Rose Kerrigan (née Klasko) was a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain.

Her Jewish parents were born in Russia, and moved to Glasgow via Dublin.

Her father worked as a tailor[3] and had socialist, anti-war, political views.

[4][5] She was influenced by many activists during her political life, including James Maxton, Philip Snowden, Ethel Snowden, Thomas Hastie Bell, and Helen Crawfurd.

[6] Her husband was a representative to the Comintern, and became a political commissar during the Spanish Civil War.