Saklatvala fought the General Election as enthusiastically and as tirelessly as he had fought his earlier ones, addressing five and six crowded meetings every day. But this time he stood alone, not only unsupported by the Labour Party but actually opposed by them with a strong official Labour Party candidate who had been ardently nursing the constituency for two years; there was, for the first time in an election, open hostility between the Labour Party and the Communist Party which was expressed vehemently by both sides. There was no longer any semblance of an alliance between the two parties and the hostility was perhaps the more bitter since they had started out on similar paths and each looked upon the other as a traitor to their earlier creeds. Also, the 1929 election was the first time that women between 21 and 30 were enfranchised and, for the first time also, there were more women than men entitled to vote. Another important factor was that this was the first election since the General Strike of 1926 when the trade union movement and the working class had taken a terrible beating; add to this the fact that there was ever-increasing unemployment which made all those fortunate enough to have a job extremely nervous about joining any political party which was so frowned upon by the establishment and most employers. The 1929 electors were playing it safe, while expressing their desire for change and they hoped that the Labour Party would improve the lot of working people. Many of them were to be disillusioned.
Although the 1924 Government ran for its complete term of five years, even the Sunday Times did not, apparently, mourn its passing. In an article on the 12th May,1929, (it's first issue after Parliament had been dissolved on the 10th May), it said: "The personalities of this Parliament are soon exhausted. The only reputations that it has made are those of Mr Tom Johnston and Mr Saklatvala on the Labour benches and Mr Neville Chamberlain and Major Elliott on the Ministerial side. ..... The mention of Mr Saklatvala as a member who has made good may seem strange, seeing that except on one or two occasions (the Address to the late Speaker was one of them), everything that he says has set the House's teeth on edge. If one says that he can now fill the house with an attentive audience one is paying a compliment to the magnificent tolerance of the British House of Commons even more than to his mad logic." Now that we are seeing Parliamentary Debates on our television screens and for the first time are made aware of how few members actually sit in the House at any one time, most people will agree that for any member to be able 'to fill the House with an attentive audience' he must be someone to be reckoned with.
There were in all 25 Communist candidates, (2 of whom were women,) and the fact that not one of them was elected was disappointing proof that the party had lost much of the popularity it so recently had had. (Incidentally, there were 65 women candidates in all and in the Labour Government that was shortly to take office, Margaret Bondfield became the first woman Cabinet Minister and the first woman Privy Councillor). Both major political parties were constantly spreading propaganda against Communism, which was echoed throughout the newspaper world, except, of course, for the Communist press. It was no longer seen as a philosophy expounded by Marx, but was usually described as a political party disloyal to Britain and owing allegiance to Russia. It was constantly presented as unpatriotic and certainly not respectable. Probably it's international flavour did not appeal to the island race and the doctrine of "my country, right or wrong" still found favour over the Christan teaching of "Love thy neighbour as thyself." I think, too, that for many people the prospect of losing the British Empire was quite unthinkable and anyone advocating the end of imperialism was seen as being not only unpatriotic but even as a traitor to the country and to the Throne. Membership of the League of Nations was as close to internationalism as most Britishers were prepared to go.
This devotion to the Empire was emphasised because Empire Day being on May 24 fell just 6 days before the electorate went to the polls. There were big demonstrations and festivities in Hyde Park and all over London and up and down the country. The Times reported that the celebrations everywhere were distinguished by remarkable demonstrations of loyalty and patriotism. Flags were flown from all public buildings and shops and offices - patriotism and imperialism were presented as being synonymous.
A few days before this manifestation of imperial euphoria, Saklatvala's May Day speech in Hyde Park had been largely devoted to decrying imperialism in all its manifestations. He was apparently going against the tide of popular British opinion when he delivered the following battle-cry:-
"May Day is above all the day of world proletarian solidarity. In every great city the workers will be demonstrating despite police attacks and despite the efforts of Social Democrats to suppress their manifestations. But we must remember on our platforms that our slogan is now no longer merely 'Proletarians of all countries, unite!' but 'Proletarians and OPPRESSED PEOPLES of all countries, unite!' Not only textile workers in Bombay and Calcutta, miners in India and China, and steel smelters in Bengal, but millions of oppressed peasants in India, China, Egypt and the African colonies are now with us in our fight against the common enemies - imperialism and reformist Labour.
