Phil Piratin (1907-1995) was the Communist MP f or Mile End and Stepney in 1945-50, the only Communist to be elected to Parliament for an English constituency in a seat Labour also contested. He was involved in organising the resistance to Mosley's blackshirts in the East End, notably at the Battle of Cable Street of 4 Octber 1936. He was elected a Communist councillor in Stepney in 1937 and became the chairman of the Stepney Borough CP.
I interviewed Piratin on three occasions - all are online. The first time - in 1986 - I focussed on Cable Street. On the second occasion - in 1989 - I asked him about what was happening then in the international Communist movement and then moved on to talking about street politics in the East End in the 1930s. He said that the CP and Mosley's BUF had a local understanding 'not to interfere with each other'. The third interview - in 1990 - was for a radio documentary about the changing political loyalties of British Jews and explored particularly the attraction of Communism to many Jews in the 1930s and '40s.