His fortunes changed in 1964 when he contested the historic 1964 elections for a newly formed party- the United Workers party (UWP) which was a merger between the PPP and National Labour Movement (NLM) of John Compton.
Francois again ran for East Castries and this time turned the tables on HB Collymore, polling 821 votes to the latter's 661.
In an election in which the UWP government lost two seats, François prevented them from losing a third and avoided the country being faced with a hung parliament, when he won over Foster by 43 votes.
His gift for music was passed on to his children several of whom became musicians, with one of them, Luther François, his son, has gone on to becoming one of the Caribbean's most celebrated saxophonists.
In February 2014, the government named a road in Monchy, Gros Islet where he lived, the Hunter J. François Drive.
Hunter J François, passed away in the early hours of Saturday, 15 November 2014 at the Tapion Hospital, St. Lucia after a prolonged illness.