He was active in the creation of the
Independent Labour Party (ILP) and the
Labour Party. He was elected to the first
National Administrative Council of the ILP, and served on it again from 1899 until 1901. He unsuccessfully ran as an ILP parliamentary candidate for
Leicester in 1894 and 1895 before taking a role of organising secretary for the ILP between 1897 and 1902. He was a member of the
Glasgow City Council between 1902-5 and unsuccessfully ran as an ILP candidate for
Glasgow Camlachie in 1906, and
Montrose in 1908 and 1910. He resigned from the ILP in 1915. Throughout his career he was involved in newspapers: • 1881: correspondent for a local newspaper • 1884: started his own short-lived paper, the
Oldham Operative • 1885–89: sub-editor of the
Cotton Factory Times • 1889–91: manager of the
Yorkshire Factory Times • 1891–93: editor of ''
Workman's Times'' • 1914: editor of the
Bradford Pioneer • 1919: editorial staff for the
London Evening Standard and the
Pall Mall Gazette == Publications ==