 After standing unsuccessfully in the 1919 local elections, he became the Labour Party parliamentary candidate for Liverpool Edge Hill for the 1922 general election.He was defeated by the Conservative incumbent, but won the seat during the 1923 by-election to become the first Labour Member of Parliament in Liverpool and the first policeman to sit in the Commons.In the 1924 government he became Parliamentary Private Secretary to Pensions Minister Frederick Roberts, and he was a member of the party's national executive in 1926 and 1927.