 He was educated at a London County Council elementary school, and served in the Royal Navy during World War I, from 1916 to 1919. as a stoker.Following the war he became involved in Labour politics, and in 1922 became agent for Herbert Morrison who was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Hackney South at the 1923 general election.In the 1930s he was a leading opponent of Oswald Mosley's Blackshirt movement, which was active in the Hackney area.