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Inner Party of IngSoc
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In the world of George Orwell's (WP) Nineteen Eighty-Four (WP), Oceania is split into three "classes": the Inner Party, the Wikipedia:Outer Party and the Proles. The Inner Party regulates IngSoc (WP) and the Thought Police, and keeps all Outer Party members under close supervision, while the proles live in relatively benign conditions.
The Inner Party represents the oligarchical political class in Oceania, and has its membership restricted to 6 million individuals (about 2% of the population). Inner Party members enjoy a quality of life that is much better than that of the Outer Party members and the Proles. For example, the Telescreens (WP) (two-way televisions used for propaganda and surveillance purposes) in their homes can be turned off, although this revelation may have been a method of deception utilised against Winston and Julia; still, it is unusual even for a member of the inner party to turn their telescreen off for more than 30 minutes. Inner Party members also have access to spacious living quarters, personal servants (who could be prisoners of war, as O'Brien has a servant who appears to Winston when he visits O'Briens apartment, of Eurasian features), convenient transportation, and relatively pleasant food and drink (in contrast to the poor-quality and improperly manufactured Victory Gin, Victory Coffee and Victory Cigarettes of the Outer Party). Inner party members also have access to wine, as well as real coffee, tea and cigarettes with good tobacco. Inner party neighbourhoods are kept clean and fancy, compared to the Outer Party neighbourhoods.
Inner Party members are always identified by their black jumpsuits. Members are selected at a young age according to a battery of tests, not family heritage; any loyalty to anything other than Wikipedia:Ingsoc and Big Brother, including the family, is strongly discouraged. Selection of members by race is purely a token gesture; although Goldstein's book states that the likes of "...Wikipedia:jews, Wikipedia:negroes and pure-blooded Indians..." are all represented in the Inner Party), and that therefore, race appears to be of no importance, the book later shows that their numbers are completely out of proportion to their numbers in the Outer Party and particularly among the Proles.
It is extremely important for the rest of the population to think that they live in good conditions compared to their relatives, and that everyone is equal. As a result, no Outer Party member or Prole may venture into the Inner Party neighbourhoods without a good pretext.
In the novel, O'Brien is the only character met who is a member of the Inner Party.
The in-universe book The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism explains the rationale behind the class divisions in Oceania: in short and in part, the preservation of the State.
