In 1907, he was elected to
Salford Borough Council, serving for six years. In 1911, he became the assistant general secretary of the union, and in 1917, he was elected as its general secretary. He also served as treasurer of the
Federation of Engineering and Shipbuilding Trades for three years and then as president. He attended the
Foundation Congress of the Communist Party of Great Britain and was responsible for the resolution proposing the foundation of the
Communist Party of Great Britain. In 1920, he visited Belfast as part of a
Trades Union Congress delegation enquiring into the workplace expulsions. He was elected to the General Council of the TUC in 1921 and became
President of the TUC in 1924. In 1925, he chaired a TUC delegation to the
Soviet Union.
Leon Trotsky was very critical of the political choices of the
Stalinist bureaucracy toward Purcell. At the
December 1923 general election, Purcell was elected as the
Member of Parliament (MP) for
Coventry by defeating the sitting
Conservative MP, Sir
Edward Manville. However, at the
October 1924 general election, he was defeated by Manville. and at the
resulting by-election on 14 July, Purcell won the seat. He did not defend that seat at the
1929 general election and stood instead in
Manchester Moss Side. He lost to the sitting Conservative MP, Sir
Gerald Berkeley Hurst. == References ==