A Communist in the house of Tatas

Shapurji Saklatvala (28 March 1874 – 16 January 1936) was a British politician of Indian Parsi heritage. He was the third Indian Member of Parliament (MP) in the Parliament of the United Kingdom and also the first Communist to Britain’s House of Commons.
His mother was a Tata and he was a nephew of Mr. J N Tata. From the mid-1880s, Tata commissioned a series of surveys in India's coal-producing areas, such as Bihar and Orissa in the northeast of the subcontinent, to locate iron ore within easy reach of coal deposits and water, both essential elements in steel production. The intrepid hunters were C M Weld, Dorab Tata and Shapurji Saklatvala. However his health suffered so much that he was sent to London to recuperate.

Political career

Saklatvala joined the Independent Labour Party, the Labour Party and on its formation the Communist Party of Great Britain (Labour allowed joint membership at the time). He attended the 2nd Pan-African Congress held in Paris in 1921. At the 1922 general election he was elected as the Communist candidate for the constituency of Battersea North, with the support of the Labour Party.