[1] Riordan was the Australian Labor Party member for Burke in the Queensland Legislative Assembly, winning the seat in 1918.

[1] Riordan won Kennedy from the sitting Nationalist Party member, Grosvenor Francis.

[2] He held the seat, improving his vote at each election, till his death in 1936 and succeeded by his nephew Bill.

He had undergone an operation to remove gallstones a few weeks earlier that left him in poor health.

This article about an Australian Labor Party member of the House of Representatives is a stub.