Harry Pollitt

Harry Pollitt (1890 - 1960) was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Great Britain. He was born in Droylsden in Lancashire. He was an engineering worker by trade.

In 1919 he was involved in the Hands off Russia campaign to protest against western intervention in the Russian Civil War. t the end of the war he joined Sylvia Pankhurst Workers Socialist Federation which became the Communist Party (British Section of the Third International). as a member of the CP(BSTI) he joined the Communist Party of Great Britain when it merged into the larger body in 1920. However he did not leave the CPGB when Pankhurst did so.

In 1925 he was jailed for 12 months for seditious libel. In 1929 the CPGB elected him General Secretary, a position he held until 1956. He was then made Chairman which lasted until his death 4 years later and alongside RP Dutt was one of the leading figures in the CPGB up until his death.

In 1971 the Soviet Union named a ship after him. He has also been commemorated in the humorous song The Ballad Of Harry Pollitt.