 In 1958, he left the Liberals in favour of the Labor Party, contesting the seat of Henty at the 1961 federal election.He switched parties as his views were too leftist for the Liberals, declaring "They got rather nasty with me and wouldn't give me a fair go, so I resigned and joined the Labor Party".He pursued an energetic campaign in Henty, but lost to his Liberal opponent by fewer than 3,000 primary votes.