Alf Watts

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Alfred Augustus Watts (1862–1928), also known as A. A. Watts, was a British communist.

Born in Bow, London, Watts became a compositor and joined the Social Democratic Federation (SDF). In 1904, he became a member of the Board of Guardians in Poplar, a post he held until his death. After the SDF became the British Socialist Party, Watts became a leader of the majority anti-war faction, and was elected to the party executive as Treasurer, alongside Albert Inkpin and John Maclean. He was a supporter of the October Revolution and of the formation of the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB).[1]

In 1919, Watts was elected as a Labour Party member of London County Council in Battersea North, and in 1922 he was re-elected for the CPGB. In 1925, he was elected as a Councillor for Poplar Council, with the support of both Labour and the CPGB.

References[edit]

  1. ^ McIlroy, John; Campbell, Alan (2020). "The early British Communist leaders, 1920–1923: a prosopographical exploration" (PDF). Labor History. 61 (5–6): 423–465. doi:10.1080/0023656X.2020.1818711. S2CID 225166906.