He was selected as Labour candidate to fight Kensington in the February 1974 and October 1974 elections, with improving results but no success.
The party chose him to defend at a by-election its long-standing high majority in Lambeth Central in 1978, which he won.
[2] Tilley was a founding member of the Socialist Campaign Group in 1982, but his constituency seat was abolished for the 1983 election and he was selected to fight Southwark and Bermondsey instead.
Tilley subsequently worked as chief economic adviser to the London Borough of Hackney and 11 years as parliamentary secretary to the Co-operative Union.
He married again in 1982 to Kathryn Riley, a Brixton teacher and Labour activist, later professor at the Institute of Education, University of London.