth culture. Public support fluctuated after the Cuban Missile Crisis in autumn 1962, but demonstrations continued into the early 1970s.

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• 2. Second Wave Revival

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  NATO's decision to introduce cruise and Pershing II missiles into five European countries including the UK sparked a major revival in the 1980s. The new movement began with the launch of European Nuclear Disarmament in 1980 and local anti-missile groups. Membership soared during this period, reaching 90,000 national members and another 250,000 in local branches by the early 1980s. This made CND one of the largest political organisations in Britain and likely the largest peace movement outside communist bloc states.

  Public support for unilateralism reached its highest level since the 1960s before declining slightly. In October 1981, 250,000 people joined an anti-nuclear demonstration in London. A CND demonstration on the eve of Cruise missile deployment in October 1983 drew 300,000 participants in London while three million protested across Europe. Glastonbury Festival played a key cultural role during these years, raising around £1m for CND over the decade.

  New sections formed including Ex-services CND, Green CND, Student CND, Tories Against Cruise and Trident, Trade Union CND, and Youth CND. More women than men supported the campaign. The movement attracted supporters who opposed civil defence plans outlined in Protect and Survive. E. P. Thompson published a popular pamphlet called Protest and Survide to ridicule those government guidelines. A network calling itself Cruise Watch tracked missiles whenever they traveled public roads.

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• 3. Surveillance And Controversy

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  The British security service MI5 carried out surveillance of CND members considered subversive from the late 1960s until the mid-1970s. During this period, MI5 designated CND as communist-controlled due to its being communist-penetrated. John Cox served as chairman from 1971 to 1977 and was a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain. In 1985, Cathy Massiter, an MI5 officer responsible for surveillance from 1981 to 1983, resigned and disclosed details on Channel 4's 20/20 Vision programme.

  Massiter stated her work was determined more by political importance than any actual security threat posed by subversive elements. MI5 placed a spy named Harry Newton inside the CND office between 1981 and 1983. Special Branch officers recruited an informant within CND named Stanley Bonnett on instructions from MI5. The service also suspected CND treasurer Cathy Ashton of being a communist sympathiser because she shared a house with a communist.

  In 1990, archives of the Stasi revealed that Vic Allen, a member of CND's governing council, had passed information to them about the organisation. This discovery appeared in a BBC TV programme in 1999 and revived debate about Soviet links to CND. Allen stood against Joan Ruddock for leadership in 1985 but lost the election. Ruddock responded that Allen certainly had no influence on national CND.

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• 4. Political Influence And Policy

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  CND has never formally allied itself to any political party yet members have stood for election on nuclear disarmament tickets. The Independent Nuclear Disarmament Election Campaign stood candidates in local elections during the 1960s without national endorsement. Between 1960 and 1961, unilateral nuclear disarmament became official Labour Party policy despite leader Hugh Gaitskell opposing it. He promised to fight the decision repeatedly before succeeding in reversing it quickly.

  Michael Foot became Labour Party leader in 1980 and succeeded in changing official policy to align with his views by 1982. Neil Kinnock persuaded the party to abandon unilateralism in 1989 after losing the 1983 and 1987 general elections. Jeremy Corbyn was elected leader of the Labour Party in 2015 as another long-time CND supporter though official policy did not change to match his views.

  The Labour Party voted at its 1960 Conference for unilateral nuclear disarmament representing CND's greatest influence. This coincided with the highest level of public support for its programme. However, Labour lost the 1959 election and rejection of unilateralism in 1961 upset CND plans. From that date prospects began fading as critics said demonstrations had become ends in themselves.

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• 5. Membership Demographics And Trends

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  Until 1967 supporters joined local branches without national membership figures available. An academic study provides specific numbers from 1967 onwards showing steady growth until the early 1980s. Membership reached 460,000 under Joan Ruddock's chairmanship from 1981 to 1985 according to CND claims. The BBC reported 110,000 members in 1985 and 32,000 in 2006.

  Public opinion polls show fluctuating support over decades. Between 1955 and 1962 between 19% and 33% of people expressed disapproval of nuclear weapon manufacture. Public support for unilateralism stood at 31% in September 1982 before falling to 21% in January 1983. A MORI poll conducted in 2005 found 44% supported replacing Trident while 46% opposed it when cost was not mentioned.

  Support fell after the Cold War ended with British nuclear weapons retaining majority backing even after Soviet Union collapse. Unilateral disarmament has always been opposed by a majority of the British public with support remaining steady at around one in four of the population. CND experienced rapid membership increases again after Jeremy Corbyn became Labour Party leader in 2015.

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