import unittest

class BaseTest(unittest.TestCase):

    def testCommon(self):
        print 'Calling BaseTest:testCommon'
        value = 5
        self.assertEquals(value, 5)

class SubTest1(BaseTest):

    def testSub1(self):
        print 'Calling SubTest1:testSub1'
        sub = 3
        self.assertEquals(sub, 3)


class SubTest2(BaseTest):

    def testSub2(self):
        print 'Calling SubTest2:testSub2'
        sub = 4
        self.assertEquals(sub, 4)

if __name__ == '__main__':
    unittest.main()

Calling BaseTest:testCommon
.Calling BaseTest:testCommon
.Calling SubTest1:testSub1
.Calling BaseTest:testCommon
.Calling SubTest2:testSub2
.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ran 5 tests in 0.000s

OK

import unittest

class CommonTests(object):
    def testCommon(self):
        print 'Calling BaseTest:testCommon'
        value = 5
        self.assertEquals(value, 5)

class SubTest1(unittest.TestCase, CommonTests):

    def testSub1(self):
        print 'Calling SubTest1:testSub1'
        sub = 3
        self.assertEquals(sub, 3)


class SubTest2(unittest.TestCase, CommonTests):

    def testSub2(self):
        print 'Calling SubTest2:testSub2'
        sub = 4
        self.assertEquals(sub, 4)

if __name__ == '__main__':
    unittest.main()

import unittest

class CommonTests(unittest.TestCase):
      def common_assertion(self, foo, bar, baz):
          # whatever common code
          self.assertEqual(foo(bar), baz)

class BaseTest(CommonTests):

    def testCommon(self):
        print 'Calling BaseTest:testCommon'
        value = 5
        self.assertEquals(value, 5)

class SubTest1(CommonTests):

    def testSub1(self):
        print 'Calling SubTest1:testSub1'
        sub = 3
        self.assertEquals(sub, 3)

class SubTest2(CommonTests):

    def testSub2(self):
        print 'Calling SubTest2:testSub2'
        sub = 4
        self.assertEquals(sub, 4)

if __name__ == '__main__':
    unittest.main()

class BaseTest(unittest.TestCase):

    @classmethod
    def setUpClass(cls):
        if cls is BaseTest:
            raise unittest.SkipTest("Skip BaseTest tests, it's a base class")
        super(BaseTest, cls).setUpClass()

def skipBaseTest(obj):
    if type(obj) is BaseTest:
        return unittest.skip("BaseTest tests skipped")
    return lambda func: func

del(BaseTest)

import unittest

class BaseTest(unittest.TestCase):

    def testCommon(self):
        print 'Calling BaseTest:testCommon'
        value = 5
        self.assertEquals(value, 5)

class SubTest1(BaseTest):

    def testSub1(self):
        print 'Calling SubTest1:testSub1'
        sub = 3
        self.assertEquals(sub, 3)


class SubTest2(BaseTest):

    def testSub2(self):
        print 'Calling SubTest2:testSub2'
        sub = 4
        self.assertEquals(sub, 4)

del(BaseTest)

if __name__ == '__main__':
    unittest.main()

class BaseTest(unittest.TestCase):
    @classmethod
    def setUpClass(cls):
        cls._test_methods = []
        if cls is BaseTest:
            for name in dir(cls):
                if name.startswith('test') and callable(getattr(cls, name)):
                    cls._test_methods.append((name, getattr(cls, name)))
                    setattr(cls, name, lambda self: None)

    @classmethod
    def tearDownClass(cls):
        if cls is BaseTest:
            for name, method in cls._test_methods:
                setattr(cls, name, method)
            cls._test_methods = []

class BaseTest(unittest.TestCase):
    def setUp(self):
        print 'Calling BaseTest:testCommon'
        value = 5
        self.assertEquals(value, 5)


class SubTest1(BaseTest):
    def testSub1(self):
        print 'Calling SubTest1:testSub1'
        sub = 3
        self.assertEquals(sub, 3)


class SubTest2(BaseTest):
    def testSub2(self):
        print 'Calling SubTest2:testSub2'
        sub = 4
        self.assertEquals(sub, 4)