In 1917, he persuaded the Co-op Parliamentary Committee's members to constitute a Co-operative Parliamentary Representation Committee, for which he stood at the January 1918 Prestwich by-election as its first candidate, although he was not elected. He stood again for the committee, soon to be renamed the Co-operative Party, in Clackmannan and East Stirlingshire at the 1918 general election, but again missed out on election.
