DCHP-3

ginger group

DCHP-2 (Aug 2012)

Spelling variants:
"ginger" group, Ginger Group

1n. — Politics

within a political group, a more progressive or radical wing.

Type: 5. Frequency — The term is of British origin. Following an incident in the British parliament (see the 1916 quotation), Canadian ginger groups appeared on the heels of the British ones. What appears to be Canada's first ginger group was opposed to compulsory conscription during World War I (Canadian Encyclopedia reference, from 1917 onwards), as shown in the earliest evidence (see the 1918 quotation). Since then, there have been a number of ginger groups, as shown in DCHP-1. An important ginger group in the Canadian context was the 1924 group splitting from the Progressive party over the issue of whether elected members are free to represent the voices of their constituents regardless of their party's stance (see the 1924 quotation and the Canadian Encyclopedia reference).
See also COD-2, s.v. "ginger group", which is marked "Cdn & Brit", Gage-5, s.v. "Ginger Group", which is marked "Cdn.", ITP Nelson, s.v. "Ginger Group", which is described as in the "Canadian House of Commons", and OED-3, s.v. "ginger" (C1d), W-3, s.v. "ginger group", which is marked "chiefly Brit", AHD-5, s.v. "ginger group, which is marked "Chiefly British".
In OED-3, the term is said to denote "a group, person, etc., which provides the ‘ginger’, spirit, or stimulus of a party or movement". Also see W-3 and AHD-5.

Quotations

1916
London [UK]. [...] The War Secretary [Earl Kitchener] was accompanied by several members of his staff and the political heads of the War Office. He faced some 200 members, including what are known as the "Ginger Group," composed of men who demand more vigorous prosecution of the war. The public was excluded rigorously. Indeed the whole of Westminster Palace was shut off, to avoid leakage of any secret information which might be elicited.
1918
Ottawa, April 4. -- The much advertised offensive of the Ontario "ginger group," led by Lieut.-Col. John A. Currie, failed to materialize when Parliament met this afternoon. He was to have "gone over the top" on the Quebec front, and a determined attack on the Government and the French-Canadians, with a view to more vigorous and effective enforcement of the Military Service Act in the French Provinces, was promised.
1923
Many of those who have been watching proceedings carefully wonder if Col. J. A. Currie did not grab more than his share of leadership and swing a ginger group in behind him to start on the rampage of a filibuster.
1924
[I]t is known for the past two sessions that some of the Alberta members have expressed themselves as dissatisfied with the pace set by the leaders of the Progressive party. [...] The "ginger" group will either become a fact or decide to remain where they are.
1934
[Mr. Forke] had as a following a group of men embarking on new political ground, without traditions that would make for unity and all eager for action. For example, there was the "Ginger Group," whose members voted with or without the Progressives as they saw fit.
1937
By tomorrow night [Mr. Drouin] will be listed among the so-called ginger group, now represented by three out-and-out rebels in the Union Nationale camp.
1947
These questions [...] are given added point by the activities of a ginger group in the Labor Party. This radical left-wing element [...] wants to see the socializing process speeded up.
1972
It will also suit his [Premier Bennett's] purposes if the ginger group fails in its attempt to resurrect the Anti-Government campaign.
1989
The NDP usually has had the make-the-rich-pay ginger groups, unabashedly committed to socialism.
1999
The Ginger Group was a radical organization which advocated a form of democratic socialism, and its efforts culminated in the founding, in 1932, of the Cooperative Commonwealth Foundation (CCF), precursor to the modern-day NDP.
2014
[list of candidates] Judy Rebick. She ran provincially for the party in 1987 and was involved, during that period, on the NDP's left. She's not a party member now but says that, until this year, she's always voted New Democrat. Does the Gang of 34 matter? At one level, the answer is no. Bickerton says they are not trying to form a ginger group within the NDP. He says they did not even intend their letter to become public. But at another level, their action underlines the party's great, unresolved question.

References

  • OED-3
  • AHD-5
  • W-3
  • Gage-5
  • ITP Nelson
  • COD-2
  • The Canadian Encyclopedia
    • Ginger Group
  • DCHP-1

Images

Chart 1: Internet Domain Search, 13 Aug. 2012

Chart 1: Internet Domain Search, 13 Aug. 2012