Career
In 1938, he moved to Birmingham and joined the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB), working full-time for the party from 1941. He was also active in the Clerical and Administrative Workers Union and on Birmingham Trades Council. Pearce filled a number of different roles for the CPGB.
From 1953 to 1960, he was Secretary of the Birmingham City area, then he became Secretary of the Welsh District of the CPGB, serving until 1984.
Following the Prague Spring of 1968, he began to be critical of the Soviet Union, and was vocal on his support for Welsh devolution. Pearce stood in several elections, including the 1955 and 1959 United Kingdom general elections in Birmingham Perry Barr, the Swansea East by-election, 1963, and Neath at the 1970 United Kingdom general election, and locally in Birmingham and later Cardiff.
The CPGB dissolved in 1991, and Pearce supported its successor, Democratic Left. In 1998, Nelson Mandela visited Cardiff and, in his speech, thanked Pearce for his support during the anti-apartheid movement.
