In 1922-23, there was a Communist Labour MP in Battersea North, South London, Shapurji Saklatvala. Having lost his seat in 1923, he regained it in 1924 without official Labour backing but no Labour candidate standing against him, and held it until 1929. He was the first person to be arrested during the 1926 General Strike, following a speech calling on soldiers to support the strikers, and was jailed for two months.
In other words, he was no ordinary MP! Though he ended up a Stalinist in his old age (he died in 1936), his earlier story is worth knowing. The best description of his time as an MP, telling us much about the Labour Party then, is that of the Communist and Trotskyist veteran Harry Wicks:
In the 20s, to the consternation of the Liberal-minded Labour leadership of Henderson and MacDonald, Battersea North elected as their member of parliament the Indian Saklatvala. Not only was he an Indian but a Communist, and he was sponsored by the united Battersea labour movement.
The link that Saklatvala established with his worker constituents was not that of the proverbial surgery: “Can I help you?”, “Have you any problems?” At that time the entire working class had a problem, that of survival against the employers’ lock-outs, widespread unemployment and the downward slide of the sliding scale of wages agreements.
Saklatvala spoke at factory gate meetings and introduced the monthly report-back from Westminster. There were great meetings. Long before the doors of the town hall opened, queues formed just like they used to at Stamford Bridge.
The platform was always crowded. Sak, as he was affectionately known, was flanked by the entire executive of the Trades and Labour Council and numerous representatives of Indian and colonial organisations. He was short in stature, broad-shouldered, with flashing eyes, and was a magnificent orator.
Those monthly report-back meetings on the doings in Parliament stirred hundreds into activity. The Battersea labour movement pulsated with life and was united. Marxist classes held by the old Plebs League flourished. Trade union branches were crowded.