"On our platform in Hyde Park we must remember that 3 English comrades are among the 31 prisoners of British Imperialism now awaiting trial in Meerut in India. These British and Indian comrades are threatened with 20 years imprisonment in barbarous conditions, for no more heinous a crime than that of openly and legally organising workers and peasants in India.
"With the struggle of our comrades in India against conditions which even imperialists admit are indescribable, with the struggle of our heroic Chinese comrades against their native Generals and British, American and Japanese capitalists, with the struggle of African peasants, tortured and exploited to the last degree, we must stand also.
"Let May Day be a pledge of our determination to rid the world of Imperialism, breeder of war, poverty and pestilence. Let us vow on May Day to fight against the British White Terror raging in India and against the British preparations for military intervention in Afghanistan.
"Down with Imperialism! Long live the world republic of the workers and peasants!"
Clearly the glorification of Empire on May 24th proved the more popular event.
In January, 1929, there had been hunger marches from towns all over the country culminating in a vast demonstration in Trafalgar Square where Saklatvala had been one of the speakers addressing the rally. But this visible reminder of the increasing unemployment and hardship had been forgotten by the time the people were called upon to elect a new Parliament.
Very early in the election campaign, the Daily Express of 20th April, 1929, describes a meeting of all political parties held in St Xavier's, Battersea, as being "full to overflowing with crowds outside the hall". The report goes on: _ "Mr Saklatvala spoke - as he always speaks - exceptionally well, with the finish of ability and the force of experience. He thanked the Daily Express for the hustings. In his view there should be no meetings at election times unless all the candidates in a division faced the electors on the same platform. He railed at his rivals, Conservatives and Liberals - he could not differentiate between them, because they both represented Capitalism, and, as for the Socialists --- well, Mr Saklatvala rather indicated that he had no patience with the Socialist Party, because knowing and realising the right and better way, it had chosen the worse way. Only in the plans of the Communist Party would the workers find their ideal 'What about the Terror?', shouted a voice from the back. 'You have the terror now,' retorted Mr Saklatvala. 'You had it in the suppression of the workers during the General Strike. You have it in every serious dispute."
But despite the well attended and enthusiastic meetings and Saklatvala's persuasive and untiring eloquence, Battersea North was won by the official Labour Party candidate, W.S.Sanders, with 13,265 votes. The Unionist candidate came next with 10,833 votes and Saklatvala, with only 6,554 votes, came third out of the five candidates - a disheartening and decisive defeat. All his hopes of returning to the House with a group of Communist colleagues were dashed. On his return home, he suffered a heart attack. There is no doubt that this defeat was a bitter and unexpected blow.
My brother Beram had made friends at school with a boy called Eric Backhaus and they had gone on a walking tour in France together when they were 16. Eric came to our house for the first time just before that holiday and met my sister Candida, also 16. There followed a shy, long and faithful courtship, neither of them ever being interested in anyone else. It was not until September, 1934 that they married. But because Eric had been a constant visitor to our home since I was 6 years old, he was my fourth brother and not a brother-in-law to me. We were also very close to his family - his parents were divorced but his Mother,(Aunty Evelyn to me), her sister, Aunt May and their Mother, Mrs Phair, were an extension of my own family. When Father was released from his duties as an M.P., and his health was giving my Mother increasing anxiety, it was arranged that the whole family should go and stay in the Phair family home, built in the depths of the Surrey woods, in readiness for the retirement from teaching of the two elderly daughters. It was our first family holiday since we had visited the Isle of Wight several years before. But Father was more relaxed than we had ever known him and it was a really happy and peaceful holiday for us all. My brother Beram was again walking in France and returned to join us. He arrived late at night, walking through the woods giving his especial call, ("Peeeep! Peeeeep!" in imitation of a car horn). The next day he and I went into the woods and sat under the trees reading "As You Like It" - he read all the male characters and I read all the women. He was feeling very proud because he had caught head-lice while he was away and he sat and combed his hair and showed them to me proudly - he said they were his very own creation and I was not to tell Mummy because she would insist on getting rid of them! Of course, she became aware of the problem and deprived him very quickly of his somewhat unusual 'pets'! At the end of the holiday, Father wrote to thank Mrs Phair and, since it is such a happy and personal letter, I reproduce it here:-
Letter to Mrs Phair (who was to become my sister's Grandma-in-law) dated 13th August, 1929.
