A long-term member of the
Social Democratic Federation (SDF), Fairchild was a member of its radical Central
Hackney branch, alongside
Zelda Kahan and
Theodore Rothstein. As early as 1909, he was a signatory to a resolution denouncing party leader
H. M. Hyndman's anti-German rhetoric. He supported closer links with the
Independent Labour Party and other socialists, and worked with
Alf Purcell and
Victor Grayson on the Provisional Committee for the Promotion of Common Ground Among the Socialists. This was opposed by the right wing of the SDF, but proved successful, as it constituted the
British Socialist Party (BSP), and the SDF merged itself into the new party. Fairchild was elected to the BSP's first standing orders committee, alongside
Duncan Carmichael,
Peter Petroff and
C. T. Douthwaite. The four worked together to ensure voices in the party opposing British rearmament were heard. He was also elected to the party's executive, representing the party's left-wing. At the
1913 London County Council election, Fairchild stood for the BSP in
Bow and Bromley. He took 1,609 votes, but was not elected. In 1915, the party selected him as its delegate to the
Zimmerwald Conference, but he was refused a passport and could not attend. During this period, Fairchild was close to
John Maclean. When Maclean's newspaper,
Vanguard, was suppressed, Fairchild launched
The Call as a replacement. The BSP was divided over British entry to
World War I; although the majority of the party opposed it, much of the leadership was in favour. Fairchild was an opponent of the war, although he was considered a centrist within the party, as he also argued against action which would endanger "national defence". Like the majority of his party, Fairchild welcomed the
February Revolution in
Russia, and he spoke at the launch of the
Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Delegates in
Leeds. However, he remained committed to
parliamentary democracy even when many in his party preferred setting up
workers' councils. He and Henry Alexander resigned from the BSP in 1919, after it voted to seek affiliation to the
Third International. == References ==