 He stood for the NILP in Belfast Oldpark at the 1938 Northern Ireland general election, taking second place, with 40.8% of the vote.In 1945, he was appointed Irish Regional Organiser of the National Union of Tailors and Garment Workers (NUTGW).Macgougan was Chair of the NILP in 1945–1946, but became unhappy with its increasingly unionist stance.