After serving in World War II, he became assistant secretary at the Institute of Hospital Administrators in 1946, and became active in the Labour Party, standing unsuccessfully as their candidate in Chippenham in the 1950 General Election.
[1] Initially a Bevanite, he joined NALGO as Deputy General Secretary in 1958, eventually becoming, in the words of the journalist Geoffrey Goodman, "the essence of a moderate, statesmanlike trade-union leader".
He supported the Wilson and Callaghan governments, and in 1978 was one of the influential trade union leaders appointed to the National Economic Development Council (known as "Neddy").
[1] He was a member of numerous influential committees covering health, local government, and the law, which "brought him into constant contact with a vast range of authority at all levels".
[1] He was a JP, Freeman of the City of London, a Treasurer of the European Movement UK and a director of the Bank of England from 1978 to 1986.