As more West Indians arrived in Britain, the more radical elements of the black community also joined the CPGB, with many of them seeing Strachan as their leader. His activism as a CPGB member put him into contact with many influential British communists and socialists including Kay Beauchamp, Palme Dutt, and Cheddi Jagan. Culturally, Strachhan also came into contact with the works of communist musicians, including Alan Bush, A. L. Lloyd, Ewan MacColl, and with the dramas of Bertolt Brecht. Strachan became an important member of the CPGB's International Committee and their West Indian Committee. According to the Morning Star newspaper, Strachan told one of his sons: "Because of the way my life was to go if I hadn’t discovered Marxism I would have undoubtedly ended up in a mental institution."
