The group's original leaders were Old Bolsheviks Valerian Obolensky-Ossinsky, Vladimir Smirnov, Timofei Sapronov, V. N. Maximovsky, M. S. Boguslavsky, A. Z. Kamensky, Isaak Dashkovsky and Raphail Farbman. Their influence within the Party, always limited, peaked at the 9th Party Congress in March–April 1920 when they were given partial support on some issues by senior Communists like Mikhail Tomsky and Konstantin Yurenev. Nonetheless, their proposals were voted down. They were active during the intra-Party "trade union discussion" in late 1920-early 1921 when the Party split into numerous factions, but didn't gather much support and the faction became moribund after the 10th Party Congress in March 1921.