Alf Watts

Who was Alf Watts?

Alf Watts, also known as A. A. Watts, was a British communist. He became a compositor and joined the Social Democratic Federation. 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.

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