 In 1957 he was on the Executive of the Commonwealth Fund Fellowship to the USA.When he fought Eastleigh in the 1959 general election, he had to leave the BBC which was committed to political neutrality (his dismissal became a controversy); in 1960 he moved to the Booker Group where he was an Information Officer.Rowland succeeded in winning the Meriden seat at the 1964 general election, a gain which was one of the last constituencies to be announced and which showed that Labour was likely to win an overall majority.