Dear Mrs Phair,
Well, we have taken full advantage of your kindness and enjoyed ourselves to our hearts' content in your delightful cottage. I had really no idea what a beauty spot you had in this forest glade when you were bringing my children here by turns, and now I realise why they were all so keen on jumping at your kind invitations, when I did not feel it right that they should be so frequently burdened upon you.
To me this spot has an added charm as it makes me recall memories of my Indian holidays, where in summer we generally have to run away to thickly wooded hills to escape the heat of the plains. I was really never tempted by any other place to stay on for such a long time. We are taking the full benefit of your kindness and staying on till Friday, after which we regret we must leave, as arrangements at 2 St Albans Villas will require Sehri's presence there from this week-end. She too never had such a lengthy and complete change before.
In other holiday places we do get the sea, or a snow-clad hill-top here and there to look at, but all the rest is the same as in ordinary life, the same rush and bustle of people, buses, charabancs, cinemas and shops, and the same nerve-straining life. This little secluded spot is a real and thorough change and does give a complete rest to our minds besides the fresh pure air to our bodies. I am sure I do not know how to thank you all for it. You have selected and created a truly good spot for a retired life, and we all heartily wish that you and your daughters may live long and happily to enjoy it for very many years to come, only do not be surprised if we are tempted to call on you at times to disturb you.
With kind regards from us all,
Yours truly,
Signed Shapurji Saklatvala
It certainly was an idyllic interlude. Nor was it without humour - life with father seldom was! There was an elderly couple in a small cottage down the road from whom we bought all our vegetables. Father called in one morning when he was out enjoying a solitary walk and ordered eggs, etc. When Mr Entignap (yes, that really was his name!) came to deliver the order he said to Mummy, "The old gentleman who lives with you asked me to deliver these." When Mummy told Daddy on his return he laughed and, teasing Mummy, said she should be ashamed of herself living with an old gentleman, the Father of five children. This expression remained a joke between them for evermore.
(Incidentally, Father's wishes for a long life to Grandma Phair, Aunty Evelyn and Aunt May were happily fulfilled and they all lived well into their nineties, though, sadly, Aunty Evelyn who had been totally deaf since her thirties, also lost her sight and her old age was therefore not so happy as Father would have wished her.).
The holiday did not last long and Father was soon back to work. Much of his activity in this period has been described in other chapters, work in connection with the League Against Imperialism, the Workers' Welfare League of India, The Simon Commission, the Meerut prisoners, the London Branch of the Indian NationalCongress, as well as his meetings and propaganda for the Communist Party, and collecting funds to support the newspaper The Daily Worker. In 1930 he was nominated as delegate to the Trade Union Congress of 1930 by the National Union of Clerks, so clearly he was active in that field also.
In 1930 he unsuccessfully contested a bi-election in the Shettlestone Division of Glasgow and he also unsuccessfully fought a bi-election in Battersea in 1931. I think he took part in these elections with no hope of success but merely to carry the Communist banner into the fray. For neither my Mother nor anyone else in the family learned of his participation in these elections until many years after his death; had he had any hope of winning he would most certainly have involved Mother in his campaigns as he had previouysly done; but he would not wish to involve her in the disappointment of his certain defeat. He also gave his support to the Communist candidate Jack Murphy, in the Brightside Ward of Sheffield in the bi-election of January 1930, working alongside old colleagues Tom Mann and J.R.Campbell.