For a while, the party was known as "Militant Labour". In 1997, the group changed its name to the Socialist Party, but the ownership of this name has been contested by the much older Socialist Party of Great Britain. As a result, the new party is frequently known as "The Socialist Party of England and Wales". In elections, it has had to use the name "Socialist Alternative". They were one of the founders of the local Socialist Alliance groups, but they left in 2001.