He stood for Bootle at the 1923 United Kingdom general election, sponsored by the ILP, as a last-minute replacement for Simon Mahon.
He narrowly won the Bootle constituency, and in Parliament focused much of his time on speaking in support of unemployed and under-employed workers.
He strongly opposed the manifesto put together by Oswald Mosley, and also argued that the Labour government was too reluctant to take radical action.
Like most Labour MPs at that time, he lost his seat at the 1931 United Kingdom general election, but remained a member of the council in Bootle.
Kinley retained his seat at both the 1950 and 1951 general elections, and hoped to stand again in 1955, but was deselected by his Constituency Labour Party on the grounds of his age.