The Labour Party was founded in 1900 as the Labour Representation Committee. The LRC was formed by trade unions along with the Fabian Society, the Social Democratic Federation (SDF), and the older Independent Labour Party (ILP). The SDF left the party after a short time, while the ILP also withdrew some years later. Most trade unions and the Fabians remain affiliated to the party to this idea. In 1906 it took its present name, and since 1918 (when it adopted a socialist constitution) the party has allowed individual membership (rather than simply membership through affiliation). The party has moved leftwards and rightwards as different times. Essentially social democratic, but containing some leftwing socialists too, the party has been led from a near-centrist position since the Blair take