 Perhaps the divisions of 1874 opened Wilson's eyes to the need for Liberal unity, perhaps made easier by the resignation of Mr Gladstone from the leadership of the Party in 1875.In that year Wilson became Secretary of the Sheffield Liberal Association, a new body formed to make Sheffield secure against possible Unionist intervention and to try to give the radical activists a better chance of success in electing someone like Chamberlain in the future.From this more mainstream base, Wilson was selected to stand as Liberal candidate for Holmfirth in West Yorkshire at the 1885 general election.