He was born in Leeds, England, to Thompson Walpole, a tailor's cutter, and Nellie, née Allaway.
He was an organiser with the Electrical Trades Union from 1973 to 1991, and from 1976 to 1979 was president of the Bacchus Marsh branch of the Labor Party, as well as an executive member of the Ballarat Federal Electorate Committee.
He also held party positions as a member of the Disputes Tribunal (1985–91), the Industrial Affairs Policy Committee (1986–92), the Foreign Affairs Policy Committee (1986–92) and the State Conference (1972–93), and worked as industrial officer of the Vehicle Builders Union from 1991 to 1992.
[1] In 1992 Walpole was elected to the Victorian Legislative Council as a Labor member for Melbourne Province.
He served as a backbencher until 1999, when he lost preselection and instead contested the safe Liberal province of East Yarra, at which he was defeated.