Shapurji
Saklatvala was born in Bombay in 1874. His family were extremely wealthy
and worked for his uncle's firm, Tata Industries, but suffered from
poor health and in October 1905 he was sent to England for medical
treatment.
Saklatvala
became involved in left-wing politics and in 1907 he joined the Social
Democratic Federation, a socialist
party led by H. M. Hyndman. Two years
later he left to join the Independent Labour Party
(ILP). He was a regular public speaker for the ILP and a contributor
to its newspaper, Labour Leader.
In
1921 Saklatvala joined the Communist Party.
The following year
he became the party's candidate in North Battersea. His chances of
victory increased significantly when his election agent, John
Archer, persuaded
the local Labour Party not to oppose Saklatvala.
With the support of the Battersea Trades Council, Saklatvala won
the seat in the 1922 General Election.
In the 1923
General Election Saklatvala lost the seat to the Liberal
Party candidate by 186 votes. However, he gained his revenge by
beating the same candidate by 540 votes in the 1924
General Election.
During the General
Strike in 1926 Saklatvala was a strong supporter of the Miners'
Federation. After one speech made in Hyde Park he urged the British
Army not to fire on the strikers. Saklatvala was arrested and
found guilty of sedition was sentenced to two months in Wormwood Scrubs
Prison.
In the 1929
General Election the Labour Party refused
to support Communist
Party candidates.
John
Archer now became
election agent to Stephen Sanders in North Battersea who easily defeated
Saklatvala. He continued to be active in politics and was twice an
unsuccessful candidate in parliamentary elections.
Shapurji
Saklatvala
died in 1936.
